The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-10-15

Iavassar Ladies' Band at State Fair.
 jects; they readily come to understand the effects of various conditions upon the traffic of their roads and upon the de- velopment of the territory from which they draw the business which keeps their corporations alive. They are advocates of good roads because their study of the question, their knowledge of what the sure results would be, convince them that good roads mean the best development which can be brought about. They un- derstend that with the enormous benefits 70 the people which would follow their building the great transportation systems would slso be great gathers. The rail- roads are not merely selfish in this view. Good Roads and "New Agriculture"
 "Of all the people who will benefit from a system of good roads the farm CTS, the men and women who live in small villages and in the country are to be the largest beneficiaries. This is the day of the so-called new agriculture the day when attention is being paid to every phase of farm life, when the pro- gressive farmsr has become alive to the importance of soil study and soil building, of crop and seed selection, of the best methods of cultivation, of the need of crop diversification of, here in the south, the value of live stock on the farm, the day when the progressive farmer has become business man and understands that farming is not merely the yielding ..T1 planting and picking of cotton, but is a business occupation, and like any other business one that requires attention and intelligence. There Is another thing to this so-called new agriculture It has taught and is teaching our people, the men of the towns and the cities as well as the men on the farms, that farming is an occupation which presents great opportunities, both for successful home building and the accumulation of com potency, even of wealth. We who are working to develop the south are en- deavoring to teach the people of other sections that here in the southern states these opportunities are greater than else where.
 '"rhe farm land that Is at distance
 
 character, that is shut off from the towns and cities good portion of the year by impossible roads, that must depend upon highways upon which only light loads can be hauled and the cost to the farmer on all the produce he takes to market is 25 or 30 cents or more ton per mile really presents few opportunities, and it's value is small. That kind of land has few attractions for home build- ing, that kind of a place fails to keep the boys and girls on the farm that kind of a place seldom will know the comforts of modern farm life the tele- phone, the good school, and all that It may be good fruit land but the farmer cannot deliver his fruit in marketable shape to shipping station. Unfortu- natey the majority of our farm lands are so situated today. five, six, ten or 20 miles from railroad points. as they may be- There is only one way by which they may be brought into their full use, only one way by which they may be given their true value and the advan- tages of modern life, and that Is by giv- ing them good roads. Is there any need to dwell upon the effect a good highway would have upon such farm land, of the greater use to which it could be put, oe the increased production which would come, of the added value to the owner? Multiply the effect of a good road upon one such farm in Alabama, or anywhere else. by the total number of farms and farm locations in the state or the coun- , try and perhaps you can get faint idea of the value of good roads in the develop 1 ment of the country and in the general betterment of the condition of life in this state and in the nation
 Good Roads Make Ideal Farm Home.
 'The ideal life of the old south the life which we most often hear of, was that of the old-time plantation. The owner lived on the plantation and not in the town, as now; 1t always had his direct | supervision; 1t was the seat of social | life. and naturally the plantation home | became a home of comfort, of the best conditions which were obtainable 50 or 50 l years ago. In the upbuilding of the south. ! in the thorough and well-rounded devel- | opment to which you aspire, the farm home of the future must asume a posi- | tion of greater attention and importance | and on the fertile plantations must again | be found the seats of social life. And 1 these new farm houses will enjoy com forts and facilities which the old-time plantations. even with their thousands of fertile acres, could not know. They will | come, in numbers, when the agricultural districts of the south are penetrated bv thorough system of good roads. Ant improved highway will make possible an ideal farm home, not only for the rich l planter with his large acreage, but for the man of few acres who is intelligent