Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-01-15
THE FARM ROY IN THE soUrH.
His Prospects and Chances of Success
#sSs Never Letter Or Brighter.

other couhtry has opportunity Of
Tered greater inducement to the far
mer's son to remain on, the farm In
stead OF migrating to great 'centers
OF population to face a most uEcer-
tain future. IL only the experience.
OF many of these farmers sons who
have tried to forge their way in con-
gested centers could be related to
the rural youths who have visions OF
the glortes of life in great cities, and
they could be made to understand
( the tremendous advantage OF remain
Ing on the farm and working energet-
ically, migration would come to a
full stop. ~st.< i.
1t has been my fortune to spend a
good portion of my early days on the
farm; but at that period farming was
demoralized In the South, following
the days Of Reconstruction. Then
began the marvellous development of
the cotton manufacturing industry,
which with its open field for ad-
Vancement to young men drew far
mers and farmers sons alike to these
plRnts--the same thing that hap
pened in Massachusetts, in the early
days Of manufacturing.
For more than decade this pro-
cess went, on until the agricultural
industry Was almost entirely left to
the inferior race But with the in
crease OF manufacturing population
the opportunity for the ambitious
young man to rise higher than an
operative without bitter struggle
gradually decreased. The glamor of
greater variety in social life in the
city died in the full realization of
what clerkship in an office or a
store meant at salary insufficient
almost for board and lodging
The people in the cities became so
numerous and the people on the
farms SO few that there was created
a great demand FOR vegetable, fruit,
poultry, dairy and other diversified
agricultural products at excellent
Ing to the farms. To-day in this
State there Is one small trucking
district alone, which in 1892 was
practically abandoned, and which is
now shipping into the Eastern mar
kets of the United States over $6,-
100000 worth of truck products.
The farmers son As beginning to
realize that the farm offers him a
quick and a sure road to compe-
tency-even wealth. life. of inde-
pendence and satisfaction, good
health, steady nerves and real hap
piness; that when he wants a taste
and spend q short vacation cmong
the steel and brick canyons, politely
termed city streets, and come BE- *
to his happy, health-giving home
glad to get there. ,|i as.
Educational advantages are to-day
being offered every farmers boy.
and he is beginning to take advant-
age of them to a greater extent than
ever before. The South's agricultu-
raj colleges are no longer turning
out the bulk of their young men
loaded with a merely classical edu-
cation, and starting them off in va
rious professional pursuits. These
boys are getting a good substantial
education and are paying attention
to practical subjects as applied to
agriculture.
In other words, there Is a marked
tendency on the part of the farmers
son of to-day to get a substantial
practical education that he can ap-
ply to his farm work instead of get
ing enough theoretical stuff into his
head to make him butterfly chaser
in city.
Throughout this State social con-
ditions on the farm are steadily be-
Ing made more attactive., The ad-
vent OF the rural delivery mail SER
vice and the consequent access to
that greatest Of all educators, the
daily newspaper, has placed the far
mer and his family in touch with
what Is going on In the world as
much as If he were in his chief city.
He knows what is going on around
him, he learns Of the demands for
certain agricultural products, of
what his neighbors in the adjoining
county are doing; he gets and reads
the practical agricultural bulletins;
he Is living broader and more sat
isfying life.
The rural service has perhaps done
more to develop the tendency of
the farmers boy to remain on the
farm and Seek success than any 9TH
er influence In half century. His
ideas are no longer confined to the
narrow boundaries Of his own farm;
they have been broadened, and the
farmer of to-day sees things with a
very different pair of eyes than he
did even a few years ago.
Again, when you wish to make a
man satisfied with living anywhere
you must let him see practical re-
suits Of his efforts in dollars and
cents. The prettiest economic the
ory cannot and will not interest him.
With plenty to eat and a growing in
come the ambitious young man of
any country is satisfied If these
conditions are reversed he is, as
surely as the sun shines, going to
seek some place where he believes
he will find them
The worlds economic conditions
to-day are such as to demand a con-
stantly increasing production Of ae-
rlcnltural products for the feeding
and the clothing of the DeoDle of