The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-04


 est the reader for awhile with a descrip-
 ton of entirely different section from
 my former fields I have from time to
 time had much to say of the great west
 and Of its great possibilities. But now I
 want 10 have something to say of the
 great east. for this is a great country and 1 there is much of great interest in all parts
 oi thls the greatest country in the world
 made so first by our great natural ad- Nahtaees and next by the education and 1 enterprise of our American people
 1 II was my pleasure to receive an invi- l tatlon to attend as a guest the seventh annual convention of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Ex-
 pertinent Stations, held in the city of 1 Washington, D. C., November r to 19
 Through or by the courtesles of the Southern railway I was permitted to take my Wife with me, and on reaching Wash l Ing, through the courtesy of the great l Pennsylvania railroad we had the pleas
 ure of visiting Baltimore, Philadelphia | New York and many intermediate places l Of historic interest. We managed our l trip so that we were able to see all the l country between Birmingham and New York in the day, so that l might and l
 ly the agricultural and horticultural con- 1 ditions of the country
 To start out I must confess that I was l sadly disappointed in these conditions d 5 l they presented themselves to me all along l the route, and especially so on as far as Philadelphia. l was surprised to see the country so bare-not a winter pasture anywhere to be seen, except now and then small plot of some wheat or rye. l Ihls whole section of country needs the primary missionary educational work fully "s much or more than the west.
 From what had been reading had con- l eluded that much of this educational
 work had been done in Virginia and the 1 Garolinas. also Georgia, but in this 1 was l disappointed. True that these states have | made wonderful Improvements in many l respects, but this improvement has been
 more along the lines of manufacture l than along the lines of improved agricul-
 ture. The great agricultural and horti-
 cultural advancements that we read of
 in the states named may prevail in some
 sections of the states. but they no-
 where to be seen along the lines of the roads that we travelled.
 Now let me say right here that I do
 not wish to be understood as a critic. but l l want to give the plain facts as I see
 them hoping to awaken and stir up bet
 ter interest along this line of improve l
 for improvement. There are few sec l tions where people cannot do better than
 what they are now doing I was surprised
 to see so much waste land, and to see so
 tie effort at improving and building up
 the lands. We saw hundreds of pretty l and prosperous factories all along the
 line. Many of these were surrounded by l beautiful cottages occupied by people
 who work in the mills, and these people i all seemed to be making good living and
 seemed to be contented.
 If the agricultural and horticultural in- 1 terests of the country was only kept up l with that of these factories the country l surely would be one of much prosperity, i for there is always at hand a ready mar 1 ket for everything that is produced on l the farm. True these people in many sec l tions of the states named have a hard 1 soil to contend with and it seems at first 1 sight that it would be hard matter to l get a living from such a soil or soils. yet We find occasionally a man who Is fur nishing object lessons of what energy and education will accomplish on even these seemingly worthless worn-out soils. In this primary educational work along ag- ricultural and horticultural lines the first and most important lesson for the farmer to learn is the care of his soil As the population of man increases in or on the earth the greater will be the demands upon the soil for his support. From the soil must come directly or indirectly the wealth of our country.
 Not only are our home people depend- ent upon the productiveness of our soils. but other countries are looking to us for much of their food supplies. More than | 60 per cent of our last years exports came from the American farms.
 Take Care of the Lands.
 | This being true how important 1t is to
 take care of and build up our lands and l quit wearing out and turning out so much 1 of our land. The general government has 1 taken this matter in hand and is trying 10
 show the farmers the importance of 1 well regulated system of rotation of crops. A plot of land has been secured at St. Louis. near the exposition. where the gov ernment will prepare and give object les sons along this line of rotation of crops,
 and every farmer who visits the great St. Louis exhibition should visit this plot and get the benefits of it's teachings. 1 want to say right here that in Hon. James | Wilson, Secretary of agriculture. the l south has the best friend and the ablest
 educator along these lines that she has | ever had.
 1 When Secretary Wilson visits the south
 ern farmers he mixes and mlngles with | them and takes a great interest in all l our welfare. He Is always looking out 1 to see what he can do for us. and 1t | would be to the interest of all our south l ern farmers to keep in close touch with Secretary Wilson and heed his able and timely advise along the improved methods of farming. It was my pleasure to have visited the secretary while in Washing l ton and to have quite a talk with him regarding conditions in the south. I could readily see by his questions how much he 1 was interested in our welfare. He paid 1 me a high compliment on the work that 1 l am trying to do and said to me that he wanted me to feel free to call upon him l at all times when he could be of any service to me or to our people. Secretary l Wilson has an able set of educators to
 assist him in this great work. and the l government expenditures are greater than l ever before for the encouragement of this
 work. Farmers from all parts of the | country should send for the bulletins is- | sued by the government. all of which are
 free for the asking. Only write your | name and address on a postal card and
 address it to Secretary Wilson. Washing | ton, D.. C. Farmers all over the country | are pretty much alike in many respects
 Another very important matter is tha |
 farmers lack, first confidence in their l country and next, confidence in them
 selves
 If they only had this confidence and
 back it up by industry and economy we
 would soon see a very different country
 In our great convention at Washington
 we had about 200 representative men, ag-
 rculturists of the country. Many inn
 portant subjects were discussed and many
 new ideas brought out. Many of these
 subjects. of course, are too high advanced
 for the common farmer, yet they are of