The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-05-03
TWO KINDS OF FRAMS.
Intelligence and Industry Against Ig.
nOrance and Thlrftlessness.

"A ldTHleT uTlNlnS 10 the city with
load of cotton, produce or on some
errand is struck by the general neat
ness Of some cottage, probably the
home Of a workingman. Flowers
bloom in the yard, well-kept grass
grows on the lawn, the fences are neat
and painted, and there is an air of
distinction about the place. You say,
"A sober, honest, industrious man
must live there" Next door is q dirty,
unkept place, cans and trash in the
yard, fence falling down, and gen
eral atmosphere Of unkemptness. You
say "A shiftless. drinking, no ac-
count chap lives there"
But how much more noticeable
these things are ont in the broad open
country, where the air is sweet, the
sunshine free of smoke and the stencil
and filth OF great city.
You drive along a country road, and
come 10 d farm. Distinction marks it
in hundred little ways The fences
are all up, and no rOtting or tumbling
rails are seen; the fence corners are
free of bushes, briers and weeds; the
bitches are clean-cut, with no wide
hedge Of rank weeds growing along
either side, and the land cultivated
close up; the stumps and rocks are
out Of the fields. Even the rows and
appearance of the fields themselves
show the thrifty care of intelligent ap-
plication.
Presently you come to the house
Flowers grow In the yards, which are
clean and well-kept. with neatly
grayeled walk leading up to the front
porch. Barns and out-houses are in
good repair, and no rusting farm tools
or machinery clutter yards or barn
/ lot.
| And you know without a question
that here real man lives, a man
that will do TO trust, a business man;
! he pays his obligations, and, more
over, IL a real neighbor and q help
! full one. You will generally find, too,
that he is thoughtful of his wife,
daughters and sons. that the boys
want to stick to the farm because dad
is all right and he made good liv-
ing out of it,
~ nd erof m
shock. You come To q place with the
| fences down, corners growing up in
weeds; land washed for lack of prop
er drainage; stunted, weedy stuff
struggling TO survive In the fields. No
palings surround the house, no flowers
grow in it, but litter OF every sort
OF thing encumbers it. The roof Of
the stable and barn are leaky, the
doors propped up. rusting farm tools
and machinery sand about corrod-
ing in the weather. Four or five lazy
hounds sleep about the door or yard.
and everything about is desolate and
depressing. You will find without
query that a shikless, indolent, pur-
poseless, don't-care man lives there.
He couldn't get cent OF credit from
anybody without security. His wife
is hopeless drudge with just rargy
enough to crawl about; his daughters
run away and marry at the first op-
portunity, and his boys go to town or
away from home as soon as they are
big enough to know enough to leave.
! Up and down this nation nave
travelled, and have seen both types
everywhere, and 1 have never made
inquiries yet that l did not confirm
views between the two-the hustler
and the drone And often, too, both
men have equal chance in so far as
productivity OF the land goes.
/ see in my travels something in
this connection that makes me hope
full The first-named class is getting
more numeros, and the last-named
fewer and fewer. OF course, we will
! probably always have the don't-care
farmer, but his class Is vanishing at
"A gratifying rate, to be replaced by
alert. hard-working farmers who
realize that farming is a profession.
calling for high intelligence and COM
mon sense
And as the profession of farming
becomes higher and better, YOU will
see a powerful and a contented ma
ton.
&. 5. Barrett
Union City Ga.