Imperial Valley press., 1913-02-28
Farm Must Hold youno Man

- Wv ''sSOs ssVs0 bV0V8 bu0U
TO the Editor: heard a man say
while ago that he had made a care
lui investigation Of the men who had
achieved success in a large southern
city, and that 80 per cent Of them had
been bred on farms.
Io MN II was matter of pride and
qualification, but | will confess frankly
that the statement shocked and sad
dened me. | knew in a general way
that our cities were absorbing too many
country boys, but the thought the
Drains, energy and power of a great
city had been achieved at the expense
OF the farms was startling. In it |
ing was falling into decay, and farm
lands were in alien hands.
we hear and read a vast deal these
days about conservation, but to my
mind the, most vital thing in America
today is the conservation Of our young
men on the soil. 1t is old and trite
10 say that a nations prosperity is
measured by its agriculture, but it is
profoundly true nevertheless.
Ihere are a thousand issues over
Willcn our statesmen concern them
selves and with which they whip the
people into frenzies Of political fer
vor. But they are not striking at the
heart and soul of the most vital prob
lem Of the day. These questions are
largely political, while the greatest &C.
Onomic issue OF this century is to ere
ate such conditions and to educate our
boys as to make them love, prosper
on and stick to our farms.
When statesmen big enough and
broad enough ill our lawmaking halls
to sense this fact and seek the rem
edy, then we shall have a new era.
Here are just few random facts
tending to show our farms have been
and are being drained of its best blood.
SlXty-siX per cent Of the tillerS of the
soil in the United States are non-land
owners.
In Georgia only 81 per cent Of the
farmers own the land which they till .
III Alabama and South Carolina 81 per
cent. while in other southern states
conditions are as serious. Similar con-
ditions probably prevail nation wide.
This farm ownership by those who do
not cultivate the land is becoming one
| of the ,gravest problems of the day
and believe much Of it Is due TO
the boys leaving the farm for the city
| This alien land ownership must be Sc
irious when Missossippi finds it eXpedi-
lent to pass a law regulating it.
! We must face this problem and find
the remedy. Unless this movement
away from the soil is checked. our ma
ltlOnal prosperity and greatness is sure
o crumble. Agricultural schools, rural
delivery, rural telephones, wider and
uloIe SeHtfdl ulSStiIllldllon OF ln1Orllld-
| ton on improved farming, and now the
parcels post are helpful factors and
beacon lights along the way. but much
| ImOre is to be done to accomplish real
| results.
Much depends on the farmer-fathers.
| They must treat their boys right: teach
| them how to love the farm. and let
| The Boys Corn Clubs have demon
! strated very clearly what they can and
| will do if offered the right stimulus.
| The hope of reward. Closer and better
! community interest and intercourse. ac-
! curate knowledge of the soil and the
/ form part at least of a general upward
| movement for the future farmers Of
| this country.
| Are we to have conditions here. in
| The South and in the West. as one may
| find them in many Of the New England
stales-miles Of abandoned farms anu
jhnuSeS vacant and falling to decay? /
J fear so, unless we can check the flow
| 81 boys from the farms to the cities.
| In the South particularly, where the
| negro farm help is even more pro-
nounced in its tendency to leave the
! country and congest in the cities, the
farmer must learn how to hold his
boys, or go to smash.
I | am not an alarmist normally | am
an Optimist, and believe most men are
struggling toward the light and better
| conditions. But would be foolish to
| blind myself to the conditions outlined,
and which any observant man may see.
! Good schools and broader educational
advantages will go far as a remedy.
| This is a real and great problem of
| the day as \ see it. Unless il is solved
We shall inevitably decay and vanish
as The most powerful nation on earth.
| c. ;. BARRETT.