'"Wnvumiia
VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPT. 23, 1011.
NO. 38
LARGER VIEW OF UFE.
THE FARMKK COMING TO HIS OWN
IN MANY WAYS.
The   Newly   Organized   Soil   Fertility
League Here to Help.
It ls a. good plan to stop now and
then and take an account of stock, to
find where we stand. The mariner
takes observations from
the sun or stars, that he
may be sure he is on the
right course. The Federal
census, i Just now being
tabulated, is the observation taken by the nation
at ten year intervals, from
which we, as a people,
must make our reckonings and shape our course.
The account shows that
the cities are increasing in
population very rapidly,
while the country, as a
rule, is either at a standstill or going backward. It
is noteworthy that nearly
all (he immigrants, especially those of the South of
Europe, flock to the cities.
This ls unfortunate. Their
labor is needed In the
country, and they would
be far better off living
there.
The Most Alarming Feature
But this is not the most
alarming feature that the
figures disclose. The fact
that so many young men
and women, who are farm
bred, are not willing to
take up the farm duties,
when, by reason of age,
their parents must lay
them down is a matter of
nVep concern. For many
years the cities have lured
away the best brain    and
brawn    of    country    life,       	
leaving the latter too impoverished for
the good of the nation. The cities are
overcrowded with idle thousands; the
country needs more workers. This
naturally raises the question, why is
this? and what is the remedy? There
are many whys. One is the fact that
the country schools have not kept pace
with the schools of the towns and cit-
'es. The low wages paid secure, as a
rule, inexperienced teachers and too often of mediocre ability. It is false
economy to employ poor teaching ability because it is cheap. Many of these
country schools have only a half dozen
Pupils—some of them less Under such
conditions there can be no school spirit,
io enthusiasm and little interest. Neither the pupils nor the parents are satis-
field, and In a few years it is decided
to send the larger boys and girls away
to the nearbly town or more distant
c'ty, where the sehools are better. These
>oung people  usually  get    'the    book
education expected of them, but they
also
Get the Town Microbe
and when the school term ends they
return to the farm under protest, and
too often with a flxed determination to
eave it at the flrst opportunity. This
saving ls sometimes to the advantage
of the idividual, but far more often lt
proves to be a life mistake. One of the
main reasons for this unfortunate decision is that the country lacks social
life; pleasures and diversions are too
few; there is too much work and too
little play. What is the remedy? There
may be quite a number of tributary factors, but there are three that, taken
together, may be regarded as a full answer to the question.
tral school with a corps of strong
teachers and a course of study wherein
the pupil may get an education from
the kindergarten to the high school
while living at home upon the farm. It
will be found that the central school,
having provision for taking the pupils
to and from their homes, measured by
the results for which schools are conducted, is a far better paying investment than to maintain a number of lit-
In the Horticultural Building at the State  Fair.
What are the Remedies?
1. Good Roads. So that the young
people can get about for pleasure and
always with comfort; good roads enlarge their horizon and enable them to
be a part of the social life of the town
that is several miles away. There are
automobiles now upon the market,
which they can amply afford to own,
with which they can reach the theatre,
the church, and other social gatherings
with little loss of time, and without loss
of self-respect. Their acquaintance
and interests are broadened, they take
a larger view of life and they see beyond
the fence that separates their farm from
that of their neighbor. The larger
view is necessary If they are to grow
up into well appointed, useful and desirable citizens. The broader view results in a wider range of selection In
the marriage relation, which ls more
apt to be a union of hearts than under
restricted conditions, wherein the union
is sometimes determined by reason that
the farms adjoin. The highest welfare
of the present and future is involved in
this question of happy homes, filled
with contentment.
2. Educationally, the great need
of the country is the consolidated
school—one large weU   appointed cen-
tle red school houses at the cross roads,
which in no sense meet the requirements of the times. Of course good
roads are eissential to the carrying out
of this plan.
3. The New Agriculture, wherein
the youth of the farm will find a boundless opportunity for using their brains
as well as their muscles in the fascinating, absorbing and very profitable vocation of farming. It is a business that
will yield a surer and a larger return
than anything else that Is open to them.
Under the new conditions farming will
take on a new meaning; it will be an
avocation of which any man may well
be proud.
The Up-to-Date Farmer
is the most necessary, the most prosperous, the most useful, and Is coming to
be the most respected citizen. In no
other field of human industry He greater possibilities than upon the farm. A
new day is dawning In farm life and
one In which the farmer will come Int.)
his own. Mighty forces are working
to this end. One of the most significant and Important ls that of the newly
formed National Soil Fertility League,
made up of many of the most distinguished and successful men of the nation,   embracing   eminent   statesmen.
manufacturers, leaders In transportation and commerce and prominent
farmers.
Tho New Organization to bo Helpful.
The Soil Fertility League organization
is formed for the express purpose of
creating a larger ami deeper interest In
agriculture; to have it better appreciated and more fully understood; to build
up the public sentiment necessary, so
that with the Joint acion of the federal
government and the several states, special appropriations will be made to
Um colleges of agriculture, so as to enable them
to do a broad extension
work; In other words, to
have these schools place
In every agricultural county in the land a trained
soil chemist or soil expert, who shall carry the
new knowledge of agriculture, gathered at the experiment stations, to the
people of every community and show them how
to use it. Every authority approves of this meth-
iial, and all agree that ln
a few years it should
practically double the output of the farms, and
greatly increase the farmer's profit. There is no
danger of over-production; a hungry world will
take all that can be raised, and at good prices.
Great   Possibilities  of  Increased  Production.
If this increase, which
ls easily practicable, can
be brought about, the
blessings it will bring are
beyond the human grasp.
The increase alone would
mean the creation of
wealth every year twenty
times    greater   than      the
        world's output of gold—a
sum three times larger than the entire
cost of the Civil war, and exceeding
three fold the combined amount of all
the gold, silver and paper money ln the
country.
In speaking of the plan and purpose
of the National Soil Fertility League,
President Taft said:
"This is the greatest work that could
possibly be done for the country. I
believe you are on the right track.
What can I do to help you?"
Mr. Taft Joined the Advisory Committee of the League. Among the other members are: Mr. James J. Hill of
St. Paul, Secretary McVeach, Speaker
Champ Clark, Mr. B. F. Yoakum, William Jennings Bryan and others, Including a number of our most eminent
farmers. Never ln the history of this
country has such an array of men been
brought together for the purpose of
solving such an important and far
reaching problem. The President of
the League Is Mr. Howard H. Gross of
Chicago. It has a strong directorate,
and will have ample funds. It proposes to carry on a campaign for ten
years, lf necessary, to accomplsh the
high purpose it has undertaken.
During the laat year New York city
consumed 51,000,000 pounds of poultry.