The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1910-09-03
ROOSEVELT TOFARMERS

There are two public questions OF
more vital Importance to the future OF
this country thar. the problem of
conservation and the problem OF the
betterment OF rural life, Moreover,
these two problems are really interde-
pendent, for neither OF them can be
successfully solved save on condition
that there is at least measurable
success in the effort 10 solve the other,
In any great country the prime ply
steal asset-the physical asset more
valuable than any other-is the fertIl-
ity OF the soil.
1--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 as a
means OF adding to the fertility OF the
soil, although in each case there is a
great secondary use both Of the water
and of the forests for commercial and
industrial purposes. In the same way
it is essential for the farmers them
selves TO try to broaden the life OF the
man who lives in the open country, TO
make it more attractive, to give 1t
every adjunct and aid to Development
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 at bottom this
policy rests upon the fundamental law
that neither man nor nation can pros
per unle9s in dealing with the present
he steadily take thought for the future.
"In one tense this problem with
which we have to deal is very, very
I'D. In the past every civilization in
its later stages has tended really to
witness those conditions under which
the cities prosper and the men decay.
There are ugly signs that these ten
denotes are at work in this nation OF
ours. But very fortunatel'. we see
now whH never before was seen in any
civilization--an aroused and alert
public interest in the problem, : re-
cognition OF its gravity and desire
to attempt its solution
THE FARMERS OPPORTUNITY.
"The human side OF the rural life
problem is to make the career OF the
farmer and the caxeer of the farm lab
orer as attractive and as remunerative
as corresponding careers in the city.
Now, am well aware that the farmer
must himself take the lead in bringing
this about.
Zone reason why the great business
men of today, the great industrial
leaders, have gone ahead while the
farmer has tended to sag behind the
others is that they are far more will
ing and indeed eager, TO profit by ex-
pert and technical knowledge-the
knowledge that can only come as
result OF the highest education The
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 to give
him expert advice End aid on some
one point indispensable to his bust
ness He finds this man usually in
some graduate of technical school
or college in which he has been train
ed for his lie work
"ln just the sam" way the farmers
should benefit by the rdvice OF the
technical men who have been trained
i'll phases Of the very work the farmer
does. During the last half century we
have begun to develop a system OF
agriCulil al education at once practi-
cal and scientific and we must go on
developing it. But after developing
it it must be used. | wish / could take
the unprogressive farmers down to
Long Island, whele | live, to have
them see what has been done not as
philanthropy, but as plain business
proposition, by men connected with
the Long Island Railroad who believe
it pays to encourage the development
of farms They have put practical
men IN charge OF experimental farms.
cultvating them intens;vely and using
the best modern methods not only in
raising crops, but in securing the best
market. The growth has been as
founding. and land only 50 miles from
New York which during our entire
national lifetime has been treated as
worthless has within the last three OF
four yeras been proved to possess a
really high value.
INTEREST WHOLE FAMILY.
The farmer, however. must not
only make his land pay. but he must
make country life Interesting for him
sell and Tor his wife ard his SONS and
daughters. Our people as a whole
should realize the infinite possibilities
OF HE in the country and every effort
should be made to make these posi-
bilitieS more possible From the be
g'nn'ng OF time it has been the man
raised IN the country--and usually the
man born in the countrywide has
been most apt to render the services