The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-08-24
Gives Advice to Farmers How
70 Be Happy
CONSERVATION HIS KEYNOTE.
TilIors of Soil Mus. Take Advice From
Giants of Business WorId-Homo
Life Should Be Much Happier-Tako
tho Condition Of the Hirsd Man and
His Wife Into Consideration.

Utlcn, n. Y. Aug. 23.-Thcrc are no
two public questions of more vital In
portance TO the future Of this country
than the problem of conservation and
the problem of the bettermcnt OF pub
lie life. Moreover, these two problems
are really lnterdcpendent. for neither
of them can be successfully solved
save Oh condition that there is nj least
measurable success In the effort TO
solve the other. In any great country
the prime physical asset-thc physical
asset more valuable than any other
is the fertility of the soil. All our
Industrial and commercial welfare. all
our material development Of every
kind. depends In the last resort upon
our preserving and increasing the fer.
Utility of the SOIL
This. of course. means the conServa.
tion of the soil Us. the great natural
resource. and equally. Of course. II fur,
thermorc implies the development Of
country life. for there cannot be per.
mancnt improvement of the soil II
the life of those who live on it and
make their living out of 1t Is suffered
to starvc and anguish TO become
stunted and weakened and inferior to
the type of life lived elsewhere.
We are now trying to preserve. not
for exploitation by individuals. but for
the permanent benefit of the whole
people. the waters and the forests. and
We are doing this primarily us
means of adding 10 the fertility of the
soil. although In each case there Is Il
great secondary use both of the wa
fer and Of the forests for commercial
ana industrial purposes. In the same
way 1t Is essential for the farmers
themselves TO try to broaden the life
of the man who lives In the open coun.
try. to make 1t more attractive. TO give
1t every adjunct and aid TO develop.
ment which has been given to the life
OF the man of the cities.
Therefore. friends. the conservation
and rural life policies are really two
sides of the same policy. and down ut
the bottom this policy rests upon the
fundamental law that neither man nor
nation can prosper unless In dealing
with the present he steadily take
thought for the future.
Problem Old Ono.
IN one sense this problem with
Which we have to deal Is very. very
old. Wherever civilizations have hith.
erto sprung up they have always tend.
cd TO so through certain stages and
then to fall. No nation cau develop Il
real civilization without cities. Up to
a certain point the city movement Is
thoroughly healthy. Yet 1t Is strange
and lamcntable fact that always bith-
crto after this point has been reached
the city has tended to develop at the
expense Of the country by draining
the country Of what Is best In II and
making au Insignificant return for this
best.
In consequence In the past every civ
illzatlon In its Inter stages has tended
really TO witness those conditions uu.
der which the cities prosper aud the
men decay" There are ugly signs that
these tendencies are ut work In this
nation OF ours. But very fortunately
we see now what never before was
seen In any clvilizaton-un aroused
and alert public interest In, the prob.
lem. recognition OF its gravity and IL
desire TO attempt Its solution.
The'problcm does not consist merely
10 the growth of the city. Such
growth III itself is q good thing and
not bad thing for the country. The
problem consists In the growth Of the.
city at the expense Of the country. and
even where this is not the case In so
great an equality Of growthIn power
and interest rs 10 make the city more
attractive than the country and there
fore apt to drain the country of the
people who ought to live therein.
The human side Of the rural life
ptob'S" W Aut vi luG
farmer and the career OF the farm 10.
borer MS attractive and as rcmuuera-
tive as corresponding careers 10 the
city. Now. am well aware that the
farmer must himself take the lead In
bringing this about. iNcentury and n
quarter ngo the wise English farmer.
Arthur Young. wrote of the efforts to
improve French wool:
"a cultivator at the head of n sheep
farm of 5000 or 1000 acres would in,
a few years do more for their woods
than all the academicIans and philoso-
piers will effect in ten centuries" 1t
is absurd to think that any man who
has studied the subject only theoret-
ically is ct 10 direct those who prac-
tically work at the matter. But,
friends. wish to Insist to you here.
TO you practical men who own and
work your farms. that 1t is an equally
pcrnicious absurdity for the practical
man TO refuse 10 benefit by the work
of the student.
The English farmer have quoted
Younr-wns n practical farmer. but he