The news in this publica
tion IS released for the press on
the date indicated below. No
credit need be givein.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
Bureau of Extensicm of the Uni
versity of North Carolina.
JANUARY 13, 191S
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. L NO.
Editorial Boards E. 0. Branson, j. G. deli.
Hamilton. L. R. Wilson. Z. V. .Tiidd, S. B.
Winters.
Bnteretl as s«ctmd-cl{i«s matter NovenilK^r U,
1914, at the postortice at Chapel HiJl, N.O.,
v\nd(^r the act of August 24.1W12.
CAROLINA CLUB NOTES
Our Barn Yard BanKs
111 Nortli (iarolina in the census year,
our donicHtic. jminials preaented us with
Itaru-yanl nmimres worth $21,000,000.
The same year our hill for artiticiii! ferti
lizers v\:i.s iiwirly $13,000,000.
What Folks Do for a Living in
North Carolina
Tiie 1910 cen.sus volume upon OtTiipa-
tions shows 940,464 people in North Caro
lina, 10 year.s of age and over, engaged in
gainful occupations; white males at work
463,021, white females 130,380, total
whites 593,401. Negroes, botli sexes,
350,764.
The fanners outnumber all other work
ers in North Carolina hy more than 242,-
000.
Kighty-tive per cent Cjf the wiiite boys
and men in North C’arolina, ten years of
age and over, are at work; and 24 per
cent of the white girls and women.
The w'oineli busy with housework in
their own homes are not counted in the
census as engaged in a gainful occupation.
Arranged in classes according to num
bers the toilers arc* as follows:
1. Bankers, brokers and mon
ey lendei-s, 1,028
2. .Miners, 2,102
3. Fishermen and oystermeu, 3,065
4. Office holders, state aii(i fed
eral, 4,839
5. (ilerical workers—s t e n o -
graphers, bookkeepers,
etc., 10,579
6. Lumbermen and timberuien, 13,809
7. I’rofessional people—1 a w -
yera, teachera, preach-
ere, etc., 20,336
8. T ra n s p o rt e rs—railway.
street cai- employees, ett'., 29,601
9. Tradesfieople, 38,000
10. Domestic st'rvants, 70,636
11. Mill anti factory operatives,
uiechauics, etc., 158,412
12. Farmers, 595,388
Tiie greatest good of the greatest num
ber evidently refers to farmers, in North
Carolina.
A Significant Bulletin
What the Farm Contributes to the
Farmers’ Living is the title of the Farm
ers’ Bulletin, No. 635, issued hy the Fed
eral Department of Agriculture, Decem
ber 24, 1914.
The twenty-one pages of it are packed
with interesting and impt)rtanc details of
information.
During the sunmier of 1913 field agents
from the Office of Farm IVlanagement in
Washington investigated the living prob
lems of about fifty farm families in typical
farm areas in North (,'arolina, Georgia,
Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont.
The results enahU^ us to know ui some
definite way niairy things about which
most people have vague, hazy notions.
For instance, ui)on an average, the farm
er’s family in (jaston (bounty consinned
1Jk401.9:> worth of food per year, and more
than four-fifths (82.3 per cent) of it came
direi’t from the farm.
The food consumed per person in the
farmer’s family was 6.S pounds of cofiee,
62 pounds of sugar, 313 pounds of flour,
122 j)ounds of pork, 2 pounds of beef,
11^ poultry, 119 gallons of milk and
buttermilk, 41 pounds of butter, 27 dozen
eggs, 5.6 bushels of swwt potatoes and
Irish potatoes.
Tlie value of food consumed per person
was j)89.32 per year. The cash spent for
food was $15.85 ]>er person per year.
A Peep Into Gaston County
Farm Homes.
Gaston is the most densely populated
rural county in tiie ytate. Almost exact
ly one-half of the fanners own the farms
they cultivate, aiul 72 per cent of the
farmers are white. Nearly three-fifths of
the crop wealth from year to year (59
per cent) is produced by cotton alone.
The farmers of the county have 1)8,628,-
000 in farm properties of all sorts. It is
a well developed, prosperous cotton-farm
ing county.
