The news in this publica
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
the university of north CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
may 3,1916
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. n, NO. 2;^
R litorial Doardi BL C. Branson, J. OJ, deR, Hamilton L R i i -wr n r-» tt
’ ■ ’ '''■ R. H. Thornton. (_t. M. Bar.wrwl hs seco/id-clftss matter November 14, 1914, at the.postofflc© ai Chapel Hill, N.C., under theaot of August 2l,
NORTH CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES
21. i9ia.
I WELL SPENT MONEY
fUlevelaiid. Ohio, luaintaius 86 sclioot
diHpeiisarifM and clinicw, and employs 16
j)hysiciaii8, one oculist, and 27 trained
juir-es !it a co.st of $36,000 a yeai- to look
after the healtli of her scliool children.
1‘arents are advised about the defects
.and diseases of their children, and the
school nurse.^! urge prompt treatment and
.cure in the hociies.
_ .Tlie visiting nurse teaches applied
practical hygiene to parents, pupils, fam-
ii:es, and teachers. Her work prevents tlie
loss of time on the_part (^pupils, iuid
vastly”reduce-s the uumberj of exclusions
:{or'contagiou8 diseases.J^She.cures nrinor
ailuients in the school clinic, and fur
nishes etlicient aid in eniergenciea. She
■demonstrates reijuired treatments in the
.homes of the children, often discovering
there the source of tlie trouble, whicli, if
ANOTHER TWO-SIDED DIF
FICULTY
I'uite of a sort with tlie probleiu of
job-less men and man-le.ss jobs referred
to iu last wx-ek’s issue is the problem of
landless men and inanless land.
W'e have in .Vorth Carolina 22,000,000
idle acres that need to lie developed by
home-owning farmers. On the other
hand, in 1910 our tenants and renters
with their families in the town and
Country legions made a landless, home-
le.ss population of 1,158,000 souls.
Mow can we get these people settled
down upon land of their own? How can
these idle acres get into cultivation by
home-owning farmers? How can land
lords and landle.ss people come into agree
ment?
These [X'ople need the land and this
land needs the people. What are the
.undiscovered, would render useless tJie l difficulties in the way of bringing togeth
■.work of the medical inspectors in school. I er the two ends of this problem?
The school nurse is the most efficient poa-
■sible link l>etween the school and the
Ihome. Her work is immensely import-
:ant in direct results and far-reaching in
fluences.
ORANGE COMMENCEMENT
On VVediie.sday .A'lay 3rd, we shall have
51 new kind of comnienceuient exercises
in Orange county. For nearly a century
jiud a quarter there have been commence-
.aient exercises at the I'myersity, but
never before a commencement of the
Common Schools of the County.
^ The big parade through Hillsboro to
jameron Park, tlie formal awanl of cer-
ificates to seventh grade graduates, the
'chool exhibits and the athletic contests
.for a long list of prizes will interest every
chool and almost every* family in the
ounty. The event will draw a great
rowd, and it will be a great day in
Irange.
)range, by the way, lielongs to a
roup of eighteen counties that are lead-
."ing in North Carolina in township nieet-
“'ngs of the teachera during tlu' school
ear, in the employment of school super-
“’iaora, and in club work with the boys
nd girls.
A farm-life school, the medical inspec-
ion of schools and school children, san
itary homes, and out-houses for the
chools are all in the mind of progressive
‘.(people in the county. These things will
“11 come along in good time.
We congratulate Suiierinteiident Lock-
lart and Bliss Casaidey. The year's
vork has been noteworthy. There are
110 lietter people in the world than the
eople of old Orange, and they plan even
toigger things f(.)r the future.
THE TORCH BEARERS
God send us men whose aim t’will be
Not to detend some ancient creed,
I'iut to live out ihe laws a-right
In every tiionghtand wurd and deed.
God ,'^^‘nd us iiieii alert and (piick
lli.s lofty precejits lo translate.
Until the laws of Right become
Tlu.- laws and habits of the State.
(;iod send us inen^of steadfast will,
Patient, courageous, strong and true.
With vision clear and mind e«iuipped
His will to learn, Hi.« work to do,
(;rKl send us men with hearts ablaze,
All truth to lo\ e, all wrong to hate,
These are the patriots nations need.
These are the bulwarks of the State.
—The Survey-
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 72
Are Land Owners To Blame?
.\s a matter of fact, are landlords hold
ing land out of use for speculation rises
in value? .\re they greelily aware of the
fact that farm land in North Carolina in-
Teased in value $201,000,000 during the
last cen.sus period? Or that the increase
in land values in the South Atlantic
states last year was 19 per cent? Do they
holl desirable farm land at prices beyond
the reach of industrious, thrifty tenants?
In many instances, V'es. In many other
instances, Xo.
