The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1907-08-14

seen in that little village, a crowd
estimated at between Thousand and
fifteen hundred souls. The vast ma
iority of those present we're farmers,
and they had come from four counties,
Newberry, Fairfield, Richland and
Lexington, but mainly from the latter
county, and it was as representative
BODY of men and women as ever as
sembled in the State. They had come
to listen to the speeches of the Glenn
son farmers. That in itself was a
notable fact. Congressman Lever re-
marked in his speech that 1T was
hopeful sign wnen so many farmers
turned out to listen to gentlemen
deliver themselves of so-called book
farming There used to be pre-
iudice against this kind of informatlo
and it was rather sneered at 1T is
all different now, the farmer is awake,
eager to learn, willing to experiment,
ready to take advice, if it strikes him
favorably.' 1T is the result of educa-
ton, gained in large measure through
the University of Rural Delivery,
which gives full course in daily
reading Reading makes the ready
man." but it does more than that, 1t
makes a thinking man, and thinking
man soon becomes an educated man.
These Dutch Fork people are reading
more than they ever did before, they
are thinking more than they ever
thought before, they are farming bet
ter than they ever farmed before, and
they have better crops, better homes,
more comforts of life, more happiness,
more smiles, more JOY in their hearts,
and bigger pocketbooks than they
ever had in their lives. 1t was a great
crowd of great people, industrious,
frugal, striving to measure up to the
opportunities afforded by nature.
Mr.. John G. Swygerr was the master
of ceremonies and introduced as the
first speaker, Prof. Newman, who
spoke along practical lines, and put
himself in sympathy with his audi
ence. He urged rotation, diversified
tion and the home-mixing of fertilizers,
impressed the value of seed selection,
gave the results of his experiments in
deep preparation of the soil, and COM
mended it, called attention to the
value of rapid cultivation, and made
lust such talk as results in good, and
can be carried home by the farmer
who is out for information.
Col. J. G. Stribbling spoke next in
behalf of The Farmers Union, and
created considerable enthusiasm
among those present. He is an in
teresting talker, earnest and eloquent
at times, and he left a most favorable
impression. The Farmers Union is
strong in the Fork, and rapidly adding
to it's membership.
Dinner came in at this juncture, and
it was good one-an old fashion bar
becue, combined with an old fashion
picnic
After dinner Prof. Harper was in
troduced and spoke earnestly in behalf
of q more general attention to the
live stock industry. He pleaded for
more hogs, more horses, more cattle,
and pointed out that from lack of
these the Southern farms were being
impoverished because we were each
year taking from the soil humus,
vegetable matter, and failing to return
it in sufficient quantities to keep the
soil alive and in healthy condition.
He called attention to the value of
peavines as fertilizer, but insisted
that it was much better, and that q
greater per cent. of good was had
from them when fed to stock, and in
that way prepared for the hand. He
deprecated the custom of plowing
under peavines. ''Feed it to your
stock, and let them manufacture it
into the very best fertilizer known to
man." 1t was a good talk, full OF
valuable suggestions.
Prof. Morrison spoke eloquently
along the lines of industrial educa-
ton, emphasizing the need of that
kind of education which taught the
boy and the girl how to be useful,
how to get from nature her hidden,
but immensely rich treasures. Books
are mighty good things" said he,
''but it is more necessar:. to have good
cooks.'' His plea for better homes,
more educated farm boys and girls
and higher plan of living was indeed
impressive. keep the boys on the
farms" he urged, ''that the citizen
ship of the State may be kept pure
and the fountains of government Kept
uupOluCCO3 Q1loO SA1AhS AAA~J w ASo
sened, that law may be respected, and
that the nation may survive"
Congressman Lever was present and
that means, of course, the crowd
would have him talk-he was intro
duced and arose to face his home peo-
pie, who greeted him with lusty
shouts of welcome. He spoke for an
hour, and it would be an injusticeto
him to attempt a synopsis of his earn
est, practical heart-to-heart speech.
The concensus of opinion was that it
was the greatest speech ever heard
from him, and one of the greatest
ever delivered in that section. He
urged as the salvation of the farmer
the doctrine of rotation OF crops, in
tensifcation in farm methods, diversi-
fcation in crops and organization to
control the sale of the crops once
made, but above all he pleaded for
more education along agricultural
lines, practical education, the educa-
ton that makes man, not dandy,
the education that carries the diploma
in the head and heart and not on
sheep-skin. "Legislation can do little
for YOU, YOU can do much for your