Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 59, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1916 — PROGRESSIVE FARMERS [ARTICLE]

PROGRESSIVE FARMERS

The farmer of twenty-five years ago would probably confess to some bewilderment were he to attend the sessions of the Farmers’ National congress now assembled in. this city. He would hear, to begin with, some technical discussions which, .in [ his own day and age, he •usually i scoffed at as being the products of i theory rather than of experience. But he would observe that the farmer delegates of the present time not only listen attentively to what 1 the scientists have to say, but, what is more to the point, understand thoroughly what they are talking about. He would observe, 100, from the testimony of the practical tillers of the soil, that theory and practice nowadays are no longer as far apart as they were in days not yet so remote that they can not be readily recalled. "Farming the Air,” extracting nitrogen from the atmosphere by means of clover, alfalfa and legumes, “The Recovery of Sulphate of Ammonia”—these are subjects that the farmer of a generation j ago, if he heard of them at all, ignored. They were too “fanciful.” • But the members of the Farmers’ National congress listen to discussions of them today with interest, sympathy and understanding. They know from actual test what profit lies in a knowledge of all their details. Then, too, the farmer of yesterday would probably be surprised to note that the farmer of today is taking a deep interest in matters •'that are less closely associated with ■*t.he actual business of forcing a living from the soil. • He would hear, for example, lec- • tures by experts on such subjects as ;,national control of water power, oforestry, sanitation, improved living tconditions, federal reserve banks and rural credits. And he would 'hear a great deal more than he 'heard in his own day about better roads, and what they mean to the farmer individually and to the community at large. His wife, at the same time, would be attending a congress of her own. where she would hear experts discuss various phases of domestic economy, from saving farm waste to feeding the farmer’s family. These programs speak for themselves. They show that the farmer of the new generation is a man of progress, keeping abreast of the times. They show that making a living from his fields is not by any means the only motive that gives direction to his reflections and his enterprises. They prove, in other words, that he Is living a broader life.—lndianapolis News.