Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-04-03
farm AGENTS HEAR
EXCELLENT TALKS
Three Day Course for Col
ored Demonstrators Be-
gins Yesterday.
WATSON is IN CHARGE
Agents From Twelve or More COun-
ties listen tn instruction From
Agricultural Teachers.
WATSON is IN CHARGE


With colored farm agents from
twelve Or more counties in attend
ance short course of instruc ion
was started in the chapel OF the
Branch Normal school yesterday
morning at $3.50 o'clock under the
direction of c. w. Watson, state
agent in charge of the farmers CO.
operative demonstration work of the
federal bureau of agriculture.
The meeting was opened by Leo
M. Favrot, supervisor of rural
schools, who spoke of the purpose of
tie course, and then introduced Mr..
Watson.
Farmer Must Study.
"The aim of the short course"
said Mr.. Watson, "is to make know
ledge more practical for the farmer
If it is necessary for the doctor and
lawyer to prepare for their work, it
is also necessary for the farmer 20
prepare for his. And this can only
be done by scientific training. 1t is
all right for a girl to be skilled as
an artist and accomplished in music,
but it is more necessary for her 10
be versed in domestic science.
"The government began with the
n 700 Inf
would be impossible to change the
older people. In 1907 the govern
mentsent three men to Arkansas to
do administration work, and they
could scarcely find enough work to
do. Now there are eighty demonstra-
tors and they are overworked."
Rural School and Farm.
Connecting the School Course
with Farm Life" was the topic dis
cussed by Mr.. Favrot, who declared
cit is the duty of the rural teacher
to Stimulate organization among rur-
al people; to keep catalogs, have
reading courses, hot-beds, and to
keep in touch with all the forces
that make for the uplift of the peo-
pie"
Corn Club Work.
That the average yield of corn per
acre had been increased from nine
teen bushels to thirty-four and one
fourth bushels through the instrum-
entality of the boys corn clubs, was
the declaration of w. J. Jernigan.
Mr.. Jernigan said that this was un-
der demonstration, but that the boys
corn clubs members had secured an
average of forty-five bushels an acre
One-CrOp System Costly
Mr.. Jernigan said that before the
establishment of boys corn clubs the
South thought it colud not grow
corn, and the reason there is more
interest in corn clubs tan cotton
clubs is because 'this section had
gone wild over raising cotton al
ready" Growing corn permits the
rotation of crops, and breaks up the
one-crop system. He objected to per-
sistent cotton growing because it ex-
hausts the fertility of the soil, the
strength of the farmer and the farm
er's bank account, "if he has any
Both together, however, teach a
useful system of bookkeeping"
Miss Archer Addresses Girls.
Miss Emma Archer closed the fore
noon session with an address to the
girls, outlining the manner in which
one-tenth of an acre should be pre-
pared and the proper method Of car.
ing for tomatoes, lettuce. radishes
and other truck crops. Miss Archer
gave demonstration in canning in
the afternoon.
School Sanitation.
DR.. c. w. Garrison discussed "Rur-
al School Sanitation and Hygiene
in the afternoon, saying prevention
is the great effort of this age" He
declared "all germ diseases are con-
tagious, and that 50 per cent of al
diseases are carried by soil pollu.
ton" He said light, air and clean
Illness are the three most destruc.
tive agents of disease; that houses
should be we'll SCREENED and yards
we'll drained. DR.. Garrison made
| the statement that one out of every
eighth death is caused by tubercul
osis. and that typhoid carries off 49,,
900 people each year.
The session will continue today
and tomorrow.