The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-10-31
The Passing of the Hayseed

/ y
The following article from Golfers
Weekly will prove interesting reading
The farmer who was known as Old
| Hayseed and the farm boy who was
ashamed of his country birth are taxi
ing their place In the story Of our
nation rather than in the actual life
of It, In 1852, in the teeth of the Civil
war, our national history was illumin-
ated with one OF those flashes of in
spiration that was not at the time APP
pretended. 1t was at this time that
the congress OF the United states de-
termined upon the establishment of
agricultural colleges. No public land
grants ever invested in more profit
able enterprise than those that en- :
dowed this branch Of industrial edu-
cation and translated the agricultural
| vocation from trade to a scientific
| profession.
Slowly but surely these institutions
have effected wide change OF front in
our educational growth generally. In
stead Of educating our boys away from
the farm, they are being educated for
| the farm and for country thoughts
and. purposes. The normal schools OF
states already require the preparation
Of pupils in garden and orchard Gull
ture. There is no reason why we can
not train a band of instructors who
shall infuse our boys and girls with a
love and knowledge Of nature. without
losing the better part of mathemat-
les and grammar. Our agricultural
colleges, which in 1890 were unable to
gather more than handful of stu
dents, are now thronged with thousands
of the very ablest of our young men,
and also Of our young women. These
are bringing home with them new
Ideas of life, and senses educated to
see and comprehend what the country
Is made of.
1t needed this evolution, in some
ways a revolution, to put the land
tiller in possession of what is dis
tinctly country valnes--that is, the
fresh air, the beautiful fields, the birds.
the bees, and the landscapes; in other
words, to bring these things into such
relation to everyday life that the
farmer could use and comprehend
them. Botany, geology, entomol-
ogy, and ornithology are a few
of the specifically country sci
ences, and it needed such a readjust-
ment of environments as should en-
able every farmer 10 understand ~
least the elements Of these sciences.
Weeds Are Ne Longer Weeds.
II is astonishing how full recent
farm history has been of discovery.
We have just found out that soil need
never be exhausted or worn out: but
may be kept fat, and made to grow
fatter by the use OF legumes. These
legumes. including our clovers, peas,
beans-and In the south, soy beans
and beggarweed-are found to have
been endowed by nature with bacter-
ial attachments, enabling them to take
nitrogen directly from the air. 1t Is.
almost impossible to measure the value
OF alfalfa In the north and of the vel
vet bean In the south. Twenty years
ago they were unknown to our farm
ers; today they are the most marvel
GUS Of an our plants for hay, for for
age, for subscribers, for winter cover
crops, and to add to the humus of the
soil after being pIowed under. But In
this story I am using words not vet
quite familiar to the common reader.
They indicate how thoroughly farm
ing has become a profession.
Weeds are no longer weeds, but they
are the material which nature pro-
vides, made OF the elements OF the
air for the most part, and offered us
freely to increase the soil. Fifteen
years ago beggarweed was the pest OF
the cotton fields: today It Is the grand
est hay producer In. the southern
states. Cactus was synonym for the
most obstructive and troublesome of
plants; today the word stands for one
OF the most remarkable forage plants
in the world. we are just learning
that the word weed covers vast Inass
OF material, urgently provided by ma
ture to feed and fatten soil: q wonder
full storage to be studied rather than
despised.
Proud Country Boys.
No portfolio In the presidents cab
met Is invested with greater dignity
and power than that Of the secretary
OF agriculture. He presides over and
directs that department that guides
practically our whole productive life.
Under his directions there Ii an army
Of ever busy scientigts securing all
lands for new fruits. vegetables and
grains. Under the guidance and In
struction on this department our wealth
ID increasing at the rate OF ave hum
dred millions every year, and enabling
us not only to feed, but to get ready to-
feed population fourfold what we
heYe today.
Old Hayseed Is dead, slae country boy
u eAna more proud % lis hirthrIght