The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1914-02-19

ture depend more and more on the
soil, because the timber and the
mineral rights have been lost to the
people. There will, within the next
few years, be a much larger in
crease in this rural population
among the mountains. Over the en-
tire State the urban population is
increasing three times as rapidly as
the rural, but not so in the noun
tains. The shifting Of population
from the open country into the
towns and cities does not affect he
mountains very much. Since 1900
forty-twU count es in the State have
lost population. Only two of these
are in the mountains, twenty-three
ore in the Bluegrass and the rest
are IN the pcnnyroyal and the pur-
chase. The Bluegrass counties are
nearly all losing rural population
and are not so much in need Of bet
ter agriculture, unless it be to keep
the people on the farm. The noun
tain counties are in the sorest need
of better methods Of agriculture
for the number of people on the
farms is increasing very rapidly,
the amount of fresh land is almost
exhausted, the average yield OF
corn per acre for the entire sec
ton Is less than per cent. more
than il was thirteen years ago and
the people have got TO be fed. In
nine mountain counties the aver
age yield of corn per acre was less
in 1909 than il was in 1899. Surely
this is situation that should re-
ceiVc careful thought and con-
sderation at the hands of our Gen.
eral Assembly.
The people Of many of the noun
tain counties have walked up TO the
importance of having better agri-
culture in order to produce the in
creased amount of foodstuffs de-
manded by the increased number
of mouths to be fed and have al
ready been teaching agriculture
in the rural schools. | am per-
sonally acquainted with the people
who have been doing most of this
work and know that it is not SEN
timen:. II is not a desire to get a.
head Of everybody else or to be
different from the people of other
counties. II is a matter of absolute
necessity and a few wide-awake
school people have recognized it
as such. II is not done to attract
attention to the county, but it is
done TO get meat and bread for the
table tomorrow.
Take Lawrence county, for eX-
ample. Lawrence is one of the
best of the mountain counties. She
has many wideawake, progressive
people. and has one of the
best weekly papers published in
the South. Lawrence has over 90
600 people, over 5000 horses, about
900 mules, over 10000 head of cat
tie, about 10000 hogs. Lawrence
produced in 1909 735, 1891 bushels of
corn. When we apportion the
corn among the people and the
livestock we discover that there is
not anything like enough to supply
food for a year. The county does
not produce enough corn to feed
its people and its livestock. And in
no other mountain county can bet
ter methods be found than here.
Now the former Superintendent
of Schools, Jay o. Daniel, realized
some time ago that something had
to be done, and whether the rest of
the State was doing so or not did
not matter; Lawrence needed better
methods of agriculture on the farms
and So he started agriculture and
domestic economy in his schools
No sentiment about it; just his way
of supplying one of the most funda-
mental needs of his people.
Rowan county is another place
where the people have walked up
and are handling their own affairs
even before the matter has been
passed upon by the General Assem-
bly,. Rowan has about $500 people,
about 1000 horses, something over
600 mules, about $500 head of cat
tie and something like 5000 hogs,
In 1909 Rowan produced 2ii70s
bushels of corn. If this were dis
tributed in equal amount among all
the people and the livestock there
would be nothing like enough to
supply all the stock and the human
beings for year. Meal must be
brought in for the table and feed
must be secured elsewhere to sup
plement the stock food produced on
the farms. This must be done in
spite of the fact that the farmers OF
Rowan are as thrifty as those of any
other mountain county.
Although such work is not re-