Woodruff County news., 1909-03-04
Reports on Farmers, Condition.


 has been the interest displayed by the people in general. Recently the president sent message to Congress in which was embodied the report of the country life commission. Extracts from the report are as follows:
 The commission finds that agricul- ture in the United States, taken to. gether, is prosperous commercially, when measured by the conditions that have obtained in previous years, al. though there are some regions in which this is only partially true. The country people are producing vast quantities of supplies for food, shel- ter, clothing, and for use in the arts The country homes are improving in comfort, attractiveness, and healthful- ness. Not only in the material wealth that they produce, but in the supply of independent and strong citizenship, the agricultural people constitute the very foundation of our national eff ciency. As agriculture is the imme- diate basis of country life, so it fol- lows that the general affairs of the open country, speaking broadly, are in condition of improvement
 Many institutions organizations, and movements are actively contrib uting to the increasing welfare of the open country. The most important of these are the United States depart ment of agriculture, the colleges of az l.iC 111t + in the states, and the national farm CTS organizations These institutions and organizations are now properly as- suming leadership in country life affairs, and consequently in many of the public questions of national bear ing. With these agencies must be mentioned state departments of az. riculture, agricultural societies, and organizations of very many kinds, teachers in schools, workers in church and other relifious associations, tray cling libraries, and many other 8roupes, all working with commenda ble zeal to further the welfare of the people of the open country. Yet it is true, notwithstanding all this, progress as measured by histori- cal standards, that agricultural is not | commercially as profitable as it is en- titled to be for the labor and energy that the farmer eXpends and the risks that he assumes, and that the social ! conditions in the open country are far short of their possibilities. We must measure our agricultural efficiency by the possibilities rather than by com. | parisOn with previous conditions The farmer is almost necessarily handicap ped in the development of his business because his capital is small and the volume of his transactions limited and he usually stands practically alone against organized interests. In the general readjustmect of modern life due to the great changes in manufac lures and commerce, inequalities and 1 discriminations have arisen, and nat ! urally the separate man suffers most. The unattached man has problems that government should understand
 The reasons for the lack of a highly organized rural society are very many, as the full report explains. The lead ing specific causes are:
 A lack of knowledge on the part of farmers of the exact agricultural con- ditions and possibilities of their re- gions;
 Lack of good training for country life in the schools;
 The disadvantage Or handicap of the farmer as against the established business systems and interests, pre- venting him from securing adequate returns for his products, depriving him of the benefits that would result from unmOnopOlized rivers and the consery- ation of forests, and depriving the community, in many cases, of the | good that would come from the use of great tracts of agricultural lands | that are now held for speculative pur- | poses;
 Lack of good highway facilities;
 The widespread continuing deple- tion of soils, with the injurious effect on rural life;
 A general need of new and active | leadership
 Other causes contributing to the 1 general result are: Lack of any ade- i quate system of agricultural credit, whereby the farmer may readily se- cure loans on fair terms; the short age of labor, condition that is often complicated by intemperance among workmen; lack Of institutions and in centives that tie the laboring man to the soil; the burdens and the narrow life of farm women lack of adequate supervision of public health.
 Some of the remedies lie with the National Government, some of them with the states and communities in their corporate capacities, some with voluntry organizations, and some with individuals atcing alone.
 Selecting eggs for matching should be from hens which are winter lay CTS. The eggs should be regular, not