American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-07-15

lilo II " l. HE ways IL 10 WulluB " thhn6c ~
methods of his forefathers for more profitable
and permanent practices.
ut is needless to expect, however. that the
best methods will be adopted universally in any
community. The inertia of prejudice, apathy. In
difference. not to say positive antagonism, will
always be so great that the momentum Of any
innovation, however successful, will require years
before 1t will be generally adopted"
Educational Agriculture.
Speaking on the topic of rural education, Hebert
Quick, editor Of Farm and Fireside, had this to
say:
"All over the United States there are s~pringing
up rural schools which take farm life as their
educational plant and get an education for every
child out of that life. Beginning in seed analy-
sis. seed testing, milk testing and the like, they
are gradually transforming the old, dead rural
school into a new kind Of school in which every
educational process is related to the life Of the
community. These schools are becoming labor
atories. the counting rooms. the work shops. the
economic, and the social centers OF their COM
munities.
I'm such a school a training Is given which is
more truly cultural than can possibly be given in
city schools. They are workshops in which the
youth OF the land are dealing with life itself. 1t
is their own life. They see day by day the use aud
meaning OF what they are doing. They will write
better than their parents wrote, because they will
ba trained in writing their own thoughts and not
those Of oilers. They will use numhors more
correctly because they will be trained In an arith-
metic OF their own and their families livelihood.
They will be better farmers than their parents,
because they will have spent their childhood
years in studying the business of farming. They
will be happier than their parents were, because
they will know more of the mystery, the grandeur,
and tha obarpo ~ that natrra uuhooo
they are interrogating day by day. They will be
better educated than either their parents or their
city brethren, because they will have been trained
In the habit of thinking in terms Of truth. Such
will be the results of the universal adoption in
our rural schools, not OF agricultural education.
but OF educational agriculture"
Sentiment to Point Of Action.
One Of the significant movements Of farming
has been the organization of some 1900 farmers
clubs during the last two years In Minnesota and
North Dakota. This movement, led by D. A. Wal
lace of the st, Paul Farmer. gives unusual inter-
est in the following paragraph of his address:
THE Farmers club has been the breeding
ground for a host of cooperative ventures, of
which we have 27O0 In Minnesota alone-elevators
creameries, marketing associations, live stock.
shipping associations, telephone lines. cow-testing
associations. cholera-fightin associations, stock
shows. grain shows, boys and girls corn and po-
tato contests. breeders associations, growers as
sociations. chautauquas. consolidated schools. good
roads clubs-a perfect infinity of local n~eighbor-
hood efforts which have seemed a most natural
outgrowth OF the mere process of farmers getting
acquainted. The Farmers club. with It's auxili-
aries for the women and children, has given an
inspiration to farm life and has crystalized
farm sentiment to the point of action. 1 have
visited numerous farmers pionics where as many
rs 20 local clubs have got together In one county
for a joint outing. In one county nearly 1000 peo-
plo were brought together. The business men had
long since recognized the powerful appeal of the
community 'get-togethor' spirit, so they closed
their stores and came along. When 1000 people
get together In the country, 1t means that COM
munity building is well under way. with increased
prosperity u natural resultant"
Larger Use for Capital.
Farmers will be ready to agree with Dean +. II.
Mumford of the College of Agriculture, University
of Missouri, when he told the conferences:
1T has also been definitely demonstrated by
the agricultural experiment stations that the prof
It's In farming might be largely increased by breed
ing a better class of live stock. If every horse
In the United States that is offered for sale was a
good horse, adapted to n special purpose, 1t would
increase our income from this source by many
millions. II every beef animal shipped to market
conformed to the best type of a special beef breed
tho income from this source would be greatly
augmented. The average COW In the United States
produces less than 100 pounds of butter annually.
On the same feed and with the same cost of equip
ment and labor 1t is possible to produce animals
that yield 200 or $50 pounds of butter In the same
time. II every dairy COW in the United States was
a highly efficient milk producer the income again
would be greatly augmented. But the American
farmer can not buy the best types of the various
kinds OF domestic anuimals without money. And
so practically every change In farm practice call
cslated to result in better farming means a larg-
or use of capital. The real reason In many cases
why agricultural Improvement has not been more
rapid is because either the farmer has not been
able to secure money or did not feel justified in
borrowing money at current rates OF interest for
agricultural improvement. Unless this question is
solved in some way by the bankers It will be solved
by the farmer and consumers themselves who are