The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-04-18
RURAL PROBLEMS
GET ATTENTION
OF CONFERENCE
Continued From First Page


OF the day. came to one definite con
clusion-that the only practical thing
that can be done lis the formati In
each state of Il centralized tax COM
mission. with absolute power to super
wise assessments and to remove assess
ing officers who do not do their duty
The men of action who have worked
the whole problem out in their own
states declared that the crucial point
liz In the assessing offlcer--the COM
missioner Of revenue--who. II only I'M
der the direction of local people, will
In all probability do what they want
done. and they will want to take ad-
vantage OF the rest Of the State by
low local valuations.
Virginia has the worst tax laws of
s..y state in the Union, according to
the frank statements Of the visitors to
the Old Dominion. OF course. the Vir-
Einans knew it before. and IL was
merely coniirmatory. Former Cover
nor Noel. OF Mississippi. admitted that
his State takes second place.
Demonstration Day.
l. Last nights general meeting. in the
/ auditorium of John Marshall High
school. was given over to de;nonstra-
tom work. Nice-Presdcnt Walter H.
Page again presided
During the afternoon demonstration
work went on in the exhibit building
which Is the old High School on Mar
girls, under the direction of Miss Ella
@. ASnew gave demonstrations in can
ming. cooking. preserving and picking
10 the delight of the many visitors.
The girls hailed from Rockingham,
Nottoway and Nansemond Counties.
MISS Rhea G. Scott, in charge of the
extention work In Rockingham County,
| brought with her girls from one-rooin
schools In that county, and showed
! what can be done under such condi-
( lions.
| How the farm demonstration work
Is saving the South was explained by
men who have been with 1T from the
beginning, and who got their first en-
thuslasm from tho lamented DR.. Sea-
man a. Knapp. The first address Was
! by DR.. Wallace Buttrick. secretary of
the General Education Board in New
York. lie told how the board got hold
of DR.. Knapp. and low he consented
to take charge of the work If the
board would finance ii. IT has since
been prosecuted by the Department of
Agriculture in Washington.
Remarkable Results.
Bradford Knapp. who succeeded his
! father in charge of the work told how
! IL is organized and conducted-how
farm demonstration agents are EN-
ployed in many counties in all the
states OF the South The thing has
grown until Congress now appropriates
&315,ooo. the General Education Board
| gives $l33,0 600 and $3.50 more is
contributed by States. counties. ayri-
| cultural colleges, associations of bust
ness men and in private subscriptions
! The local agents get farmers to plant
| one or more acres and TO farm this
| land under the direction of the Bureau
! Of Plant Industry. Enormous increases
1 in yields have resulted. In South Caro-
ma Tor the ten years UP to 1905. the
average yield OF corn TO the acre was
] los bushels, now * is eighteen bush
els. Corn yields from ground under
direction of demonstration agents la ST
! year averaged thirt!-fiv bushels to
| Inc acre. while the general yield in the
south was nineteen bushels. Yet this
| is done at a cost Of only 81 per year
to the family.
I Glowing reports Of what demonstra
ton work has done in Louisiana We're
| brought by Mason Snowden, State
agent there.
Boys and Girls Speak.
An illustrated lecture was given by
~ y. Martin, who is in charge of the
/ boys demonstration work and fol :
lowing him there came the two prize
winners from NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Terry
and Frank q. Brockman They gave
clear accounts OF how they had made
Yields OF corn on their acres far in
excess of what any Virginia farmer
has been able to do. Young Brockman
made l67 bushels of corn on his acre
| in 1872 and cleared s175 on the crop
itself. besides winning about 500 in
| prizes and trip to Washington. Yet
lac regretted that droughts and storms
! has prevented his getting a really eood
/ yield
| Miss Ella c. Agnew. State agent for
| girls canning clubs, told of some of
the great things her girls have done.
I Ill
ground by her father, who said she
would have 10 help work his tobacco.
But in repanting she managed TO get
III few hundred tomato plants. scat
tered over ten acres of ground. Miss
Agnew gave credit to the county
demonstrators
Miss Ola Tuck OF Halifax County.
toiu now she made success in rails
ing ana canning tomatoes. She was
followed by Miss Georgia Whitesel. of
Rockingham County, who is destined to
be great public speaker some dav.