The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-10-05
Makine Farm Life Attraettye

ernOr HOke SmlLH - Qu0lSu az soy
ing:
IF you asked me what 7 think has
been the greatest deficiency In the
work of state and national government
during the past century, I should I'M
hesitatingly reply that 1t has been neg
lect of the farmer and the farm. The
conditions OF farm life must. and will
be, so completely metamorphieed thst
the country, noe the city Will be re-
garded generally as the most delight
full place Of residence for rich and
poor alike
1T means much to- the people Of
Georgia that the man who is to- re-
present them In the nations senate
is committed so earnestly and so de-
fnitely to such an idea. For the per-
manent interests of this and every
other state depend mainly upon the
development of rural life. Back CT
the congestion and hunger of cities,
back of the high cost of living, back
of the social unrest and heart-sick-
ness of millions lies one rootSproblem,
and that is the problem of the farm.
A great French philosopher once
declared that the only enduring con-
quests are conquests made with the
pillow. The earth is truly the mother
OF man. The soil is the one primal
source of his material prosperity and
contentment. One of the greatest du-
ties, therefore, of our state and fed
eralNgovernment is to open wider OPP
portunities for the average farmer.
To a large extent, this can be ac-
complished, as Governor Smith
pointed out, by agricultural research
and education and by the development
of good roads. These two enterprises
should receive liberal support from
the nation and from the Individual
states.
In a states system of schools, there
is no branch of study more important
thsn that OF ecils and 'soil prepara
ton. Farming, indeed, has come to
be recognized as n of the great
practical arts and sciences. Special
institutions, well equipped and we'll
endowed, should be devoted to its
.eaching and through an adequate
system of county or district schools
his knowledge should be brought to
he very doorstep of the country boy.
n this way haphazard cropping will
20 replaced by scientific methods of
cultivation. Land that is now sterile
will blossom and land that is being
,rained CT it's substance will be con-
'erved and enriched for future gen.
Orations. Thus, too, farming will be-
come one Of the most profitable of
A4A SocaL4Ons whereas it's labor is now
co often but scantily repaid. Every
.ollar that a state appropriates to its
gricultural schools is q valuable in
ozG-o1-4 -, @hn inknrook Lofa %hn "hn1o
5eople.
But more than this, the state and
he nation, through their administra-
i've departments, should be continual
y seeking and giving knowledge on
he science of agriculture and the
1fairs of the farms AS governor
;mith expresses it, we must enter on
n era of governmental study of seeds
Ind soils and crop culture, of plant
culture and the enemies Of trees and
.ruits, of cattle and all other live
took.
Our governments, states and nation
II, have already started in the right
direction and such work as they have
lone is bearing rich results, but as
yet they have made only a beginning.
Second only to these educational en-
terprises in Importance is the build
ng Of good roads. In any commun-
ty favored with ample and well-kepr
highways, farming is bound to pros
| 1er and farm life will become attrac
tive. Bad roads are directly respon-
sible for many of the losses the far
ner sustains and for a very great deal
| Of the isolation that has made rural
life uninviting.
without good roads the profitable
marketing Of crops is most difficult,
if not impossible. The social value
of the school house and the church
depend largely upon the number and
the quality of the roads that link them
TO the individual homes of the COM
munity. Recognizing the truth of this
Governor Smith says of the Journal
Herald National Highway and the ap-
preaching Gidden tour:
"'The good roads movement is c.
great Importance to the welfare of
thelcountry. My inter
est in the highway from New oYrk
to Jacksonville is so acute that ]
shall take part in the long iclrney
over the route which will leave New
York October the 14th. I hope that
in each state I pass through the gov
erncr, or a senator, OF both will join
me as my guest"
A b~roadened education which will
render the farm more profitable and
an increasing system of good roads
which will link directly to the out
side world these two things, together
with the telephone and a parcels post
and devices that reduce Household
drudgery, will indeed make the coun-
try "the most delightful place of resi-
dence for rich and poor alike.-Atlan.
ia Journal.