The farmers live well. They have
more to eat than the farmers of Wiscon
sin, Ohio, Pensylvania, New York, or
Vermont. And the cash outlay for food
and shelter, warmth and light averages
only per farm for tho entirtiyear.
lu Texa.s these items call for ;ji254 in
cash. Jt is worth noting ttuit cotton can
be grovMi in Xorfii CJ;trolina with a much
snuiller cash outlay than in Texas,
EFFECT AND CAUSE
Ofthe27stal.es in the |init(‘d Stales
having less than 1 per ceni of illiterates
between 10 anil 14 years of ag(\ 22 have
a compulsory school term for the entire
time the .schools are in .ses.sion. That is
to .say. every child of school age miist
EVERY NEW YEAR
K\(.'ry year in Ihis ^^■orld has its
work, and every year as it rise. (Wit
of ('ternity keeps putting to (>ach of fis
this (|iiestioii afresh;
What will you do before the year
ha.s sunk iiilo eternity and nothinu;-
ness again?—Fi-ederick W. Robertson,
attend scliool the entire .school yeai'.
wlielherit be a four, .six, eight, or ten
moutns ieiiii.
CAROLINA CLUB STUDY
Mr. E. liooth of the Durham (\>un-
ty Club presented to The ('arolina Club
last V\’ednes(.lay night some amazing facts
about our lax inequalities.. They were
iM'w and significant. ' '
Census Values of Farm Lands
lie exhibited a table showing, county
by county, the 1910 census values. He
explaiuwl the methoil of determinins
census values, aud .showed that these
value.s vM're far belov\' (an-reut nuirket
(I rices.
The census value of farm land in North
Carolina in 1910averaged $20.35 per acre.
Still Lower Tax Values
Then heshowwl that the assessed tax
values of land were still lower. For the.
State tlie avei'age was around two-fifths
of the census \alue, (39 per (^ent), or
about a quarter of the real .value.
But the question of values, said he, is
relative not absolute; and the census
valuations are a fairjy uniform and satis
factory base line from which to reckon
the inequalities of our tax system, as it
concerns farm land.
Amazing Inequalities
His table exhibited the amazing fact
that in th(> county at the bottom of the
list, fann lands were assessed for taxes at
about one-eig:hth of the census valua-
INEQUALITIES IN TAXING FARM LANDS
Census Values Compared With Tax Values of Farm Lands
in North Carolina
Basel on the 1910 Census and the 1911 Keport of the State Tax (lommiasion.
E. S. BOOTH, of the Durham ('ounty Club.
For the State-at-large the tax value of land is 39 per cent of the Census value.
Rank County Per Cent
1 Dare 188
2 New Hanover 146
3 Graham 1J9
4 Durham 109
4 Swain .' 109
5 tiarteret .75
6 Gaston 73
6 Onslow 73
7 Cherokee 72
8 Brunswick 69
9 .fones 68
9 Transylvania 68
10 Orange 66
11 Moore 65
12 Richmond 64
13 Montgomery 62
] 3 A lainance 62
14 .lackson 56
15 Halifax 54
15 Rockingham 54
16 Northampton 52
17 Tyrrell 51
17 Bladen 51
17 Chatham 51
18 Lee 49
18 Staidy 49
18 Beaufort 49
18 Guilford 49
19 Perquimans 48
19 Washington 48
19 Clay 48
19 Currituck 48
20 Columlnis 47
21 Macon ; 46
21 l^asquotank 46
21 Buncombe 46
21 FrankHn 46
22 Wake
45
22 Craven 45
23 Pender 44
23 Bertie 44
24 Warren ' 43
24 (’abarrus 43
24 Davie 43
25 lincoln 41
25 Martin 41
25 Vance 41
25 Gatia 41
26 Randolph 40
liank County Per Cient
26 Harnett 40
27 Madison 39
27 McDowell 39
27 Person 39
27 Rowan 39
27 Haywood 39
28 Pamlico 3,S
28 Cihowan 38
2S Trauville 08
28 Henderson ;?8
29 Cumberland 37
30 Nash 36
30 tialdwell 36
30 Ca,swell 86
31 Surry 35
31 Camden 35
31 Hertford 35
32 Polk 34
32 C!levelaud 34
32 Duphn 34
32 Hyde.. ..34
33 Robeson 33
33 vStokes 33
33 Union H3
34 Burke 32
35 Wilkes 31
35 J redell 31
35 Rutherford 31
36 Watauga 29
36 Wilson 29
36 Yadkin 29
37 .lohnaton 28
37 Alexander 2.S
37 Anson 28
37 Forsyth 2S
3cS Wayne 27
38 Catawba 27
38 David.son 27
88 Edgecombe 27
89 Lenoir 26
39 Mitchell 26
39 Pitjt 26
40 Mecklenburg 22
41 Scotland 21
42 Sampson 20
42 Green 20
43 Ashe 18
44 Yancey 16
45 Alleghany 13
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 10
tion (13 percent); while in the county
at ihe head of tlie list, they were as.se.ssed
at lu’arly twice their census valuation
(188 per i'«'ut).
