The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-04-14

sDslng to cover up the grave AnA mako
= isisos s. ,lss. g,e II i! d,d, s tAat winter aAy
II the Ansyiesn lfarner wishes ~
keep his childrSn near him be must
learn the difference between living and
getting living; and I mistake him and
his grade OF culture altogether II he
does not stop over this statement and
wonder what mean by II. To get 4
living. to make money. to become "fore-
handed"-this 10 the whole Of life to the
average agricultural multitudes. dis
couraging In their numbers to contem-
plate To them there II no difference In
living and getting living: and when
their families come back to them from
their schooling. and find that really this
IL the only pursuit that has any recog-
milton under the parental roof. they
must 60 away. The boys push to the
centers or the cities. and the girls fol-
low them II they can. A young man or
Q young woman. raised to the point
where they apprehend the difference
between living and getting. living. can
never be satisfied with the latter alone.
Either the farmers children must be
ignorant or provision must be made for
their social wants. Brains and hearts
need food and clothing as we'll as bod
les. and those who have learned to rec
ognixe brains and hearts as the best
and most important part of their per-
sonal possessions will 60 where they
can find the ministry they need.
What Is the remedy? How shall farm
ers keep their children near them? How
shall they encourage the influx Of new
people into the agricultural districts?
I answer. by presenting the present at
tractiveness Of agricultural colonies,
such as Chicora. for instance, and by
adding to that attractiveness. Ten
acres are enough in this country. Do as
the promoter here is doing: establish
reading rooms and clubs. Encourage
social meetings OF the young. Buy an
organ for Susan and narrow seated
buggy for Bill. Establish bright. ac-
tive social life that shall give some sig
nificance to labor. First, of course, To-
mile to daily labor than to place oneself
a mile away from neighbor. The iso-
lation OF American farm life Is Its curse.
To those who intend locating on farm
I will say don't make the mistake Of
isolating yourselves. Isolation falls up
on the women with a hardship men can
not appreciate, and drives the educated
young away.
1t Is about five years since the gen.
eral colonization scheme of farming
was broached OF course the co-opera-
haI haar niyal for do
cades, but their communities are ruled
more by peculiar religious beliefs than
business reasons. l do not take them
into consideration. l had always be-
lieved In the social advantages Of
colony life as delineated above, but
from many reasons l did not consider
colonization schemes as desirable
agencies in the development Of a To-
cality. The colonists generally had no
money and no backing. They went into
debt for the land. no one tlded them
along until they were established, they
made miserable failures. and the sec
ton in which they settled suffered from
the odium of that failure. But the
success of the Booth-Tucker plans. the
Colorado colony, the Alabama colonies,
the ,Risley colonies and half dozen
others have converted me to the prac-
ticability Of Scientific Colonization"
The scheme of production in all of
these later day colonies is largely the
same. and in imitation of the French
system of intensive farming. In France
families make living off two acre
farms and under conditions much less
ideal than those that exist here ut
Chicora. They make every foot of
ground produce it's proportion, and
they watch the soil so closely and so
inteligently that they can tell its exact
composition. In this country we work
the soil for a number of years, drain Il
of its forces, and then load 1t with
manure. guano, or something Of that
sort. The French farmer does not do
that Every year he examines the
ground. Sometimes he puts in a lit
tie lime, sometimes a little potash or
some guano. He supplies it constantly
with the very element 1t needs. He
does not work 1t for years. then fiji
1t full Of indiscriminate fertilizers. The
motive of the colonies Is the phrase
Booth-Tucker uses so often, Back to
the land" In the cities are thousands
of people who were agriculturists, but
who left the farms because of the social
poverty Of its life and who gladly get
back into agriculture. 1t Is not re-
quired that colonist has had farming
experience, but the majority are Of
that class at Chicora; the colony was
started by men who were dissatisfied
with the climatic disadvantages Of
northern farming.
1t costs about $500 to place a family
on ten acre tract. This includes the
cost Of the land, the building of a
house. barn. tools. etc. This charge Is
met in small payments. Circumstances
govern the payments largely.
A good many people think that the
colonists will find difficulty In obtain
ing living from their lands the first
year. An entirely new and noteworthy
phase at the Chicora colony is the pro-
viding Of two days work in a week
for those who need 1t, thus guaran-
teeing living to those who might
make failure Of the first years at
tempt. The IS dwellings already at
Chicora are as a rule equal to any $500
house In Pennsylvania.
Seven houses, one store. a freight
house. a dry kiln and a mineral water
bottling establishment are being erect.