The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1922-07-06
WHY THE EXODUS FROM FARMS
(By 7. r. Peck, Commissioner Of
Agriculture.)

(By 7. F. Peck, Commissioner Of
Agriculture.)
Some people wonder why there is
an exodus from the farms to the cities
and industrial centers-why the sons
and daughters of farmers want to
leave the farm. We all know of the
handicaps under which farmers are
laboring because Of high taxes and the
high cost Of farm equipment, coupled
with the generally prevailing low
prices Of farm products.
But there is another reason gem
orally overlooked reason more far
reaching in it's influence than all the
other handicaps-and that is the lack
of up-to-date facilities for education
for the boys and girls of the rural
districts. This latter condition has
been the cause of more drift from the
farm than all other causes combined.
In the majority Of our counties
agriculture is the principal activity
and source Of revenue for the people
and must continue to be so. Where
that is true, it would naturally be
supposed that nothing would be left
undone by the citizenship and those
in places of authority to provide edu-
cational advantages along lines that
would qualify the boys and girls in
those counties to take up the agri-
cultural work equipped to carry it on
successfully.
Little, if anything, will be found
in the curriculums of the schools that
would encourage the boys and girls
to stay on the farms and devote their
time, talents and energy. In too many
instances the boys and girls are be-
ing educated away from the farm,
plans being made for careers in the
towns and cities Too often they are
encouraged by their parents in their
desire to get away from the farm
They hear their elders complain Of
their life Of drudgery and hardship,
privation and isolation. No wonder
that children raised in such an atmos-
phere plan to get away from it, They
are blind to the advantages and OPP
portunities all around them.
True, in several counties now we
have extension workers, and agri-
culture is taught in some high schools
under the Smith Hughes act, and
these are good as far as they 60 and
can reach But there should be and
must be system in connection with
the schools of the state that will help
to inculcate among the young people
a desire to stay on the farm rather
than desire to get away. The hope
of the country depends on the check
ing of the drift to the cities from the
farms.
With the building Of good roads,
the development of the automobile,
the telephone, the rural free delivery
and many other things, much of the
isolation that formerly featured life
on the farm has been done away with. !
But the boys and girls of the farms
should have as nearly equal educa-
tional advantages with the boys and
girls of the cities as it is possible to |
devise and in connection with the
good schools that should be estab- |
lished within the reach Of every one
of them there should be taught the |
science of agriculture.
-~eat help toward lettering con-
ditions in rural life are the community
cooperative organizations that have
been formed in some sections, and it |
is gratifying to note that this move
ment is spreading rapidly. The prac-
teal working Of these through the
marketing Of farm products is being
recognized and will go a long way
toward making conditions better for
life in the country districts.
Our trouble has been in overlooking
the Importance of emphasizing the
advantages offered by agriculture
when the industry is developed, as it |
can be and will be some time. An
other thing that should be considered
is the fact that under present con-
ditions the farm home can be made
just as attractive and provided with
as many conveniences as the city
home and the farm home has the adj |
vantage of the city home in that it
can provide its own fresh food for the
table, with the comforting knowledge |
of the fact that the milk and butter
are pure, that the eggs and vege-
tables are fresh.
BY community cooperative effort