The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1903-06-11

comparison With the man who is abou
to como. 4 man under whose labor the
,esr,h will be In truth the ail-nourish-
ing mother.
The largest fact that man has dig
covered since waking to consciousness
is the fertility of the earth-the var,e-
ty, the richness the unending success
sion of growth, beyond comprehension.
1t il a field of inquiry almost as un-
known to us as it was to the first
man who pushed a rude implement
through the soil and made his first con-
sclous experiment in planting seeds
During the countless years since then,
be has scratched and plucked a living
from the soil wherever he has been. In
the tropics he yet gathers food without
toll. In our zone We plant and piow
and reap with some improvement over
the knowledge that Abraham had. But
we are yet ignorant of the fertility OF
the earth. We are beginning to learn
that there is no unfertlle land. Men
can make any land fertile. The gar
deners of Paris now make their own
soil. In their leases they stipulate
that If they move they may carry their
soil with them. BY properly heating
the soil men make their own climate
and grow fruits in northern attitudes
that little while ago were thought
to be confined to softer climates. There
are no infertlle land. The very deserts
are productive under trained men.
But we are only beginning to learn
the secrets of the breeding of plants
bow one breed of corn or of wheat may
increase the value OF crop by many
millions of dollars-and how we may
improve the kinds OF wheat as we have
improved the breeds OF berries or live
stock. The secret of it ali is in the
better training of men. The fertility
of the earth and it's variety of growth
we ourselves are but part and parcel
of 1t, one of its products (for the sacred
poet was right when he said that we
are all made of the dust --the fertility
of the eatrh remains the most interest
ing fact that man has faced. No man
yet lives who can estimate the poten-
tial yield of any single acre of land.
Next to the fertility of the soil is its
constancy. All ether occupations
change in relative values. Agriculture
remains constant. It is this that links
us to all preceding generations of men.
The low land that fed the Pharoahs are
more fe, tile than they were before the
pyramids were built. The Valley of
the Euphrates yields good harvests yet.
Gaul grows moro grain every year than
Caesars legions needed during all his
wars. The ground on which this
building stands would grow better
maize than any red men ever saw In
the centuries before Columbus discov-
cred America. Everything else changes
the earth remains fertile. Men null
tiply, but the all-nourishing mother
can feed more than were ever born to
be nourished.
Our history has been but a feeting
chapter of mems first deeds in wilder.
ness. The one stable thing-the one
asting thing that we know in all Gods
universe Is the soil that we stand on
That is North Carollna-these rolling
bills that were here when our ancestors
dressed in skins and lived in caves
these sand slopes that lead eastward to
the sea, these uplands that rise to OUT
mountains. These are all fertile, each
in: Its own way and each according tc
the knowledge that men bring to thei,
culture. These are Moth Carolina
and you will be the first North Caro-
linians worthy Of this fertile marvel Of
creation, if you will win the wealth il
offers-the wealth of food, of refresh.
ment for the spirit, of serenity and
breadth of mind. Your civilization de-
pends on this-whether the man be-
hind the pillow be a clodhopper. or a
sympathetic scholar of the soil.
The ancient earth, virgin yet, awaits
you and the fuIlness to the roof
as it's first masters and as the
builders of new Commonwealth.
SOM ETHING FOR EVERY BODY.