The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., July 20, 1912, Image 1

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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WHAT OUR RURAL SCHOOLS MOST NEED—Page 5.
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TIHUE^FAUM telWi
V
A Far»x> ad Home Weekly for
Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA.,—MEMPHIS, l'ENN.
Vol. XXVII. No. 29. SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1912. Weekly : $1 a Year.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
ONE of the many wide and promising fields for co-operation
among farm folk is to be found in the organization and conduct
of community life. In most cities and towns will be found or
ganizations of some sort having for their end the improvement of the
community in some respect or other. There may be a Civic Federa
tion, a Village Improvement Society, a Library Association, a Health
League, or any one of a dozen
neighborhood in all our territory, we feel safe in saying, in which one
or more organizations for neighborhood improvement could not find
profitable employment.
Suppose a neighborhood Good Health Club, for example, devoted
a winter to finding out about preventable diseases and general sanita
tion and then gave a summer to such preventive work in the way
of cleaning up, draining, screen
otner societies wonting ior me
benefit of the whole community.
The value of these organizations
can scarcely be overestimated.
They are to be credited not only
with the tangible results they
bring about, but also with the
spirit of civic loyalty and of un
selfish interest in others which
they promote.
Such organizations are as yet
rare in the country districts, but
I the country needs them not less
; than the town. In too many coun
try communities there is no com
munity life at all. By this we
mean that there is no feeling of
responsibility on the part of the
different individuals or families
for the welfare of the community,
no local pride, no attempt at local
co-operation in business matters,
I no social center for the commu
nity, no realization, in short, of
A WELL-KEPT BACKYARD.
Too often the backyard is made a dumping ground for all sorts oi useless junk, and
when this is the case it is likely to become unsanitary as well as unsightly. We like the
general air of neatness and thrift shown in this picture, which was sent us by Charles
W Picquet, Southern Pines, N. C.
ing, i'll., as migni seem caneu 101
—would nol Ihe result in all prob
ability be a healthier, a cleaner
and a more aspiring neighbor
hood? I
The lines along which effec- s
live work could be done are many
indeed, and work along one line
would inevitably suggest things j
to be done in some other. The |
need for such organized com
munity effort is great and its pos- I
sibilities almost beyond our com i
prehension. Rural life is yet
largely to be developed, and it
will never reach its full beauty
and charm and dignity until farm
people realize that their much
lamented lack of social advant
ages is largely their own fault, j
and that just as the individual j
gives to the welfare of the com- j
munity so will the community be
able to contribute to the welfare
the tact that the interests ot all
the members of the community are closely related and that only
through the organization and co-operation of the various members
can the community be made what it should be.
Of course, there are various organizations which do more or less
work along this line in different neighborhoods, but often this work
is only incidental to some other purpose, and oftener still the com
munity has no such organization at all. The Farmers’ Union locals
are doing good work for community development in many instances;
; the Woman’s Betterment Associations re making the schools in some
j localities; here and there will be found a farmers’ club which is keep
ing alive the spirit of neighborhood unity; occasionally a church is
making itself a real social center; other organizations in a few in
stances do something toward the conscious and effective development
of the community; but, taking the country as a whole, it is the simple
I truth to say that in the rural districts the community spirit—the honest
pride in one’s own neighborhood and honest effort to make it better—
is sadly lacking.
We do not mean to say that the people in the rural districts do
not care as much for their neighbors and are not as much interested
in bettering their own surroundings as are the people in the towns.
We believe that as individuals they are. What they have not learned
is to make this individual feeling of value to themselves and to others
by joining in with their neighbors to do the work that needs to be
done for the betterment of the neighborhood. There is not a rural
and Happiness oi me individual. ;
Only as the members of a community join together to work for the
general good, is the community likely to become a more desirable and
a more satisfactory place to live. j
If your community is not the sort of place it ought to be, why not \
enlist your neighbors in a campaign to make it better ?
FEATURES OF THIS ISSUE.
AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION IN IRELAND — How United ,
Effort is Re-Making Irish Agriculture . 11
BREAK LAND EARLY FOR FALL GRAINS—The Best Crops Are
Seldom Made on Late-Plowed Land . 3
CARE OF CHURCH BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS—The Com lull
ing Article of Mr. Greaves* Series. 15
CATARRHAL DISEASES OF POULTRY—Seasonable Notes on Pre
vention and Treatment. 14
FIGHT THE ARMY WORM—How to Do It. 17 !
LETTERS OF INTEREST TO HAY MAKERS—The Hay Loader.
Curing Alfalfa and Peavines, Storage Room. 7
THIS YEAR’S COTTON PROSPECTS—Looks Now Like a Crop of
Average Size . 10
WHAT HOME SHOULD MEAN TO THE CHILDREN—It Should
Be “the Dearest Place in All the World”. 8
WHAT OUR RURAL SCHOOLS MOST NEED—A Symposium by j
Four State Superintendents. 5 j
WHEN LEGUMES DO NOT IMPROVE THE SOIL—When the En
tire Crop is Removed From the Land. 3