The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1910-09-01


day; who treats any effort at improve
ment as absurd on its face, refuses to
countenance what he regards as new
tangled ideas and contrivances and jeers
at all book farming" wish I could
! take representatives of this type Of farm
er down to Long Island, where I live. to
have them see what has been done, not
as philanthropy but as a plain business
proposition, by men connected with the
Long Island railroad, who believe it pays
to encourage the development Of farms
along the line Of that railway. They have
| put practical men in charge of expert
| mental farms, cultivating them intensive
| ly, and using the best modern 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 fifty miles from New York.
which during our entire National lifetime
mas been treated as worthless, has within
the last three or four years been proved
to possess really high value.
| 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.
Farmers should learn how to combine
| EFFECTIVELY as has been done in industry.
| am particularly glad to speak to the
Grange, for heartily believe in farmers
| organizations: and we should all welcome
every step taken towards an increasing
cooperation among farmers The impor-
lance OF such movements cannot be over
estimated: and through such intelligent
Joint action 1T will be possible to improve
the market just as much as the farm.
Country life should be as attractive
as city life. and the country people
should insist upon having their full
representation when it comes to deal
ing with all great public questions. In
other words: country folks should de-
mand that they work on equal terms
with city folks in all such matters.
They should have their share in the
memberships Of commissions and coun-
ellis; In short. of all the organized bod
les for laying plans for great enter
prises affecting all the people. am
glad to see on such bodies the names
that represent financial interests, but
those interests should not have the
right-of-way. and in all enterprises
and movements in which the social
condition Of the country is involved.
the agricultural Countrywide open
country-should be as we'll represented
as the city. The man Of the open
country is apt to have certain qualities
which the city man has lost. These
qualities offset those which the city
man has and he himself has not. The |
the country talent be given the same |
opportunity as the city talent to ex-
press itself and to contribute to tho
welfare of the world in which we live.
The country church should be made
true social centre alive to every need |
OF the community. standing for broad |
individual outlook and development,
taking the lead in work and in recrea-
ton. caring more for conduct than for
dogma. more for ethical. spiritual,
practical betterment than for merely
formal piety. The country fair offers
far greater possibilities for continuous
and healthy usefulness than it at pres
ent affords. The country school should
be made vital center for economic,
social. and educational cooperation: 1t
is naturally fitted to be such a center
for those engaged in commercial farm
in domestic farming. for those who live
on and by the small farms they them
selves own The problem Of the farm
is really the problem of the family that
lives on the farm. On all these ques-
tons there is need of intelligent study.
such as marks the books of Professor
Bailey. of Cornell. and of Sir Horace
Plunkett's book on the Rural Life
Problems of the United States"
Conditions Of Farm Life.
One feature of the problem should
be recognized by the farmer at once,
and an effort made to deal with It, It
Is our duty and our business to con-
slider the farm laborer exactly as we
consider the farmer No country life
can be satisfactory when the owners Of
farms tend. for whatever reason, to
go away to live in cities instead Of
working their farms; and. moreover
1t cannot be really satisfactory when
the labor system is so managed that
there is for part of the year demand
for labor which cannot be met and
during another part Of the year no de-
mand for labor at all. so that the farm
ers tend to rely on migratory laborers
who come out to work in the country
tot t.
with no prospect Of steady employ
ment It Is exceedingly difficult to
make a good citizen out of man who
can't count upon some steadiness and
continuity in the work which means
to him his livelihood. Economic con-
ditions on the farm-in variety and
kind of crop growing, especially as
distributed in time and in housing for
the men-must be so shaped as to rem
der 1t possible for the man who labors
for the farmer to be steadily employed
under conditions which foster his self
respect and tend for his development.
Above all, the conditions of farm
life must always be shaped with
view to the welfare Of the farmers
wife and the farm laborer's wife. quite
al much as to the welfare of the farm
er and the farm laborer. To have the
woman mere drudge is at least as
bad as to have the man a mere drudge.
1t is every whit as important to intro
duce new machines to economize her
labor within the house, as it Is to in
troduce machinery to increase the eff
fectiveness of his labor outside the
house. I haven't the slightest ,sympa-
thy with any movement which looks
to excusing men and women for the
non performance of duty and fixes at
tention only on rights and not on du-
ties. The woman who shirks her duty
as housewife. as mother. Is . con-
temptible creature; just as the corre-
spending man is a contemplate crea-
ture. But the welfare of the woman is
even more important than the welfare
of the man; for the mother Ia the real
Atlas. who bears aloft in her strong
and tender arms the destiny of the
world. She deserves honor and con-
such as no man should re- I
ceive. She forfeits all claim to this
honor and consideration II she shirks
her duties. But the average American
woman does not shiik them; and 1t ia
q matter Of the highest obligation for |