The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-08-09
TEACH FARMER BOY
HOW he SHOULD CO

nun Ill uIlUULU UU
Continued from First PageD
I in bis stead Captain Heath then ex-
tended the farmers cordial welcome
on behalf of the city of Petersburg
/ and the Chamber of Commerce of
| which he is president.
Building Fine Roads.
Governor Mann began mis- address
| by citing the fact that nearly 400
miles Of permanent roads have been
/ constructed In Virginia since the es-
/ adjustment OF the State highway
/ commission in 1905. or this amount
of ROADWAY 1871 miles of maeadam was
| built, twelve feet wide, in thirty-one
| counties, at an average cost Of $3.50
| per mile: 92 miles of gravel, twelve
| feet wide, in eight counties at an
average cost OF $1.274 per mile; and
| 30 miles of sand-clay or gray soil. in
| seventeen counties, at an average cost
/ of 1854 per mile.
This statement he said. shows
work done In fifty-six counties, but
! this does not include five counties In
which the mileage completed Is small
and has not been accurately measur-
ed Thirteen counties have issued
| bonds for good roads to the amount
! of sl,31s,000. Twenty-three counties
| have used the money coming to them
from the State aid fund for the build
ing of permanent bridges and only
seven counties In the State have fail
ed to take the benefits they are en-
titled to under this fund.
Farms Offer Opportunities.
I'm dealing with this question, we
have been treating the symptoms
rather than the cause OF the trouble"
continued the governor ITO secure
good roads and all the blessings
which come with them we must de-
| velop our State, as with increasing
means the pople will build the ways
| along which they travel and haul their
produce. Thinking men who have
examined the subject are OF the
opinion that the agricultural interests
of the State offer more opportunities
| for development than perhaps any
! other interests, and that while they
! think that the manufacturing, mer-
/ camille and industrial interests should
be protected by wise and conservative
laws and advanced in every way pos
| sible. the agricultural interests un-
| doubtedly give the best promise. In
Virginia we have 25.000,000 million
| acres of land, of which les than A.
! 100000 are under cultivation. Making
allowance for the mountain lands and
swamps. 1t is safe to say that 5000
600 acres of arabic lands are idle to-
day. In 1900. our total agricultural
|
chard fruits amounted In round num-
bers to ss7,0o0.000. In 1910. this sum
had increased to s1s2,0O0,00o.
New Methods introduced
"our corn crop in 1900 was valued
at Sl0,0 100000. In 1910. the crop of
bo.o00.00o bushels is easily worth
s3s, 900. 900. New and intelligent
methods have been introduced. and
farm lands which fifteen years ago
only produced from twelve to fifteen
bushels of corn. to the acre are now
producing over 100 bushels to the
acre and as much as Ave tons of hay
are being made upon land which a
| few years ago 1t was thought would
not produce grass at all. The aver
age production of corn in 1909 was
| twenty-three bushels to the acre. In
the United States it was a little over
twenty-five bushels to the acre so
that the average for Virginia. is not
much behind. This average has
been increased in this State to forty
| one bushels to the acre wherever the
improved systems OF agriculture are
used. and tho boys demonstration
work has shown an average OF sixty
| Ave bushels to the acre.
State Helps Cause.
AT the last session of the legis-
lature. bill was passed creating the
united agricultural board, composed
| of representatives from the school
| boards and all the agencies interested
In agricultural advance The object
/ OF this bill IL to coordinate all the
| agricultural interests of the State Ex-
| pertinent stations will be established
in every distinct agricultural district
Demonstration work will be done by
adults and boys and the result of this
| work and the experiments will be
carried home TO the farmer.
Twelve thousand boys last year
| cultivated corn under the direction
| of the United States department of
agriculture. One boy in South Caro-
lima made 132 bushels to the acre. An
other in South Carolina made 14zI
bushels to the acre. One boy in
Mississippi raised 1875 bushels and one
of our boys from Chesterfield county
raised l23 bushels OF corn to the
acre ! say 10 that boy. you have
done great work. but this year you |
have got TO go ahead OF the boys In /
the other States. Virginia boys can't
be second or third or fourth in any
contest
What Sets Precedent.
But while these individual in |
stances of production are instructive |
they do not set precedent. The great
average ts what sets II and the man |
whose average yield il away down |
FSuuSSb tnaL Oh DettSE farmers.
MY hope for the future OF this
Commonwealth Is based to a large !
extent on the development of the agri- |
cultural interests. | am devoting a |
large part of the energy and intelli- /
gence l have to the advancement of |!
this interest which Is at the founda- |
ton of our prosperity and which when |
Ii progresses will carry with IL every |
other interest in Virginia
Farmers Rsbuked.
Selecting as his subject Soil I'm t
provement,' Mr.. w. ID. linn. OF Phil |
ippi, w. Va. consulting agriculturist
OF that State. rebuked the Virginia
farmer for failing in many instances
to make available the plant food in
the earth.
"There are bat four elements OF
plant food In which the soil may be-
come deficient in point of availability,
and those are phosphorous. potash, nj
trogen and lime. he said. There was
time. 50 biologists tell us, when
nothing grew upon the face Of the
earths surface, which was made of
rock Gradually. the rain. sunshine and
frosts and freezing disintegrated this
rock so much that low forms of vage-
table life sprang UP. These were Itch
ems and rnosses and when they decayed
more plant was made available. Thus