Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1908-12-24

Not only should agricultural
education occupy a conspicuous
place in the plan of all rural
schools, but as an intelligent
and thoughtful Virginia reader
of the Farm Journal has per-
tinently observed it should also
be an important factor in the
curriculum of the city schools.
This observer holds that what
is really needed to produce an
equable distribution of labor
and usefulness, is an exchange
of population to meet the needs
of each section. There are ev-
erywhere country boys fitted
to be machinists, tradesmen,
merchants and what-not, in the
cities, but there are few city
bred youths trained to useful.
ness on the farm. What is
needed in both country and city
schools is instruction in agri-
culture, so that the youths of
each section may be in a meas
ure fitted for the pursuits of
both.
vi
The important relation be-
tween good seed and good crops
is probably more widely recog-
nized today than ever before.
Farmers have experienced great
difficulties in securing salts
factory seed this season, owing
in a large measure, to the par
tial crop failures of last year
and as it has been necessary to
take a great deal on faith, there
will no doubt be many disap-
pointments when harvest sea-
son comes on. We have got
away from the long prevalent
notion that seed is a seed,
and that if it terminates at all
it is as likely to produce a
good crop as bad one.
The twentieth century farm
er knows that like begets like
in the vegetable no less than
in the animal world, and the
intelligent man is as careful in
the selection of his seed as he
is in choosing a head for his
herd. Many prefer to select
and prepare his own SEEDS, and
this is the better and surer way
but those who depend upon Sc
curing their supplies in the
market should test them thor
oughly before planting, and
when there are seeds whose
sssiisssrst io, i d e. ass sstl.tse4
impossible to detect, advantage
should be taken of the offer of
the bureau of agriculture at
Washington, d. c., to make free
tests, for the Secretary of Agri-
culture is fully alive to the
vital Importance of good seed
and of protecting the farmers
of the country against the loss
in time, labor and fertilizers
that follows the sowing of
worthless or inferior seeds.
VIII
For two or three generations
eastern people possessed of rest
less and adventurous spirits
have been quoting and acting
upon Bishop Berkeley's famous
declaration: Westward the
course of empire takes it's
way" and in process of time
the vast region westward has
been subdued, peopled, and
brought to a high civilization
and is today regarded as the
most stable, prosperous and en-.
terprising section of the Union
But the tide of migration west.
ward has greatly diminished
with the disappearance Of
cheap far mlands, and today
there are signs OF a recession
The far western farmers, learn
ing of the cheap farms in The
east, are becoming interested
and there is large and stead
lily increasing inquiry, not only
for what are known as aban
doned farms but for eastern
farm lands generally. We fee
quite sure that the next decade
will witness a strong movemen
of rural population from tn,
west to the east, and the leaver
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