Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-03-04
Carving Information to the Farmers

+, throughout the length and breadth of the
| south.
President Taft. they say. has lost his
old sunny smile. and now has a care
I worn expression. 1t isn't strange. when
YOU consider that he assumed the re-
sponsibility for the tariff. and they defini-
! ton of whisky, aR in one year.
I The farmer is being taught to realize
that his salvation depends upon diver
sincation; that the nigh cost of living, for
instance will he permanent so long as
he continues to produce but one crop;
and that TO diversity intellgently re-
quires a variety of knowledge which he
does not always possess. and he must
therefore hasten to educate himself
through attending farmers Institutes, itin-
Grant schools. through correspondence
courses. and through attendance on the
agricultural college, and If he can not
come himself, he must at least spare no
sacrifice that the boy who is to inherit
his broad acres may be able to manage
and direct them in a manner which viii
enable him to conserve natures great
gifts. and make not only himself but the
south permanently prosperous.
The relation of agricultural education
to our material progress is just now be-
ing realized. We have been able to skim
over the surface of the soil and gather
fairly abundant and profitable crops there
! from because nature had been prepar-
ing home for the Anglo-Saxon in the
south for thousands OF years before his
advent. Now that the cream of our fertil-
| ity is gone. new methods must be fol-
lowed or disaster will surely OvertaNe
us. without education the great fertilizer
| business which has been developed to
where its product represents more than
S1C0 100000 year must languish. The great
cotton seed oil industries which have
grown up like a mushroom over night
must perish unless the farmer learns how
! to conserve the fertility of his land more
carefully in the future than he has in
the past. Our cotton mills our manufac-
turing industries, our railroad corpora
tons and the very life and prosperity
OF our people depend upon ascertaining the
great truths which govern natures laws
and their dissemination broadcast
Throughout the land. Our fundamental
industries are being weighed i'm the bal
ance. Their future is assured If the men
| who live on our farms and cultivate the
soil are possessed of the right kind of
knowledge.
| The value of farm products in the south
| in 1909 was placed at two and a half bill
lion dollars This may become three and
/ a half or four and a half billion in pro-
portion to theSskill and intelligence which
we display in the management of OUR
agricultural lands. The soil after all is
THE greatest of all our fundamental re-
sources. We are at the threshold of
knowledge concerning it. Our ability TO
1 feed our own people and clothe the world,
give life and vitality to our industries and
conserve the billion or more of dollars
which are now annually wasted depends
altogether on the extent to which we can
subsidize and promote that type of in
stitution which is actively at work in the
interest of those who till the soil and
which must be relied upon to give per-
msnence to southern industry. 1t is
doubtful IL the business men and the rail-
roads and the thousand and one other cor
pOTations who do business i'm the south
have realized how great their concern is
In the development and spread OF agricul-
tural education. for through this means
alone can new truths be brought to light
and progress commensurate with the
needs of the day and the hour assur-
| ed.
In conclusion. there is nothing more
important which can be done for present
and future generations than to teach
them OF the great patrimony which is the
natural heritage of the south. Can IL be
possible that thousands emigrate from
this section every year TO seek their for
tunes elsewhere? Unfortunately, IL is
true. They are evidently enamored Of
FAhc beAicA AHdb uiSAdhCe letiuS eHCudIl-~
ment TO the view" and that elsewhere can
be found the satisfaction Of those long
ings for which the human mind Graves.
I In this they are mistaken. as all know
who have investigated with care the rel
alive merits of the various sections of
our country. But is there not some logical
reason why these people leave the south
land TO seek homes elsewhere? Are they
imbued as they should be with the priv
| ileges which they may enjoy here? Have
we not neglected to place before them in
an adequate manner the number and va
riety OF our resources? We hear much OF
the necessity OF immigration, and it is