Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-06-03
L. j. LEDBETTER TELLS THE
FARMERS WHAT THEY MUST DC
Says Must Now the Briars, Destroy SaS-
safras, Fill Gullies, Cover Scalds
or Darker DAYS Will Come.

St11TttSS Uulll0SS COHOE
or Darker Days Will Come.
At meeting of the Farmers union
at Bear Wallow on May 20. L. J. Led
better delivered the following timely
speech on the Importance of greater
activity and more improved methods
among the farmers:
Brother President, Ladies and Gentle
men:
My remarks tonight will be rather
a question to you. What is wrong with
Edneyville township? 1t, contains be-
tween twenty-five and thirty thousand
acres of land elevated from nine run
dred feet above the sea level to the top
of the great, old Bear Wallow and
Sugar Loaf mountains, whose submits
loom up in the blue sky to more than
four thousand feet.
Edneyville township has a climate
that will grow fruit from the fig to the
Siberian crab and flowers from the
modest little violet and trailing arbu-
tus on the road side to the ever bloom
ing roses of our southern sister states.
A climate and soil so we'll adjusted that
of a great conf1agration were to sweep
our forests away they would rise
spontaneous as if by magic to heal the
scar, requiring no experts to refQrest
our lands The axeman has piled his
ak in our timber for bark and cross
ties regardless of the waste. No more
will we ever see great sheds of bark
at Bat Cave. No more will the road be
lined with crossties, we have come to
the end of the log.
As l look on the picture of Arabian
Lincoln before me and the picture of
Washington on my right. think,
| could we call them, with Jefferson and
Adams and our forefathers, back they
could not bring prosperity in that line
again in our time.
AS / look out on these hills and
mountain sides with great SCALED
spots, gullies, sassafras, bramboo
briars and worn out fields 1 think of
Uncle Joe Freeman, Uncle Loss, the
Sherrels, Keyses, Williams, Summers,
Lydas, Edneys and all our forefathers
who sleep in our cemeteries and how
they helped with the plow share. They
made corn until our land has blown
and slipped away.
Here in our presence is gentleman
from Virginia driving beautiful high
way through this mighty gorge. Yet
his men are fed on meat from Cipcin-
natl, their bread was produced on the
wheat fields of Tennessee If I were
to tell you that tomatoes would not
grow here you would call me liar.
| yet our stores are lined with tomatoes
from Virginia and Florida We have
fine climate for peaches but our
stores are stocked with peaches from
Rutherford and California. And so it
is with sweet potatoes, cotton seed
meal and bulls, guano, fertilizer and
other acids to say nothing of the pea
vines, clover and other things which
are shipped here by the thousands.
Did you know we are living in one Of
the finest grass regions in the country"
I tell you we must turn our attention
| to something more than a little grow
ing of corn. Every little rill that's
bearing away our alluvial soil must be
made to do it's part to help US.
| We must uniform our land; beat up
those boulders and build walls of them
and make our farms as green and pref
| ty as a soap bubble with the seven
primary colors in it. If we do not
turn these hills and valleys into some
| thing more than corn growing the
carriages and automobiles will be seen
coming and going viewing the beauti-
full scenery Owned by great stockhold-
ers) while our little homes will pass
one. by one Yes, we must wake up.
NOW down the briars, dig up the sassa-
fras; fill up the .gullies; cover the
SCALED spots and turn our country
| into green fields like a beautiful dawn
or our beautiful township with its
clear, blue skies will be owned by
others and our dear, mountain children
wanderers and vagabonds on the earth.