The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-07
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CONDUCTED BY PROF. .r


 i study in the school course. and the adoption of an excellent text is not suf- I ficieat. It is good beginning, but a
 beginning only. Much yet remains to
 be done, both by teachers and school patrons. before this important study | can begin to bear it's legitimate fruits in the increased intelligence and pros- perity of our farming population. The teachers as body are not yet prepar-
 ed to teach it successfully. But they have never failed to keep step with educational progress, and we doubt not that, with the practical experience of
 many of them with farm life. the op- portunities offered at the University Summer School, and the many excel lent journals and texts on the subject, they will fully measure up to the pre- sent opportunity.
 But when the teachers have done their best, the good work may be greatly helped or hindered by those whose children are to be taught. In the minds of some there still fingers g. prejudice against so-called book farming" Some doubt if the subject can De taught successfully to children. To some. the 'three R's' are still the law and gospel, educationally. The only way to convince or silence these is to show them what can be. and will be done. Those who have eyes to see will soon come to realize that subject has in 1t more of practical value than many things that the schools are now teach ing. As a distinguished teacher has so well put 1t, as much culture of mind can be gotten from cabbage and pota- teos. pedagogically prepared. as from Greek and Latin. No doubt the former will prove far more palatable to the nd | observation recently. showing that it can be successfully taught, A gentle man who has an orchard. was making inquiry as to where he could get for | mules for spraying mixtures. A teach- l CT who overheard the inqury, directed him to neighbor's little girl who was
 at the time studying the subject in
 school. It may be added that the in-
 auirer went. and secured the informa- tion.
 When the teachers get fairly started in the subject. the children will, no doubt, begin to imbibe ideas. which 10 some may seem quite unorthodox in the farmers creed. If any such should read this article, to you let me say. if your teacher can demonstrate to your boys that it is cheaper in the end to remove the stumps from a certain field, than let them remain as a hindrance eo eAe use ot modern implements, oc- cupying space that would otherwise be devoted to growing something more valuable than stump. grass, and weeds,
 you should at least raise no objection.
 It means a great deal to the teachers
 success and great deal to the chiId's
 welfare to have the hearty interest and cooperation of school patrons in this
 matter. This the patron has no right to withhold. In this respect I would commend the example of an old farmer of this, Randolph County. Though fast approaching the allotted three score and ten, he is ever on the alert for more knowledge of farming. wheth- CT from his neighbors. or books. or Journals. He is always alive to what the teacher and children are dotne. While his neighbors are burning the grass from the fields, he is turning his under, as manure for the next cron
 While others are impoverishinr their land and themselves by the ali-cotton schedule. he is improving his farm every year. and giving his neighbors' sons object lessons on the value of crop rotation and study in farming. May ne live long and his kind multiply.
 D. W. Childs.