The Robesonian., 1910-12-19
DEMONSTRATION WORK.

DEMONSTRATION WORK.
Mr.. E. S. Millsaps, District. AGENT
For the Farmers Demonstra.
ton Work, Makes an Interest
ing Talk in Lumberton-T he
Value of the Work How
Farmers Should Study Their 6
Business, Raise Home Supplies
and Build Up the Land 50
. Mr.. E. S. S.aMillsaps. of States
lille, district agent of the farm
,, sers' cooperative demonstration
work in the State, made an in
.eresting talk on this work be-
fore small audience in the COM
missioners' room at the court
E. house Friday about noon. 1t is
to be regretted that the talk was
not heard by large crowd, for
it was interesting and packed |
as full of helpful suggestions as
an egg is full Of meat,
Mr.. Millsaps,> who is a 'practi-
cal farmer, talked in an infor-
NAL way Of the work that is be-
ing done by the work he repre-
sents and the problems that con-
front the farmer. He said that
some farmers do not take kind
ly to the farmers cooperative
demonstration work. because a
Local man is picked up for the
work in each county and there is
an inclination to think that they
know as much about farming as
the man in charge of the. work.
This he showed to be a mistaken
idea because theslocal man is al
ways trained in the special work
to be done and. besides, his
work consists largely in influenc-
ing men to agree to adept plans
laid down by the United States
Department of Agriculture, un-
der the direction of Dr.. S. A.
Knapp, who is a practical farm
er and is thoroughly familiar
with the best farming methods
all over the world. Then, too,
they always select a practical
man for the work, not a mere
theorist, but man who knows
''the feel of the plow" as it
goes into the ground.
There is nothing mysterious
about the demonstration work,
the speaker declared. This
farming business is the biggest
thing in the world and the time
is coming when farmers viii
know more of the theory upor
which the greatest success Of
their work depends. Every farm
er should have a definite aim
an ideal to which to work, ane
should get out of the habit of do
ing the same old thing in the
same old way. Illustrating the
value of working with some
definite aim, he told of a farmer
who told him that he had beer
trying for years to make Al
bushels of corn to the acre on
- certain tract of land, and whel
asked if he had succeeded b
said no, but he had made 80:
bushels; and the speaker con
trasted that with the slipsho
J. lack of method which is satisfie
to get any sort Of yield by work
ing in an aimless way. Man
farmers, he said, are *merel
working to make a little none
in order to be able to -move~t
town, the tendency to move. t
| town being strikingly shown b
/ the recent census returns. ~ Wit
II only this aim they do not war
II to spend much money to build u
" their farms. p A. ,es Il j..
II Improving the Soil, Mr.. Mil
IL saps declared, is the foundatio
of all successful agriculture an
this cannot be done by ,usin
one-horse ploWs and by plahtin
the same crops year after We:
on the same land. ~e Some a.
irving to build up the land (
using fertilizers, and itt taki
over half the entire cotton crC
of Robson county to- pay, for tt
fertilizers used.T We will new
see the time when the use Of fe
tllizers is not necessary, but Il
land must be built Dip by rotatir
o. crops. The enormous sum
S88, 900, 900 is wasted yearly
this country for commercial fe
tilizers, and the Southern farl
ers waste the greater part