The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-08-17

Ira w. Williams. Mr.. A. G. Smith and
Col. E. j. Watson.
e. w. Dabbs, vice president of the
State Farmers union and president of
the County Farmers union, presided
and introduced the speakers with a
few appropriate remarks.
Prof. Ira w. Williams was the first
speaker and spoke upon the subject
Of Industrial Education" He said
In substance: 1--WE all honor and
revere the heroes of the past who
fought, bled and died for their homes
and for what they conceived to be
the right. We have heroes today OF
a different type but they have to fight
for their homes just as did the heroes
of old. They have to battle for their
homes to maintain them in a fitting
way. They have been the creators
Of wealth and it is necessary to in
crease the creation OF wealth to meet
the requiremnts Of an advanced
civilization. This may be done by
raising horses. We have just as good
grazing lands as there are in the
country and we have a considerable
advantage over the farmer north of
us, for we can have them all the
year round. Pea vine hay, which Is
as good as any and better in some
respects, can be grown at less cost
per ton that the hay which Is shipped
into this State. There are more than
s12,000,000 worth of bacon shipped
into South Carolina each year and 1t
has been demonstrated right here in
Sumter county that hog meat can be
grown cheaper here than in the hog
raising States. These are some Of
the ways Of creating wealth to send
boys and girls to college. Corn can
be produced as cheaply in Sumter
county as in any part of the country
and 1t Is time the farmer was waken-
ing up to a realization of the profits
corn to Supply the local markets.
The school boys clubs are helping
in this work and I am looking for
some phenominal yields. in this coun-
ty this year. The one-crop system
that has been so persistently followed
here in the past mus necessarily be a
failure.
1--WE have had the wrong idea of
education. We have always thought
that boys and girls were making no
progress unless they could write
poems, translate Latin and make big
speeches. There is just as much edu-
cation in studying a corn root a
potato root or a tomato root as there
is in studying a Latin or Greek root
THE ideal school for the country
is somewhat like the one being con-
Quoted here and this school should
solve the problem for a model school
throughout the State. The school
should be a model home in the midst
of a model farm surrounded by a
model grove, model flower yard,
model garden, model dairy, and model
orchard. Here the boys and girls
should learn to do the right thing in
the right way from observation and
not through poring over books.
Tile Drainage.
The next speaker was A. G.. Smith
His subject was Drainage and Cover
Crops" Mr.. Smith said in substance:
About the hardest proposition the
farmer has to contend with is to try
to cultivate a piece of wet land The
common way here is to cut a ditch
two or three feet deep and let the
water run off. ] came from the corn
belt of Illinois. Our lands were once
wet and we had mosquitoes and
malaria. These people began to
underdrain their land first with poles
and finding these unsatisfactory be-
cause they lasted such a short while,
they finally adopted the tile system.
nearly all Of these lands have been
drained for some time and now they
are probably the highest priced farm
ing lands in the United States. The
land was changed from piddling
patches to large fields and there is
no longer any such thing as malarial
fever
ITO dig these drains It is enconom-
ical to buy suitable tools a tile spade,
a tile hook and a drain cleaver. AS