Tluil u-s ti .say, the state tax burden
upon farm land in one county may be.
and actually is, more than 14 times as
h(-avy as the bunleu' upon farm lanl in
another county, acre for acre!
If. said he, the farmers in counties rep
resenting these two extremes lived side
by side, the tax sy.stem that |>ermits such
an inequity and iniquity would b; under
lire at once. But these Coimti“s ar(‘ in
widely distant parts of the state, and so
this grievous inequality in the state tai
burden escapes attention.
The Farmers Most Heavily
Punished
It seemed clear to him that tlie most
unrighteous inequities in our tax system
are in the country regions, and that they'
punish the farmers more than they punish
the city tax payers and the corporations.
If, said he. therl> were no urban or
corporation pn.iperties in the state to di
vert the attention of tlie farmers from
the real facts in the case, the country
counties of North Carolina W'ould reform
our tax system in double-quick time.
Mr, Booth’s table f tax ratios appear.-^
below . It is worth studying closely, and
tiling for future use;
Accusation
The present-day school is ofu-n accused
of failing to develop the moral side of
school life. Pi'rhap.s the accusation is de-
•«‘rved. The schools of our fathers did
lay great stre.ss ou many of the great
moral i>rinciples wh?ch we neglect to-day.
Our fathers were .4ncerely polite, more
coiisidoRire of others, more gentle, pru
dent and revercMit. ,\r(> there not some
very specitic w ays l;y «Inch we can pre
serve tO' this coming generation more of
the ‘‘go(>d. old-iashioiKX-l virtues" of the
by-gone*da.ys of our fathers'.’
A Suggestion
The morning exercises, the usual open
ing exercises, if prujwrly conducted, fur
nish an exi-elleut mt-aiis of imparting
lessons on. moral virtues- If the school
is all gatheri'd into om. room f(U' these
occasions f.lie op|ioituuity is particularly
line. Ih-reis a suugestion as to what
may be done;
In the first-[ilace the-f»ntire work uuist
be made a unit. In the seeoiui placid the
exercises must be carefully planned. Se
lect a unit thouglit for She morning, have
the song. Bible reading. liltl(> talk or
short story, all emphasizing the .single
thought. Sum ir up., fiauilly. with a short
memory gem to belear.aed .-ind rwited by
entire school.
Illu^rafion
To be v(»ry s^K'citic,. let the folloniiig
serve as an illustnrtim, for a single morn
ing. The unit thought for the morning
is Kiiidni'.ss. Head the- stori' of the goixl
Samaritan. Sing, Kind! «oi-*ls can never
die. Tell the story of Lincoln’s kindness
to birds, or of Somebody’s mother. Suiti
it all up in the folkiwing memory gem:
There’s nothing .s)' kingly as kindness,,
aud ufithing s(j royal as truth.—.Mice
Cary.
^)ther unit thouglit.s mfght be. hone.sty,
truth, obetlience, lo^’p'of country, grati
tude, re.spect, forgiveiu'ss,. courage, .self-
control, prudence. h:il>ir, industry,
health, .service, etc.
Variation Necessary
Such an exerci.se as just outlined might
well come twice or threi^ time,sVach week,
the other mornings being taken up with
current events, music programs, literary
[irograms, matters ofconiinunity conceni.
Whates’er the .irrangemeut, the idea
must be kept uppermost that tlte purpose
and object of .such work is to .start the
day’s work oti on a high planep. to stini-
tilafe child life, and to fix great moral
principles in the lives of children. To
accomplish such a purfiose each ^jxei’ciae
must lx‘ a unit jind must be c;arefully
planned. Thanks are due Sup’t.- I. C.
Oriffin of Mari(i,n for tla^above suurgestion,
A Helpful'Booh
If teachers have acce.ss to the book (.^i
School Management by Dr. E. H. White,
published by the .\uierii-an Book Com
pany, they will find :i very excellent
collection of material on |>ages 2;-!2 to 295
for carrying out this suggestion. Such
material will, of course, have to be st-lect-
ed and adapted. The School of Fxiuca-
ti(m will be glad to assist further if called
upon.
PRODUCTIVE SCHOLARSHIP
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
NORTH CAROLINA
Dining 1914 the papers read tiefore
learned scx-ieties and artit-les contributed
to periixiical HteratUK> iitunb('red 145.
(\)mniencement addresses. Extension
lectures and other [mblitr addresses by
members of the faculty nuniben^d 164.
BooKs Published Ovring 1914
Bain's First Latin Book, by ('has. W.
