The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1918-12-27
OF THE STATE
pENIN0S OF TkE
WEEK.

IL le csNllldNcu mat AN icAst ltN, VVV
bushels OF wheat will he shipped from
Oelrichs. a Fall River county town.
this year Eight years ago farming
was just beginning in that locality,
At that time few ranchers MIXED eve
one cow. Now Oelrichs has n coop
owned by farmers and business men
OF the vicinity. which does a good
volumne OF business and supplies hu,,
ter TO many towns in this AMI adjoil,
ing counties.
Preliminary arrangements are being
made for the annual exhibit OF the
Day County Poultry association which
will be held in the opera house during
the week beginning January -, pro
yiding the influenza epidemic shows
a big improvement ny that time More
attention than ever before is being
paid 10 the poultry industry through.
ont Day county and i; is expected that
the a~pproaChiag poultry ST. wv will be
the most successful ever held in the
county
Mrs. Peter BO.hum. wife OF a Rob
erts county farmer. did more than her
share OF work in behalf OF the soldiers
and in other ways. This year she,
as a part OF her activities. raised more
than 100 ducks, chickens and turkeys,
took care OF a big war garden. did
the cooking for a large crew of farm
hands. took care of the family sew
ing, performed other household duties
and, in addition. knitted twenty-three
pairs OF stocks for the boys lover
there"
The old frontier p~ostoffce of Seim.
which was n OF the first 10 be estab-
hShed in northwestern South Dakota,
this being some years before this part
Of the state was occupied by home
sreaders. who supplanted the cattle
kings. has been discontinued and the
name will disappear from the postal
map. Its place will be taken by Shade
Hill ~postofice, which has been estab-
lished al the Grand River crossing,
just east of the location OF the former
postCfhce OF Seim. The Seim post.
office was established in 1896.
The fallacy of theoretical as com.
pared with practical workings OF ideas
IS found in the leasing of state school
lands for agricultural purposes. When
the constitutional amendment was up
for consideration granting this privi.
lege IL was confidently asserted that
BY such a change the leases for agri-
cultural purposes would bring enough
reVenue from the school lands in
many counties 10 pay the entire cost
Of operation OF the schools, while the
leasing for hay and grazing purposes
brought only a small revenue. In
practice very lew leases for agricul-
tural purposes have been taken out,
lease has been allowed to lapse in a
iew years. and the tract to grow 70
weeds. In counties where such leases
nave been made the past year some
OF these tracts had no bidders, wnile
the grazing lands In the same neigh
borhood leased up as high as So an
acre per year. The experience of
North Dakota with leasing state lands
for agriculture was pointed out rs in
opposition TO the theory when Il was
up for consideration, but had no eff
tect. and the state Is not only not a
gamer. but in fact practically a loser,
by the adoption of such a system.
III the legislative program OF Fred
l. Shaw, state superintendent Of edu.
cation, goes through South Dakota's
rural schools will be put upon an en-
tirely different plane. In a letter to
the county superintendent ar. Shaw
outlines a comprehensive program,
which will improve conditions a hun
dredfold and place the rural schools of
the state on a par with any In the
country In hi sletter Mr.. Shaw says
while two-thirds OF the grade school
enrolment of the state Is found in
country schools less than So per cent
oil the money spent for education is
expended in rural districts. Such a
condition, he declares, should be rem.
edied. and he says his department will
ask the state Legislature to make an
appropriation for this purpose. Mr..
Shaw is OF the opinion that wherever
possible country schools should be
consolidated and standardized. He
will ask the legislature to make some
provision whereby those one-room ru-
raj schools which lie near enough to-
gether be consolidated. Another mat
ter which will be laid before the state
lawmakers, and which will strike a
responsive chord in the heart of every
rural school teacher, is a plan fostered
by the department for the erection of
tcacherages. Mr.. Shaw I'm his letter
sets forth that under. existing condi-
lions country school teachers are
forced to board around" first with
one farmer and then another; that
they do not have a real home during
h entire school term. and that conse.
gently their work naturally suffers.
Unde the plan a building would be
erected In connection with the school
building in which the teacher might