The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1928-12-07

CULTURE?
~ Yes, l looked 1t up In the diS-
tionary.~ 1t appears to be fairly
large word-exteI.ds from Prometheus
to prohibition, which you will allow
is a long reach-and takes in about
everything from growing potatoes to
making beer, which is not &C far, per-
haps, looking at it from an alcoholic
point of view.
Yes, said potatoes-solanum euber-
osum, you know-edible, farinaceous,
tubers.
Well, IL your crop turns out to be
fine, fat, smooth, husky, white and
mealy, it is becal Sc your culture is
100 per cent efficient. But if your
field of Jerusalem artichokes yields
hubby, scrubby, scabby, soggy speci-
mems your culture is all wroLg And
when you dray Early Rose, Bliss Tri-
umphs, Burbanks, Beauty of Hebron,
or Irish Cobbler where you expected
Early Ohio, that, too, is result of
culture.
All of which seems reasonable
enough when you remember that hui
man spuds act much the same way.
Exactly! The variety and the quail
ity of the male and female human
vegetable is wholly a matter of Gull
ture.
OF course, one must start with good
seed. We have no right, either, on
the ground of science or common
sense, TO expect fine minds, husky
bodies and white souls from hubby,
scrubby, scabby, soggy seed stock.
Yes, | know ! have said something
like that before. expect to keep on
saying it in one way or another. Be-
cause until we are willing to give at
least as much attention to growing
men and women as the average farm
er gives to his potatoes, we are
long, long way from comprehending
culture-even when we look it up in
the dictionaries.
But it is not enough to start with
good seed. The ground in which the
seed is planted must be right. The
soil must have just those elements
which potatoes require. In other
words: the environment must be such
that every littl, boy and girl potato
in the hill will have exactly the right
material out of which to make itself
into full-grown, well-matured and
creditable individual.
And we must not overlook cultiva-
ton. Culture and cultivation are
very nearly twins. No matter how
good the seed, or how rich the SOIL
if the ground is not stirred occasion
ally to let the air in and to keep the
weeds out; if the soil-I mean en-
virOnment-is allowed to become hard
and caked and overrun with weeds
which take all its strength; or If the
good soil is not drawn protectingly
close around the little tubers, the crop
will fall short of what it might have
been.
Is there anything sadder to see than
the men and women who might have
been?
Oh yes, about the beer!
1t seems that different cultures pro-
duce different beers. You can easily
look up the subject yourself.
Don't worry! Brother Volstead
never said that we should not even
talk about beer.
Well, as | understand it, this cul-
ture is sort of yeast, and the diff
fnrpnf hrnnino
by using different kinds of yeast.
Yes, yeast-ye-a-s-t-th stuff which
ferments, works, stirs up, puts in
the spirit, you know-the inspiration
am tod by those who are expe-
rienced ia such things that beer with
out inspiration is dull, lifeless, fiat,
stale, worthless sort of thing. And |
know from my own personal Observa-
ton What poor, tasteleSs goOdfOr-
nothing humans are brewed when
there is lack of the right kind of
inspirational yeast.
Indeed yes-absolutely, cultural in
spiration is the very life of good
character brewing. 1t is the spirit
which distinguishes the real from the
near.
To some culture is natter of
geOgraphy-to live on certain
street, in a certain district, city, or
state. To others it Is question of
MISUNDERSTANDING nothing to do with
present-day living. To others ii is a
religion-a thing to bow down before
in worship. To others i: is disease
something which one catches as one
catches humps or measles.
Certainly, there is such thing as
oyster culture. Heaven above! Don't
you know about that? In every COM
munity in the land there are more or
less extensive neighborhood beds of
these culture-Oysters-flab slick,
slippery, cold, heartless. barely alive
things in shells of conventionalism.
The book says that culture is the
'imprOs ement or refinement of mind.
morals, tastes"
like that. Mind and morals are
inseparable and taste is one with
them. That which one thinks, habit
ually, one is morally; and that which
one is determines ones tastes.
And so, you see, pee.,le whose
minds are filled with selfish, cruel,
obscene, vicious thoughts. and whose
indecent tastes would shame any red,
yellow. black or brown savage. are not