The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-01-13


ton that our swn agricultural de-
veIopment should take2 Having &C
complis1ed the feat of excelling all
others in aggregate yield OF wheat,
should we not now apply ourselves to
increasing the yield per acre? Our
agriculture is approaching the limits
in extensitys but its intensity is as yet
very slight. The excellence of Ger
man wheat is but typical of the quality
Of other. grains. Barley, oats and rye
receive much attention and give good
yields.
s'The grain harvest in Germany
takes one back to the days of his
grandfather. The cradle. the rake, and
hand binding is the rule. I saw in
all perhaps ten binders at work,
though during much of my travelling
the harvest was at its height. On one
large estate the wheat fields We're of
an area comparable with our medium
sized farms, and there were two biud-
ers cutting in the same field. 1 doubt
If there IS a header in all Germany.
Not only is the harvest accomplished
by means of implements that are
primitive, but the manner of con-
Quoting it is equally SO. The whole
family seems to take part in it. The
father and elder son perhaps swing
the cradles. laying off the little gavels
in a way scarcely known by a Kansas
boy. The mother and daughters rake
and bind. The younger children find
something for each to do. A family
of five or six scattered along the side
of wheat field forty to sixty rods
long and four to ten rods wide is a
common sight
.sThe Victory OF the Country
Mrs. Atkinson's paper was a lengthy
one filled with convincing arguments
as to why the country districts are the
better places to live in. She said
among other things.
1t is among a few conceded facts
Na f1rerl Il
cities. It was the certain design and
purpose of the Creator that man
should live an outdoor life, under the
spell of fresh air, sunshine. green
woods, fair flowers, happy birds, pos
seSslng an authority, a dominion over
all the things of earth, and it is a per-
picking question how far we may
venture in the artificial life which
modern civilization more especially in
the city entails and not lose In phySi-
cal, mental and moral tone and vigor
THE crowded condition Of the city,
the V1tiated, smoke laden atmOsph efef
the nerve racking noiS0aand confusion;
the necessary and unaVeida BILE special
ization in every line of employment;
the monOtony and the machine grind
of it all inevitably dWaFfs, rather than
develops character, independence of
thought, initiative and individuality,
and most dangerous of all, damages
the physical being and atrophies the
spiritual nature. What can be eX-
pected for the body, mind or soul of
the boy placed in the factory, doing
one thing over and over, year in, year
out or bent over a ledger, or stand
ing behind a counter resolved into a
mere autOmatOn, a machiue, scourged
by the taskmaster and the ever NOV
ing finger of the diaf5 and how much
less may be expected from that one
who grows up in ioieness, whether. he
be child of the avenue or the alley.
To labor at congenial tasks, under
suitable. wholesome environment is
proved mans blessing, not his curse,
but the divine commandment to man
to earn his bread by the sweat of his
brow, did not contemplate the earning
it in a modern sweat shop.
Nowhere is there greater improve
ment in the conditions that tend to
make life comfortable and attractive.
than in the country, The application
of science to the work of agriculture
Is fast eliminating the man who
farmed by main strength and aWk-
wardness alone. That farmer who
houses his shaggy, ankepf team in a
straw covered. shed, and his farming
Implements in the fence corner, under
the canopy of heaven; who devised an
excuse for coming to town every other
day, driving these same ungrOomed
horses, hitehed to a weatherbeaten,
patched up wagon, plank laid across
the bed thereof for a, spring seat;
and he himself with one SuSpender un-
/ certainly supporting the faded over
ais: shirt sleeved and slouched and
dirty; such was the farmer of the
past.
Behold his son and successor, as
he comes forth from comfortable
and artistic home, clean shaven and
genteel; bitches his matched team OF
roadsters to the family carriage and
coming to the town. Visits the bank,
makes the purchases for the week. and
returns to the country home where he
enjoys all the independence of a baron
in his castle. The farmer or agri-
culturist is learning to specialize in his
work, and to devote himself to certain
lines in a scientific manner; in other
words. to farm with his head as well
as with his hands"