New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1913-03-22
THE ENTERPRISE AND
Observer, ConsOlidat
Official Journal of Iberia Parish
INFLUENCE OF THE COUN-
TRY SCHOOLS.

the South can have any adequate
conception Of the silent but none
the less tremendous revolution
that is being wrorght III out-ol-
the way places by the rural
school master In Louisiana.
there are twenty-eight agrlcultur-
Al high schools planted at s'rd-
gctic points in the state, and ac-
compIishing practical results such
rs were thought impossible TWEEN
ty years ago.
When all the clubs shall be
fully organized it seems probahle
thai the number OF members III
these rural clubs will approx
mate. even if they do not exceed,
ten thousand boys and girls. IN
hundreds Of homes IN LOUISIANA
today the head Of the family con
sjdprs himself fortunate when ne
is able TO produce an average OIL
twenty-five bushels Of corn TO
the acre. His boy is now showing
him how to produce "A hundred
bushels on the same land. lie IS
content TO buy his meat from the
store and to supplement 1t with
an occasional "razor-back Pug,
caught before il grows too tough
and too fleet Of foot TO he over
taken. His boy is raising hogs
that the big packing houses are
anxious TO buy and he is learn
| inc TO cure his home-produced
meat in such manner as to make
il more paIatable than that which
comes from the packing-houses.
In many of those homes salt
bacon floating in a dish OF lard,
and biscuits against which the
law against dangerous weapons
ought to be invoked, have been
staple articles of food since the
\ day "when Ham went a-fishlng;
but things will be ordered differ
emily now since these schools arc
tearhing the girls to cook and
sew. TO can fruit and vegetables
! and to raise poultry and eggs
An old proverb runs to the effect
that at is difficult to teach old
dogs new tricks" hence we may
not hope to accomplish so very
much with the old fellows; they
have grown accustomed to the olu
ways and the majority OF them
-nsshaps, will aclAae to them to tht
lend and laugh at abook-farm
| ing" Even so good a man as
| Cotton Mather went down to hl'
grave defending the practice o.
| burning witches at the stake. anf
| so, many of our fine old-time far
mers will live and die absolutely
| convinced that they "can beat
THAT feller Dodson a-farmin :"
| We sha mt quarrel with these
| fine old citizens because they liv'
| in the past and refuse to believe
| that there is any science in farm
ing. They have served their gen
Grafton with singleness OF pur
pose, nobly and according to thu
| lights before them, unselfishly an'
well. II is the new genration Il
| which our energies must be direct
| ed in laying the foundations fol
a regenerated South greater anc
| grander than any of which oul
! old fashioned friends have eve'
| dreamed. 1t is in these rrlra
| schools that we are to develop tn,
men and women whose practica
! training is going to make then
become the constructive forces II
scientific agriculture, in business
| i'm finance, i'm letters. art and IN
| vention and i'm the statesmanshll
of tomorrow
The South is today victim o
self-deception. 1t has been stag
nant AMI coniented Its leaders
Ihave enc ,rraeed a dangerous com
placanev on the part of the peo
pie by senseless tlattery, and b,
playing upon their prejudice
| they have obscured the truth from
their vision. The South is
highly desirable section of tn
country and is destined to grea
81 things. but the same thing is tru
of other sections. There are n
finer people in the world than tn
Southern people but the sam,
thing is true with regard to tn
people Of other sections. Ant
the people Of some other state
have far surpassed MS in point 0
} material achievement.
II was Northern man who in
u vented the cotton gin, anothe
+. Northern man developed cottol
manufacturing, and others dit
other important things tina
Southern bows might have done
but they didn't. The boys ant
, girls in the rural agriculture
schools are beginning to realiz'
!, what the South has lost by hei
neglect during all these years o
I the balanced cultivation OF all tn
potential faculties of the child
And. realizing them, they arr
equipping themselves to take theil
places prominently in the ranks
Of those who 90 forth TO d,