Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-01-19
TRAINING SCHOOLS NEEDED
Declared DR.. $. A. Knapp in His Adj
dress at Grccnviile.

culture, made q strong plea for the
establishment of farm training
schools to supplement the State agri-
cultural colleges. The resultant ben
eft to the community and the coun-
try at large would be immense. Dr.
Knapp pointed out, because of the
increased production Of food sup
plies and the better condition Of
those who produced the nations
food.
AT the last census" said DR..
Knapp, there were two million rent
ed farms and ten and one-half mil
lions Of laborers on all the farms Of
the United States. What per cent of
the rented farms were well farmed
and what per cent Of the ten and one
half million farmers were really good
farmers? Possibly one per cent and
five per cent were fairly good;
ninety-four per cent get from one
half to one-fourth of what they
should obtain from the soil. This
loss must not be regarded as indi-
vidual; it Is a loss to the State, to
the community. What does this State
propose to do about 1t?
The speaker declared the masses
must be divided into two classes
those who could not afford to attend
school OF some kind and those who
could not leave home to obtain an
n1nnntiNn
get their education in or near their
homes. For such as were able to
devote some time to study, DR..
Knapp advocated their attendance on
farm training school, such as he
outlined
Farm Training School.
The farm training school must be
both effective and economical" he
said. 1.-The training must fit men to
do the work on the farm necessary
for them to do, and, inasmuch as
their funds are limited, 1t must be
economical and even If their funds
were not limited the farmer must
learn economy"
Such school, in Dr. Knapp's opin-
ion, should be equipped with simple
apparatus; 1t should make fea-
ture of manual labor and it should
strive to teach by practical methods
rather than through the agency of
books.
Now after some of these funda-
mental things are acquired" con-
tinued DR.. Knapp, (which, of course,
must be acquired along with the
other study, what actual knowledge
must be obtained? And among the
actual knowledge that he needs to
acquire for the furm--and | am now
discussing the man who proposes to
live on the farm--are the following:
How to make crop successfully,
which will include the preparation of
the seed bed, the seed and cultiva-
ton; how to do his work the most
economically-wh which would include
the kind Of teams, the feeding Of
teams, the use Of the best farm tools,
etc; the feeding Of animals, and the
value Of the meadow and the pasture;
the use Of green crops and the eco
nomic rotation"
The Improvement of the farm
would follow Immediately on the
adoption Of modern methods and
the application Of the above knowl-
edge to its administration, said DR..
Knapp. He declared, also, that the
improvements on farms at the pres
ent time were nearly all Of q tenn
porary nature, and, therefore, costly
in the long run. "The cost Of re-
pairs IS too great" he said, "and the
life of the Improvement is too short"
DR.. Knapp concluded his address
with glowing tribute to the far
mer's wife. He dwelt upon her prac-
ticality and her love for her home.
Taking one such woman, whose name
he did not mention, he said:
"She believed in housekeeping as
fine art, and an art worthy Of any
woman. Such woman is a treasure
in any household and worthy Of all
honor by the best men that ever
lived"
DR.. Knapp is delivering a series of
these addresses under the auspices
Of the Southern railroad.
n T. q in