The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1911-01-26

Tuslegee, Ala, Jan. 21.--Three
thousand farmers, ministers, teach
lers and workers among the colored
residents Of the South departed to-
day for their homes, after attending
the twentieth annual session Of the
conference Of the Tuskegee Insti-
ltute. Each is determined to make
the colored man in the South 100
Eper cent better in every respect than
he was last year.
| These persons received practical
instruction in how to fight the boil
weeVil, how to own and beautify
homes, to help farmers improve and
love their calling, which they will
impart during the year to their
lneighbors and proteges among the
poorer, struggling class, anxious to
rise, but unable to do so with their
present. mental equipment. Dr.
George Sale, Atlanta, said:-
The boil weevil is blessing. 1t
is teaching our people more about
farming aRd--makiRg -~them-beter
farmers. 1t is, making them oliver
sify their crops" Some succinct
rules prepared by several of the
| Southern railroad companies were
Egiyen AS having been tried and eff
| fectual.
BUN up all rubbish and material
about the field; pillow the soil. as
deeply as conditions will allow;
plant early maturing varieties of cot
ton; use plenty Of fertilizer, were
some Of the methods offered by the
company, supplemented by the in
struction from Demonstration Punk
EFT, OF Texas, to pillow, plow and turn
the soil so that the weevil will be
pest cannot stand.
Poor Buying Farms.
! The romantic feature Of the con-
| ference was the story Of how sew
eral poor colored men had bought
large farms. William Jones, New
ton County, Ga, began as a common
farm laborer. Making cash earnings
by working at night, he bought
first one city lot, then another, then
a farm. In four years he has bought
and paid for ITS acres Of land, edu-
eating three children. Buying poor
farm land, he has since raised the
quality Of the soil so as to raise fiji
teen bushels Of wheat to the acre,
and from one and one-fourth to two
bales Of cotton to the acre. He
buys nothing but the staples, such
as sugar, coffee, salt, soda, produce
ing everything else on his farm.
j. II. Provost, a colored farmer of
MT. Netgs, Ala, started by working
for wages, then by renting. His
first venture was to purchase 40
acres for which he paid by selling
lchlckens and eggs in spare hours.
At times he suffered from hunger,
but nothing could make him touch
the sum he was putting aside for
! the purchase Of his farm.
PrOvosts chief boast is that, own
ing now 227 acres Of land, he has
kept out Of debt, having farmed
successfully fourteen years without
q mortgage. His motto on the farm
IT'S mix your business, raise chick
ems and eggs and sell them along
with other things to buy meat and
flour"
j. II. Rose, another cOlored farm
Ter, borrowed SO on which to marry,
and now owns 1000 acres Of land
and raised last year 100 bales Of
lc0tton.
| Worked at Night.
\ John Upshaw, who with a family
|of eleven lived on buttermilk and
grubbed his soil at night, making
one Of his boys hold the light by
which to work, Is now a prosperous
farmer owning about 200 acres of
land. Such Is the story too Of Gould
Rainer, of Alabama, Of Taylor
Smith, Of Arkansas, and J. w. Thorn
as, OF South Carolina; the last
named an illterate, whose note is
now worth $4,000, and who got
his inspiration to own something by
having some one read to him the
"Tuskogee Student"
At the height Of his pleasure when
working with these uncouth men,
Pookcr T. Washington, when q
brother grew inflated over the tale
OF his ascent to fortune, would
puncture the latter's egotism with
some searching but practical and far
Preaching question.
What are you doing for the school
} IN your community? How long is
, your school term? How DO you
: treat your wife and children? DC
: you bcautfy your home, yard, gard.
en-, etc, to make things attra ctiye
) The unanimous sentiment regard
ing the white neighbor$ was indeed
encouraging. Nowhere was there q
complaint against the farmer Oh