The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-11-05
YOUNG MEN WANTED.
A Great Industrial Project of the Sea
board Air Line.

board Air Line.
An enterprise that is calculated to be
of great benefit to the farming interests
along the Seaboard Air Line railroad
has been undertaken by that system.
They propose to send a large number of
young men from stations along their
line to Northern points, securing them
positions on farms where they can be
given practical education in farming,
fruit culture, dairying and poultry rails
ing. -Four young men will be sent from
each station along the line. These will
be secured positions which will pay a
small salary and board and clothing.
The true benefit to them will be the
practical knowledge that they receive.
They will be expected to remain North
for two years and then return and put
into use the methods of farming, etc.
that they have learned
The project is being pushed by Mr..
John II. Patrick, the Seaboard's chief
industrial agent. A letter from Mr..
Patrick fully outlines the project. 1t is
as follows:
Our object is to get intelligent young
men from along the Seaboard Air Line
who want to learn the improved modes,
of farming as it is conducted in the
Northern and New England States.
These young men are to go on the farms
of the Northern farmers and to receive
their board, washing and nominal
amount to pay for some extras and they
to work just the same as any of the
other employees. In other words you will
get Il real good practical instruction in
farming, better than you would possibly
get at any agricultural college, and in
stead of having to pay out money for
the instruction, you get enough to pay
your expenses. which would be your
board, your washing and about "a a
month for the little incidentals that you
might want. If you did not spend the
"a you would just have that much to
bring back home with you.
Eve do not want any one to under
stand that they are going to work for
wages. but what we need down South
is for some of our people to learn the
way the Northern men cultivate their
crops, how they raise stock and poultry
and how they keep their farms and
farm buildings up to the highest stand
ard We do not want any one to agree
to take these positions except those who
will agree to come back to their homes
and go into farming so that our farm
ers can learn from them what they
learned by two years stay in the North.
1t will be necessary for you to stay at
least two years to get thoroughly
familiar and to learn what is necessary.
Another thing we can accomplish in
this work will be that during your two
,,' 30, 1N obi Ia Il &c
tributing printed matter about your sec
ton and working among the people
whom You NEE. to get number of set
tiers to come down to your home, and
in that way be of great benefit in in
creasing the number of settlers and per-
haps get some of the Northern people to
go down and establish factories of some
kind
Now / hope that you can go and in
terest three other young men of your
section. OF course it will take me some
time to arrange to get a place for you
and you need not make your arrange
ments to go in n week, or even month,
after you have written me, for as soon as
| can get the young men who are going
l must find a place for them. Some of
them ! want to put on poultry farms so
that they can get the inside of poultry
raising; others on fruit farms so that
they may know how to raise and mar
ket fruit successfully, others on dairy
farms, so that they can learn how to
raise good stock, make good butter and
cheese and learn how it is marketed.
This is one of the most important
steps that we have ever taken, but we
cannot successfully carry it out unless
four young men from each station along
our line of road are willing to give two
years time, as it were. to study the
manner of work in the North and come
back and distribute this information
among the people Of their respective Sec
tons.
''yThey can do vast amount of good
for themselves and be public benefac-
tors, and | hope that you will not con-
slider that you are giving two years of
your time for nothing, and | assure You
you will not, because it will be worth
to you and every man that goes at least
S., 600 in the run of their life"