The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1913-11-21
A Talk About "Our Talks
to Farmers"

might portray in wor pictures the
beauties of the country, the fields of
golden grain, the orchards and vine-
yards with their lucious fruits, the
growing grass. the lowing herds, the
ripping brooks and shady woods.
and in doing 80. entertain my read
en, oul there is a Question Ms 70 the
profit they wOuti get out of il. more
than the entertainment 1t certain
ly would aid tn, farmers very little
i'll sowing the prob eins confronting
them
Viii OH the other hand, might
take up, in TURF. the problems that
are worrying them and discuss them
in technical way that W uld be
lucid, clear aud tn roughly practi-
Cal to the scientist who devotes his
time. energies and intelligence to
set ntific research along educational
lines, and still what / would write
would have but very little value to
the practical farmer who already
knows about the beauties OF nature
and who has not had an opportuni-
ty to qualify as q scientist.
For that reason / have wasted no
time in word painting or in clothing
what | have to say in technical terms
ineligible only to the few who de-
vote their time to scientific research.
/ think one reason for no more pro-
gress having been made in agricul-
tural development is because those
in the past who have been speaking
and writing on agricultural matters
have taken it for. granted that their
audiences were as we'll prepared to
understand and profit by their tech
nical speeches as they were to make
them. They seem to have lost sight
o. thu wears Of preparation necessary
for them to understand the science
as they do. They are expecting
much of their audiences and readers
that are made poi people who have
not had opportunities along those
| nrs aud could not be expected to
be able to grasp the suggestions made
in a technical speech.
The orator who portrays the beau
tv, grandeur and richness of our
country may thrill us with a feeling
of pride i'll our country. but will not
do much to unravel problem that
we want help to unravel. Talks
to Farmers" are intended to be
helpful to individual farmers in SOL
wing the problems confronting them.
The writer of this is farmer,
and has been all his life; has had
to contend with all the problems
that have been discussed. We
think that the question of the soil,
its improvement and cultivation,
lies at tue very foundation IF sue
cessful agriculture. We think there
is more Importance in emphasizing
the simple, practical things that
farmers can do to make their soil
more productive.
We know from our acquaintance
with the soils of the State that in
mtny places all is not beil g done
that can be done to improve the
soil. For that reason we have been
urging, and expect to continue to
urge, our farmers to give their soils
a fair chance to produce the crops
tney need and their s,ils will grow
with the treatment they can i've.
them, and we are not going to sug-
gest anything that the man with
ordinary intelligence and plenty of
energy cannot do.
While we have given special at
tention to the soil, we have tried to
discuss other matters pertaining to
the successful farming that would
be helpful along all lines, and have
tried to discuss questions at season
able times. We want to get the
backward and Indifferent farmer to
realize that his backwardness is
cheating him out of 50 many of the
comforts and conveniences of life
hat be might just as well b getting
he benefit of
We know something about the