The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1915-05-22
SOUTHWESTERN
REFLECTIONS.

the crops growing these hot days
Ike Jacks Bean Stalk, the time
has come to give consideration tC
the question Of cultivation. Out
side of The sugar cane and rice
fields the farmers of Southwest
Louisiana have done but little
deep plowing in the preparation
of their lands for planting, and
the consequence is that few crops
are in condition to stand any
amount OF dry weather-much
less are they able to stand having
their roots torn and destroyed by
deep cultivation.
Therefore, throw away your
turning plow and use light culti
votors and harrows.
1t is perhaps timely to empha,
size the enormous good which
Southwest Louisiana farmers can
get out Of their State College of
Agriculture at Baton Rouge. That
institution is the biggest asset
that Louisiana has; hence il il
strange that the farmers of the
State have not risen up and de-
manded that their tax money, IN
stead of being squandered in the
creation of useless Offices and the
fatteniDg Of siDecure-holdlDg poll
ticians, should be devoted to
tqnlpping their Agricultural and
Mechanical College to the point
where il can meet the needs of
the SOUS and daughters Of half
million farmers Of Louisiana.
The farmer ought to be the best
educated man in his community.
He needs to know thousand so
crets of soil and atmosphere, of
seeds and growing plants, of sun
shine and rain, Of feed and ferti
lizer, of the various branches of
engineering and the mechanical
arts. Agriculture is and ought
to be Louisiana's greatest indus.
try. 1t follows then that the
foremost duty of the State is to
provide for their children the
best there ia in the line Of educa.
tion suited to rural pursuits.
Of all men the farmer should
exalt agriculture, and the busl.
ness man ought to do so too, be-
cause from II he lives. The big
gest investment that Louisiana
could make, from every stand.
point from which the question
could be considered, would be to
put two and a half million dollars
in buildings equipment and lands
necessary to enable the State Ag-
ricultural College to tram the men
and women who are to dig more
gold out of the farms of Louisiana
within the next few years than
has ever come out of the mines of
California. Peru, Alaska and the
Rand, from the beginning until
now.
In this connection Professor f.
l.. Jordan, of the Chair Of Animal
industry of that great College,
advises this Bureau that mum
ber of students are anxious to
find employ ment on the farms of
Louisiana during the vacation pc
riod; that they are willing and In
tellIgent. some of them with con-
siderable experience, and that
such wages as their services may
be worth to those who would EN-
ploy them, would be acceptable.
when they need the wages yet
the pecuniary compensation is a
secondary consideration, certain
credits being given them IN their
studies where they make satisfac-
tory records In practical work on
the farms.
We hope a number Of these
young students will find places on
farms in Southwest Louisiana
during the Summer. The advan-
tages will be threefold; the boys
will be helped, the State College
of Agriculture will be advertised
and some of the boys, pleased
with their experiences, would
come back to us after graduation
and devote their finely trained fa-
culties to helping us build up
Louisiana. If you can
possibly make use of one or more
Of these young men, write to-
Professor 4 l.. Jordan. Louisiana
State University. Baton Rouge, La.