The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-06
GREAT DAY AT
 MAPLESVHLE


 ff.cptanued from Page One) ~riny could come within range of the rofees from the platform was that xaxt of the crowd which the speakers wanted. the part which was maae up of earnest listeners.
 spealing Begins.
 The speaking began at II ociock III .ne n,orning. Judge W. F. Wilkinson ,srsa,ded. He presented each speaker briefly but happily.
 frn,rnaissioner J. A. Wilkinson spoke nf the plan and purpose or the aas' he Department of Agriculture, ne salu, was engaged in work which woulo heYr inc farmer to farm beetter than h had sarnned before, to help him learn things that he did not know pe- aThere will be no politics talked here foday." said Mr. wilkinson. IT any man gets up here and goes to talking politics I want somebody in the au- dience to hit him with a SUCK;
 Farming in Alabama. MT. Wilklnsoh nafd had been done by main strength and awkwardness, mostly awkward ness He doubted whether there were any farmers in the audience. iie was not afraid to say that because ne himself was in the same class TOT while he had titled the soil all ms Ire: 
 the word
 sIt Is the purpose of this meeting and of other meetings, which the oe- artment hopes to hold. to help you save your dollars and to leave your children a better heritage" said Commissioner Wilkinson. What will you leave your boy7 Forty acres of land, probably worn out Your boy gets married and starts life for himself. He goes over 4o yonr nefghbor and takes his daugh- ter for his bride. You give piece or ground and your neighbor gives them blind mule. But you want your poy to have a better chance and fairef Nhow than you had. We are here to help him get that show and that chance, to help htJn get 1t by instruction Tn antelligent and systematic farming
 'We want to inoculate you with pride which will not permit you quiet ly to bear the term 'hill billy It has Become a reproach. Our friends in the towns use it that way. You will not attain your full standard, you will not do your full duty until you dress your wives and your daughters in silks and satins and give to them the comforts the ladies in the cities have. long to see the day when you will be alluded to as a country gentleman and not as a hill billy
 Knowledge of Farming.
 Mir. wilkinson discussed briefly the importance of seed selection, knowledge of the soil and the use of fertilizer, but these subjects he said were the prov inces of other speakers and he was not permitted to trespass upon them. He would, however, emphasize to his hearers a Knowledge of the kind of land which was upon his farm and a Knowledge of the sort of fertilizer most effective upon it.
 "The old woman knows what kind of soda, and just how much to put in the biscuits to make them good, but you do not know just what kind of fer tiIizer to put on your land to make the best crops. That's what we are trying to do--to learn how to put soda in the biscuits" said Mir. Wilkinson.
 J. l.. Burgess. the young man sent from the Washington Department of Agriculture to make a tour with Con- gressman Hobson, was next presented to talk on soil and cotton. He said that hls subject would be Adaptation of Varieties of Cotton to Types oi Soil" He repeated his subject so that his hearers might catch its signih- canoe. He then spoke of the import ance of a-farmer knowing the charac. ter of his soil The farmer called fl land. the Department called it soil. bu the two terms meant sthe same thing Next in importance to knowing thor oughIy the soil was the care to b' used in making seed selection Hf told how practical cotton planters had developed the great cotton varietie: which had such wide vogue in tho South. Yet experience had shown thaf one variety of cotton which would make It's grower a bale and half tC the acre, would on a different Soil anC with a different environment, be ranl failure.
 He took as an instance the "Tool' Variety which had been developed b! Mr. w. w. Toole, of Augusta, Ga This variety he said, had been de yeloped by growth and selection on loose sandy soil, known as the Nor folk sand.' It made magnificent cot ton when grown on soil of that na ture, but when removed from its nat ural environment and placed upon heavier soil, such as the prafries, or tn