Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-06-11
FARMERS MEETINGS
GREAT SUCCESS.


II
= More than 700 Virginia farmers .
n'nk george Caroline, Westmore,and
ESSEX richmond, Lancaster and MID
u'esex counties heard the lectures 40
HVereo on the Farmers Snec;al T.
struction Steamboat ..Grat;,uds" ~-
. s'ed on the Rappahannock River ON F.;
LAY ano Saturday of last week promote,
~ the maryland. delaware and yirp;n;,
Railway Company. s"'''
J state Commissioner of A0r;c,,,,c
W ho'ner; s. b. Heiges. and w p
S.S., OF the State Experimen,
ssa''on; w. w. Sproul and t. C. John.
oon' oi the Truck Experiment Station
u n. n, Hartley. of the Departmen,
VI Agriculture, were the sxper,s -
ue"'ered lectures to the farmers I'll
maryland, Delaware and v;rc;n;. p..'
way company was represented hv r
Muruock' General Freight and Passen.
ger Agent and w. d.. Scott Cone,
agent at fredericksburg.
Owing to the fact that the f
s'ong the Rsppahannock River bsva =
SOIL that is adapted to track;ro 81.
49, was directed especially To
mat feature of agriculture. w w
oproui' OF Staunton, a successful ro.,,.
grower, made thirty minutes tall
every wharf visited by Special II.
instructed the farmers in me,hod, g
p.eVeh''ng the blight. and gave them
Ine benefit of his experience for ,hn
'ast ten years. Professor .Jobnson -
talked on potatoes. as we'll AS ton,.,oas
peas watermelons and c,n,..Ios
ms instructions for combatt;no e.
nefen1d diseases peculiar to these yey.-
eaoles Interested the farmers k.-n1a
rroiessor Heiges and Mr.. HartIv ho,h
Oh whom have devoted much tin.
corn culture, delivered lectures on rho,
subject. illustrated charts wer.. 80
effectively, as well as SAMPLE ears IS
corn showing the results secured nv
scientific practices.
When the steamer arrived at Ir.;
ton IL looked as if, though well adver
@iSeo' our farmer people cared i;ttIa g.
sucn instruction, inasmuch as q s,,au
Tro"d gathered at the wharf to listen
however, the company greatly aupmen-
eeu little later, and the cabin of ,ba
urauluoe was well filled and prov.a
70 De one of ifnot the largest eather;no
81 the trip. Mr.. w. d. Scott of FL
r.a essourE stated the object of the
meeting and introduced Commission
CT holner who introduced the other
speakers. For half an hour tbe \
audience was instructed as well as on $
'ertained by w. w. Sproul, who snok.. p
IN potato raising as zone of the &c
erS' He said his home was the Val
ley Oh Virginia, with soil not nearly
~ wen adapted to potato culture as our -
northern Neck land. but he gav. r
heenoos OF culture and accounts of his L
Tsa enae sounded quite marvellous. ]
The last speaker was Professor s. Ns ~
he,ses' ne Mailing from Powhatan Co :,
'hu though Pennsylvania hy birth "
vas Virginian by adoption for thu
'Ast 80 years, HE talk was on oorn and 4,
= neia the attention VI the listeners d
rom start to finish. Starting out with
nc statement that all soils were NOT
leu ior corn, or at any rate not best m
TIED Tor all sorts OF corn. he nl,,gaS h,
i'o Inscription Of the best prensrs ca
ions of the soil for a crop.
commissioner Koiner deserves nrs,.a ~
:, Tue earnest work he has done and il IL
oa's ior me State of Virginia. One
'atement ne made in iatroduoinp tns
peaher was OF grave important H.
I'u 'nat IN England and in Scotland
mere were thousands of good, religious
"o earnest men, renting lands at from,
- s1o an acre. annually paving IA
iueh rent'as they could purchase VIZ
mia farms for outright, -and tho, ,h
'ea' EFFORT OF the State should be TO
luce such men to come with us
nunhing the farmers special steam
oA' IN virginia for the Commissions,
I agriculture is one of the MANI .f
'rts being exerted by the PsnnsvIv.n;.
abroad and its subsidiary lines to nd.
2nce. the agricultural interests of ,ha
,a'es IN which 1t operates. Soec;.I II
trains have been sxnloited
u'nerent sections of Pennsylvan;a !
ID New Jersey, and the lessons ta,rh.
ave spurred the farmers on to greater
Fort.
Inc Company realizes that ito ;nt,
Is ana those of the farm srs ar.
atual, and that the adoption OF
l'ntihc methods of farming will ia.
Top more traffic for its steamboat
es.
Inc trip OF the Gratitude" down tho
ppahannock was unique in thar mi II
N special had ever been operated IL
section. The crowds of farmers -
ny or whom drove ten and fifteen
es to wharfs. or came in their easo-
boats from river points, attestsd 70
popularity of the movement into
'rything was done to make the leo. mixs
IS of special value, and the Schedules pain
e so arranged as to give the farm. VID
OF each county along the river an are I
'rtunity to hear them. Hearty co. Tn
alton was given the lectures by thu can {
wing men who We're in charge of n.
steamer; Captain NJ. w. Gourlev Hi
Officer ]. B. Sanford, Quarter. ~
sers Major Fletcher and Milo,
lett, Chief Engineer N. H. Fitz.
ID Assistant Engineer Samuel San. .on.,
ana Waterman r. H. Marshall
ok of La,