Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-01-19
Turning Soilward.

FOR years the kenheoec
,oen bammering away at the Dam
~, FARM idea. One by one IL haS
seen this force or that become in'.'
os,ed and then launch forth to"aru inc
.,,.a.,or If humanity by turning the
81. into the wastes of I'M
filled but tillable land. Every s
~, movement is redoubling It's I'M
o,,,s Great things have been ac-
,,,sbed Agricultural courses are
now in the colleges ana sohoo'9
here in this broad land. Farm
a,,bs of one sort or another-corh
clubs. potato clubs. pig CLUBS oueA
c,ubs etc.-are heard from on every
hand Generous prizes are onereo Wy
.,osa who have the interests OF the
country and of special branches u
.or;cuIture at heart. Contests tor
supremacy and substantial prize
.rds are as plentiful as ball games
The thing is moving by leaps ana
bounds. but the very greatest ao
comnlishment thus far is the dissipa-
ton of the generally accepted no.ioh
NJ a few years ago that to be d
farmer was to be joke. Boys anu
girls are now getting the spirit OF
making two blades of grass gro"
where one grew before. They are
learning to love the science of tickling
the soil, Of experimenting with the
wonderful possibilities Of this and OF
that. They are beginning to UNDER
stand that the field of special en-
deavor in agriculture is almost beyond
limit.
Then. too. financial, industrial, &C
tual living conditions are conspiring
to force the overcrowded, Goddess con-
gestions of humanity out into Gods
open. Speed tho day when human in
telIiaenee will grasp the necessity for
limiting the size and proximity Of
cities!
But we are gaining. Every day we
see new evidence of it. The news
papers of the land treat the whole
subject from various angles. Some
handle it soberly, conservatively and
prophetically, while others become
facetious. But even the latter helps
for it is advertising. The very latest
suggestion we clip from the Boston
Transcript, in the following editorial:
The wastes of untitled land within
half an hours steaming of Boston's
tenement districts is standing chal-
Ienge: How to bring the two together?
Here is soil that, with intelligent till
ing, would spell liberty. independence
and a release from all the ills of over
crowding-disease, bad sanitation, I'M
desirable neighbors, and the constant
fight to bring up children decently.
But how to bring them together is
the stubborn puzzle. The families
which most need this release have no
money to buy it, and If they had. few
of them have the experience to make
the land support them. And their
foreign tongues are an obstacle even
when they have had the training of
peasant farmers in the lands of their
nativity. Yet 1t is intensely to the
interest of the Commonwealth to
transform this tenement wage work
ing population into a sturdy, inde-
pendent yeomanry.
This riddle has been attacked by a
committee from the State Board of
Education, headed by Mr.. Frederick P.
Fish. The effort has been TO deter
mine how agriculture can be taught to
families on a practical basis. how
much it would cost, and whether the
results would be worth the expense.
1t was all new scenery. No study of
Just this sort had been undertaken by
any state in the country. Most of
the work was done, quite properly. in
our own North and West Ends. The
committee quickly discovered that
more than a third of the families con-
suited look toward agriculture as a
release from the hardships of their
present positions, some from motives
Of thrift, and some because they
realize the terrific handicap of at
tempting to give their children an
even chance in life amid the tempta-
tons and the hindrances of these
crowded streets. The committee con-
tesses that it is by no means certain
how many of these families would or
could avail themselves of instruction in
agriculture, even If offered, and de-
clares there is no way to find out ex-
cept by trying. The instruction
would have to be very simple and
praetical-sueh kinds as gardening.
Bookkeeping, poultry raising and
dairying, with the land close to the
homes Of the families which were be-
ing taught. 1t might be necessary
for the state temporarily to furnish
houses and land for its pupils The
cost of the instruction would be about
800 year for each family, half to be
borne by the State and half by the
local community. 1t is not though,
wise to establish a school for this pur-
pose. The thing could be done as
we'll, IL not better, by the schools al
ready at work. The teaching certain
iy could not be done by book; II
would need to be the most direct ano
practical method Of learning by do.
ing.
To the nrofeet can be engineered