Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1910-08-31

Farmer Needs Technical Advice.
In just the same way the farmers
| should benefit by the advice Of the teen
/ meal men who have been trained In
| phases OF the very work the farmer does
/ / am not now speaking Of the man VINO
has had an ordinary general training
| whether - school or college. While there
should undoubtedly be such training as
/ foundation 1.-THE extent differing accord
| ing TO the kind Of work each boy intencs
/ 10 do as a mani. Il Is nevertheless true
| that our educational system should more
and more be turned IN The direction OF
| educating men towards. and not away
! from. the farm ana the shop. During
/ the last half-century we have begun TO
| develop system Of agricultural eouoa-
| ton at once practical and scientific, and
we muat go on developing Il. But. after
| developing g. II must be used The rich
| man who spends a fortune upon fancy
| farm. with entire Indifference 10 cost.
| does not do much good 10 farming; but
on the other hand. Just as little is done
| by the working farmer who stolidly re-
| fuses to profit by the knowledge OF the
| day: who treats any effort at improve
nent as absurd on .ts face. refuses TO
! countensnce what he regards as new
| tangled ideas and contriyances. and jeers
at all book farming ] wish l could
take representatives of this type Of farm
er Down to Long Island. where ! 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 II pays
to encourage the development OF farms
along the lire 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
mi when
raised The growth has been astounding,
and land only fifty miles from New York,
which during our entire National lifetime
has been treated as worthless has within
the last three or four years been proved
to possess a 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 I heartily believe in farmers
organizations; and we should all welcome
every step taken towards an increasing
cooperation among farmers The imCor-
lance of such movements cannot p" over
estimated; and through such Intelligent
joint action IL 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 II 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
II.
glad to see on such bodies the names
that represent financial interests but
those interests should not have the
right -ofway and In all enterprises
and movements in which the social
condition OF the country is involved
the agricultural country-the open
country-should be as well 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
two should be put on equal terms. and
the country talent be given the same
opportunity as the city talent to ex-
press itself and to contribute to the
welfare OF the world in which we live
The country church should he made
| true social centre. alive to every need
of the community. standing for a broad
individual outlook and development
taking the lead In work and In recrea-
| tion. caring more for conduct than for
| dogma more for ethical spiritual
| practical betterment than for merely
| formal plety, The country fair offers
| far greater possibilities for continuous
and healthy usefulness than IT at pres
ent affords. The country school should
| be made a vital center for economic.
| social and educational cooperation; 1t
! is naturally fitted TO be such a center
| for those engaged in commercial farm
| Ing. and still more for those engaged
in domestic farming. for those who ave
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-
lions there is need of intelligent study.
such as marks 1.-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
he recognized by tho farmer at once
and an effort made to deal with II. II
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,
II cannot be really satisfactory when
the labor system is so managed that
there Is for part of the year a demand
for labor which cannot be met. and
during another part of the year no de-
mand for labor at ALI SO that the farm
ers tend to rely on migratory laborers
who come out to work in the country
with no permanent interest in Il anc
with no prospect Of steady employ
ment. 1t 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 hts 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 IT possible for the man who iabors
FOR the farmer 10 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 a
view to the welfare OF the farmer
| wife and the farm iaborer's Wife quite
as much as to the welfare OF the farm
er and the farm laborer, To have the
| woman a mere drudge Is at least as
/ bad as to have the man a mere drudge.
I II is every whit as important to intro
| duce new machines TO economize her
! labor within the house as IL is TO in
! troauce machinery TO increase the eff
/ fectiveness of his labor outside the
| house I haven't the su ghtest sympa-
/ thy with any movement which looks
/ To exeuSiug 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 a CON
| temptibIe creature, just aS the corTe-