Bain, published by D. ('. Heath & Com
pany; Essays for ('ollege Men, by Nor
man Foerster. published by Henry Holt
& Companj?;. English. Lettei's. by Edwin
Greenlaw, pnbliahel by Scott, Foresman
& Company; Re-onstruction in North
Carohna, by .1.. G,. del!. Hamilton, pnb-
lisheti by Longmans., Green &l’(>mi>any;
European Dramatists, publislu'd by Stew
art & Kidd Company, and Tlie (^hanging
Drama, published by Henry Holt* Com
pany, by .\rchibald Henderson.
Dr. Hamilton's volume brings him the
Patt(‘r,son IHip for the mi>t»t distinguished
achievement iii' lif^^ratnrt^ in North C!aro-
hna in 1914; also Ids i4ection to Phi Beta
Kappa by the mother chapter in \\'LHiam
ani iMary Collegi',. V'irginia.
BooKlets.aBd HandbooKs
A Dictionary of TlijerdiK Utic Terms and
Common Diseases, by S. G. Beard;
Georgia Farms a Mil Folks, A Syllabus of
Home-Coimty Glub-Studi‘s, A Survey of
the Agricultural College, University of
Wisconsin, by E. (!. Branson; Pocket
Dictionary of Common Rwks and Rock
Minerals, by Collier Cobh; Use of the
Abney Hand lif'vel. and Steel Over-shot
M'ater W^het'ls and Pumps for Private
Water Supplit«, by T, F. Hickerson;
Ship Sitbsidies, by E. K, Rankin; North
Carolina High School Handbook, by N.
W. Walker; Public Discussion and De
bate, and (Community Si>rvice W'eek
Bulletin, by L, R. VN^ilsou.
Regular Publications Maintained By
The Faculty
Studies in Philology, volume XI; The
James Sprunt Historical Publications,
volume XIII; The .loiirnal of the Elisha
Mitchell Scientific Society, volumes XXIX
and XXX; and The North Carolina
High School Bulletin, volume V.
A GREAT HONOR
Dr. Charles H. Herty, Smith Prof(!ssor
of Chemistry in the ITniversity of North
Carolina was a few days ago clioaen presi
dent of the American Chemical Society,
succec'ding Prof. Q'. W. Richards of Har
vard University.
This distinction, regardc'd as one of the
highest honors in the American field of
science, has been awarded in all to
eighteen men.
Only two of the.se men have been..from
the South, and both of them are in the
faculty of the University of North,Caro
lina; Dr. F. P. Venable in 1905 and Dr.
Herty in 1915.
Another intwsting fact in connwtion
with the election of Dr. Herty is tiiat only
one other institution in the country,
Cohunbia University, New York City,
has ever had this distinction twice..
Prof. J. McKeen Cattell in the preface
to his American Men of Science, in
■speaking of the value of distinguisherl
scientists, says ‘ ‘The gain of a s«;ientitic
man of standing is worth nior(> U> an in
stitution than a $100,000 building.”
More to the point in connection with
Dr. Herty’s election is the fact brouglit
(Hit by tlie World’s Work, in its special
Southern number, June 1907; namely,
that the invention of his improved tur
pentine cup had made possible to the
South a saving of $13,000,000.annually.
Dr. Herty in his work iuis not only
displayed the qualities of a scientist of
the first rank, but his actirvities show
what may be termed industrial states
manship.
HERE AT HOME
In North Carolina 10.1 per cent of the
children between 10 and 14 years of age
are illiterates. W'e have a four months
compulsory school term, a statutory not
a constitutional requirement. Why can
not our children have an equal chance
with the children of the other states?
Whose fault is it?
SCIENCE AT TH£ UNIVERSITY
In American Men of Science, ediUxl by
Dr. J. McKeen Cattell of ('lolumbia LTni-
versity, the names of thirty distinguished
men of Science in the South are starred
to indicate their itrominence.
Twenty-five of these scientists resided
in four states;, Virginia 10; North Caro
lina 7; Louisiana and Texas 4 each.
There w'ere two eacli in U'est V^irginia
and Alabama, one in Tennessee, and
none in the other southern states.
In North Carolina six of the seven dis
tinguished men of science w'ere in the
State University at Chapel Hill: F. P.
Venable, chemistry ; Charles H. Herty,
chemistry; J. E. Mills, chemistry; A. S.
Wheeler, chemistry; H. V. Wilson, zool
ogy and W. C. Coker, botany.
RURAL SCHOOL ASSETS
One of the largest assets of the rural
school is the voluntary aid which the peo
ple stand so ready to give, if properly or
ganized. The usual resources in labor,
land, material, and money w'ill readily
become available under the direction of
a wise leader.