The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1910-08-23
ADVICE TO FARMERS GIVEN BY COL. ROOSEVELT TODAY
Conservation Was His KynoeTMe Of the
Giants Of Busm World

Utica. y. T.. Aug. 23.-There are no
two public questions OF more vital I'M
portance to the future OF this country
than the problem of conservation and
the problem Of the betterment Of pub.
lie life. Moreover. these two problems
are really inierdependent. for neither
OF them can be successfully solved
save on condition that there u at least
q measurable succe.s in the effort to
solve the other. In any great country
the prime physical asset-tbe physical
asset more valuable than any other
lis the fertility Of tho soil. All our
industrial and commercial welfare. all
our material development Of every
kind. depends in the last resort upon
our preserving and Increasing the fer
tility Of the soil.
This. Of course. means the conserva-
ton Of the soil ~ the great natural
resource. and equally. Of course. It fur
thermore implies. the development Of
country life. for there cannot Be q per-
manent improvement OF the soil II
the life Of those who live on IL and
make their living out of It IL suffered
to starve and languish to become
stunted and weazened and inferior to
the type Of life lived elsewhere.
We are now trying to preserve. not
for exploitation BY indlviduals. but for
the permanent benefit Of tho 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 wa
ter and Of the forests for commercial
and industrial purposes. In the same
way II II essential for the farmers
themselves to try to broaden the life
Of the man who lives In the open coun.
try. to make 1t more ATTRACTIVE. to give
It every adjunct and aid to develop
ment 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 ut
the bottom this policy rests upon the
fundamental law that neither man nor
nation can prosper unless in dealing
with the present be steadily take
thought for the future.
Problem Old One.
In one sense this problem with
which we have to deal Is very. very
old. Wherever civilizations have hith.
erto sprung up they have always tend.
ed to 60 through certain stages and
then to fall. No nation can develop q
nal civilization without cities. Up to
. certain point the city movement II
thoroughly healthy. Yet It IL a strange
and lamentable fact that always hith-
erto after this point has been reached
the city has tended to develop at the
expense Of the country BY draining
the country Of what II best In II and
making an insigniacant return for this
best. - 4
In consequence In the past every civ
1lixation in its later stages has tended
really to witness those conditions un-
der which 1.-The cities prosper and the
men decay" There are ugly signs that
these tendencies are at work In this
nation Of ours. But very fortunately
We see now what never before was
seen In any civilization-an aroused
and alert public interest in the prob.
lem, q recognition Of its gravity and q
desire to attempt its solution.
The problem does not consist merely
IN the growth Of the city. Such q
growth In itself II q good thing and
not bad thing for the country. The
problem consists IN the growth Of the
city at the expense OF the country. and
even where this is not the case In 90
great an equality Of growth in power
and interest NJ to make the city more
attractive than the country and there
fore apt to drain the country Of the
people who ought to live therein.
The human side Of the rural life
problem n to make the career OF the
farmer and the career Of the farm L.
borer ~ attractive and as remunera-
tive ~ corresponding careers in the
city. Now. am well aware that the
farmer must himself take the lead in
bringing this about. A century and q
quarter ago the wise English farmer.
Arthur Young. wrote Of the efforts to
Improve French wool:
"A cultivator at the head Of sheer
farm Of 5000 or 1900 acres would in
Q few years do more for their wooli
than all the academicians and philoso
piers win effect in ten centuries" I,
10 absurd to think that any man who
has studied the subject only theoret
ically II at to direct those who prac
tically work at the matter. But
friends. I wish to insist to you here
to you practical men who own and
work your farms. that 1t IL an equally
pernicous absurdity for the practical
man 70 refuse to beneft by the wori
Of the student. :
The English farmer ! have quoted
Young-was q practical farmer. but h<
was also q scientific farmer.
Why Farmsrs Leg.
| One reason why the great business
men Of today. the great industrial lead
ers. have gone ahead while the farmer
has tended to sag behind the others Il
that they are far more willing and In
dsed eager to profit BY expert and
technical knowledge-the knowledge
that can only come a. result Of the