The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-09
Letters to The Editor.
VAST ACREAGE
xss Awaits the Flow in the South.
 AGricultural Education.

t
 One travelling on the train in any part ~,. a sne South cannot fail to be impressed ~Nn the vast acreage of untitled land yet so oe brought into cultivation. A great 1i Ss, or this land Is rich and fertile and oniy needs wise and scientific manage ment to produce abundantly of all the ss.p s.pe crops of corn. cotton. oats. wheat, tye. as well as small fruits and vegeta-
 When 1t is known that one can only see smau part of the idle land from the car mnuoW and that it extends back into the .nterlor increasing in extent away from .ne railroad, we can easily imagine the srand developments of the future in an aEncuitural way.
 Our people are at last beginning to awake to the advantages of agricultural suucauon, and as the years go by more young men will turn their energies and nrains to the scientific management of the soil. With education comes dignity ana elevation of the calling of the farmer
 ihe young man who begins the study oI agriculture is charmed with the many secrets unfolded to him by learning more oi the growth of the plant world about nm. nm. He finds that of all the professions, tnet of the man who tills the soil. is nIoader in It's scope. requires more general knowledge of chemicals and of naturSe laws-~and as he progresses comes to look upon the farm and farm inE in new light.
 We have before called attention to the importance Of more general agricultural education. The world is overstocked with iawyers doctors. preachers and other pro- feseional men. We must realize the ini- portanee of agriculture to our nation.
 Look upon the shelves in any store, nearly every article in the dry goods store and grocery store was at one time a product In raw state of the farm. there lore 1t is easy to understand that the farm is the source of the bulk of our wealth and prosperity.
 The great newspapers of the country. going as they do. into the homes of the people throughout the land, the farm pa- pers cannot say too much along this line. We must make the young men. especial ly the farmer boys, realize that when they leave the farm they are going away from the grandest, the most Independent. most honorable and as scientific field of effort as can be offered to him.
 There is no need of the Alabama farm CT yoing to Mississippi or the Missis- sippi farmer going to Texas to contend with conditions new and strange to him. Tho same energy. capital and persever- ance will bring results in Alabama or Mississippi.
 The time is coming. young farmer boy, when there will not be so much idle land in the South. The South is attracting at- tention as never before, in every field of effort and many things are now develop ing to hasten the day of greater and fuller development of the resources of the South, chief among which is the building of the great Panama canal. Therefore. we would say to the farmer boy and all ambitious young men. secure you at least thirty or fifty acres of land. It will not only be good investment as land is going to advance in price in the South by leaps and bounds within the next twenty years, but 1t will also add dignity and independence and good citizenship. The best and most patriotic citizens are those who own their own homes and 1t should be one of the ambi- tions of every American boy to own his own home and the small farm offers the quickest solution to independence, dignity and contentment that is thrilling desire in every intelligent human heart.
 Ben G. Sevier.