The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-24

the country of what is best in 1t, an
making an insignificant return for thi
best
In consequence, in the past, every civ
ilization in its later stages has tended
readily to witness those conditions un
der which the cities prosper and the mel
decay There are ugly signs that thes
tendencies are at work in this nation o
ours. But very fortunately we see nov
what never before WAS seen in any civ
ilization.an aroused and alert public in
terest in the problem, a recognition OF III
gravity and a desire to attempt Its so
luton.
1.-THE problem does not consist merely
in the growth of the city. Such growth
in itself is a good thing and not bat
thing for the country. The problem con
ssts in the growth of the city at th'
expense of the country; and, even where
this is not the case, in so great an equal
| ity of growth in power and interest al
to make the city more attractive than tne
country and, therefore, apt to drain the
country of the people who ought to live
| therein.
Human Side of Life
1.-THE human side of the rural life prob
lem is to make the career of the farmer
| and the career of the farm laborer as
attractive and as remunerative as CORE
spending careers in the city Now,
am well aware that the farmer must
himself take the lead in bringing this
about A century and quarter ago the
wise English farmer, Arthur Young, wrote
| of the efforts to improve French wool
| "A cultiyator at the head of a sheep farm
| of 5000 or 1000 acres would, in few
years, do more for their woods than
all the academicians and philosophers
| will effect in ten centuries.
| 'It Is absurd to think that any man
| who has studied the subject only theo-
retically Is fit to direct those who prac-
tically work at the matter. But, friends
l wish-to insist to you hereto you prac-
| teal men, who own and work your farm
that 1t is a pernicious absurdity for
the practical man to refuse to benefit by
| the work of the student. The English
farmer I have quoted, Young, was a
practical farmer but he was also sci
entific farmer.
zone reason why the great business
| men of today-the great Industrial lead
ers-have gone ahead, while the farmer
has tended to sag behind the others, is
that they are far more willing and in
deed eager to profit by expert and tech
meal knowledge-the knowledge that can
| only come as a result OF the highest
| education. From railways to factories
| no great Industrial concern can nowadays
| be carried on save by the aid OF swarm
| of men who have received high techni-
cal education in chemistry. in engineer
| in, in electricity, In one or more OF SCORES
| of special subjects.
",rhe big business man, the big railway
man, does not ask college-trained experts
| to tell him how to run his business; but
| he does ask numbers Of them each to
| give him expert advice and aid on some
| one point Indispensable to his business
| He finds this man usually is some grad
1 oil n0a
which he has been trained for his life
| work.
Farmer Should Benefit
"In lust the same way the farmers
| should benefit by the advice of the tech
| meal men who have been trained in
| phases of the very work the farmer does.
| T am not now speaking of the man who
has had an ordinary general training
whether in school or college. While there
should undoubtedly be such training as
! a foundation (the extent differing ac-
cording to the kind of work each boy
| intends to do as a man, 1t Is neverthe-
| less true that our educational system
| should more and more be turned In the
| direction of educating men towards, ana
not away from, the farm and the shop.
During the last half-century we have
| begun to develop system OF agricui-
| tural education at once practical and
| It But, after developing 1t, 1t must be
used. The rich man who spends for
| tune upon fancy farm. with entire in
| difference to cost, does not do much good
| 70 farming: but, on the other hand, just
as little Is done by the working FARMER
| who stolidly refuses to profit by the
| knowledge of the day; who treats any
| effort at Improvement as absurd on It's
face, refuses to countenance what ne
regards as newfangled ideas and contri-
vances. and ieers at all book farming
| at wish I could take representatives
of this type of farmer down to Long
Island where I live, to have them sec
what has been done, not as phlian-
thropy but as a plain business propo-
suion. by men connected with the Long
Island railroad, who believe 1t pays
Ia encourage the development of farms
along the line of that railway. They
have put practical men in charge OF
governmental farms, cultivating them
fntensively and using the best mooern
methods, not only in raising crops, but
| in securing the best market for the
crops when raised. The growth has
been astounding and land only 80 miles
from New York, which during our en-
| tire national life time has been treated
as worthless has within the last three
or four years been proved to possess
really high value.
Must Make Land Pay
| 1.-THE farmer, however, must not only
| make his land pay, but he must make
country life interesting for himself
and for his wife and his sons and
daughters. Our people as whole
should realize the infinite possibilities
of life in the country and every EFFORT
should be made to make these posi-
bilities more possible. From the be-
ginning of time 1t has been the man
rais in the country-and usually the
man born in the country-who has been
most apt to render the services which
every nation most needs. Turning to
| the list of American statesmen 1t is
extraordinary to see how large pro-
portion started as farm boys. But II
| is rather sad to see that in recent years
most of these same boys have ended
their lives as men living in cities.
1T often happens that the good con-
ditions of the past can be regained,
not by going back, but by going for
ward. We cannot recreate what Ia
dead; we cannot stop the march of
events; but we can direct this march
and out of the new conditions de-
velop something better than the past
knew. Henry Clay was farmer who
| lived all his life in the country; Wash
| inEton was farmer who lived and
died in the country, and we of this ma
ton ought to make 1t our business To
see that the conditions are made such