The Washington herald., 1913-08-24
Br JAMES b. MORROW.

After Thomas Nixon Carver left home
he lived in a shanty, doing his own COOK
ing, washing and mending. Il called
it a two-room shack" he said to me.
''One room was inside and the other was
outside Anyway such was the descrip-
ton j wrote to the young women VINO
had promised TO be my wife"
That was twenty-five years ago. he
was Farmer Carver then and his httle
homestead was covered with sage oruSn'
Now he is DR.. Carver, professor OF polit-
ical economy at Harvard University,
member of scientific societies in England
and the United States and the authoF Vi
several books.
Three items constitute the great agri-
cultural formula OF the national govern
ment They are crowded INTO the sahsie
sentence: Better farming, better pusl-
ness, and better living. Better iariIllhs
has been established. we are the pes'
farmers in the world" DR.. carver AYERS.
The next onward step is to be in the
5irec+iop of better business. DR.. Carver
has been brought to Washington that ne
nov nioneer the movement, which offic-
jsIIx, is known as the rural organization
service. Harvard has given him leave
of absence. Secretary Houston, OF the
Agriculture Department. having criucally
1oolred the country over, is sure that he
bos found the right man for the task.
s.The best religion in the world" DIR.
Carver says, and he has written a volume
on the subject, is the one which acts
most powerfully as a spur to energy and
directs that energy most productivity"
There are two kinds of philosophers in
his catalogue Of mankind. The pig-trough
rbilosopher who thinks that the purpose
of life, OF labor, and Of wealth is enjoy
rneut: and the workbench philosopher,
haf 4ha end Of production
should be more production, or in other
words, a further conquest of the forces
of nature and the extension of mans
dominion over the earth.
A Big Indoor and Outdoor Man.
But will the farmers Of the country
listen with respect to doctor Of law
and literature and specialist in political
economy? They would do SO could they
see him and hear him talk. DR.. Carver
once rowed on the crew at Cornell. NOW
at forty-eight, though he looks no more
than thirty-five, he is big enough and
strong enough to tear down mousse
There is tan in his face instead of a
students paIlor. His library has failed
to put a stoop in his brawny shoulders.
The story of his outdoor and indoor
life. apart from the bearing 1t may have
on the stupendous work he means 10
inaugurate, is a romance of victory won
over remarkable circumstances.
Even so, but is he competent to tell
the farmers how to dispose Of their
CROPS and live stock? At the age of seven
he handled a team hitched to harrow
riding one of the broad-backed horses,
which, in itself. was hard days work
for a short-legged boy. When he was
nine he plowed as many burrows as
man There were 600 acres in his fathers s
Iowa farm. Corn, worth 15 cents a
bushel, was grown for cattle and the
cattle, q finished product were sent TO
market. There were ten children In the
Carver family. Times were never very
good. There was always enough to eat
but ready money was hard to get. Such
were the surroundings in which DR.. Car
yer learned his elementary lessons in
farm enonomics.
ct had no heroic notions about an edu-
ca ton in those days" he told me- my