For instance, we found a landlord in
li’ichmond county the other day who
really wants to sell oil' 5000 acres of good
farm laiiil at a reasonable jirice, ou com
fortable terms of payment. , He is not
bothering himsi^lf to .sell it, and nobody
is bothering him to buy it. Such is the
situation in a county in whii-h two-fifths
of the white farmers are tenants!
Sometime ago, we had a letter from a
lau(tewner in .\labama saying, “-For six
months or so I liave been adverti.«:;ig for
good white settlers upon a 7,000 acre
tract, cut into farms of any size desiriid,
at $10 an acre, on almost any rea.-^onable
terms of payment; but so far on'y one | the problem is well worth solving
white farmer has responded. 1 ci iiclude
that white farm tenants in this si:;te do
not want to own farms. If I otlVr this
land to negro farmers it will go !. ke hot
cakes. Would you do it, if you v.ere in
iny place?” '
Hugh McRae and Company
welWJSng, in churches, schools, and
similar concerns of civilization? Do they
realize that land values are st(^adily ris
ing the world over, and that their chance
of liome ownership is day by day a dwin
dling, disappearing ciian(e?
A Difficult Practical Problem
Or are the industrious, thrifty, intelli-
,i>eut tenants simply unaware ot these
chances at farm ownership in other coun
ties or in distant .sections of the state?
]f so, the first problem is to reacli them
.and acquaint them with the opportunities
that beckon. They are hard to reach;
but at least a third of our white tenants
are fine-spirited, worthy people, hard
working, upright, thrifty and aspiring,
and they are well worth iiu'esting in.
The next problem, as ^Ir. McHae clearly
sees, concerns nearl-iy market advantages
that will justify a well balanced system
of farming and rewarrl it with prosperity.
Here is a [iroblem for city dwellers and
city boards of trade.
Settling people safely into farm homes
is a practical, not a sentimental, prob
lem ; but home and farm ownership is a
fundamental condition of'safe civilization
in the Ca[.ie Fear region, in North Caro
lina and the whole ('nited States, and
THE BACKWARD SCHOOL |
: There are many schools in our state ■
; that are for>ring ahead witli better results i
• year hy year, and there are also schools }
' that may be truly called backward schools, j
! The pupils lack enthusiasm, the parents j
‘ lack interest, ami the school lacks Hiiaj>
; and vigor which mark the forward-mov-
1 ing schocil in the forward-moving com
munity. There is the belief that this
backwarilness is due to b«r1 management
j on tlie part of those in authority. This
; bad management comes to the front with
; all of its destructive force about this time
j of the .school year.
I The Teacher Quits
j The teacher in Blank District will not
I return next year. She is a good teacher
[ but there is something wrong with the
I district, and the committee is already
looking around for another teacher. In
fact, the cohniiittee seems to have con
tracted the habit of changing teachers
every year. Dnrinif the past six years
this district has had four teachers.
The Cause
This school in Blank District is back-
warl bec^anse it is pulled back e’\’ery year
by the committee when it gives]up a good
destructive and ought to stop. If the
new teacher succeeds, a better salary in
another ilistrict will take her away; if
she fails, she Hnds and accepts another
school. And at any rate her present
school will lose her next year, and in
the fall a new teacher will take her place
and the children will go into the hands
of one w ho is new to tlie school and new
to the community. From year to year
there is a new teacher in the .school and
a new pilot at the helm. No wonder that
these children do not make the progress
which they should make and which they
would make but for this sensele-ss and
continuous changing of teachers.
There Are Other Districts
A survey of school conditions was re
cently made in a county of the piedmont
section ot the state and among imii^li
valuable infortnatifm which was secured
then’ was the fact that thre^>-tifths of the
schools in the county had new teachers
every year. What makes a change de
sirable and who.permits it to be made? If
a change of teachers is bad for the school
and makes it a backward st^hool, some
body ought to try to prevent it. Who is
to blame and what are the t'orces at work
that bring about the great nninber of
changes every session? There is some-
teaclier and tries the experiment of a il6w | thing here for school committees to think
one. This annual change of t'achers is I .,|joiit.
It is'significant (1) that all the South
ern states fall below the average of the
country at large, despite the fact that
sweet potatoes, tobacco, and cotton pro
duce lafger values per a(;re than any
otlier standard crops; and (J) that Okla-
loma leads the South in the proiluction
COUNTRY-LIFE INSTITUTES
A HELPFUL HANDBOOK
The State Boarl of Education at Boise,
Idaho, has recently issued a Handbook
for Rural Teachers written by IVJiss .A-ddie
M. Ayer, Supervisor of Rural Training
schools at the Ijewiston State Normal
.\nd j\Ir. Hugh .McRae in Wilmington, ' School in that state,
is ottering in thi‘ lower Cape Feai I'egioii \ The bulletin is designed as a help and
in what the Washington authoritii s have guide for the rural teacher who is seeking
calleti The Great Winter Garden, good to better conditions educationally and
farms at rea.sonalile rates. u[>oii easy,
possible terms to desirable /;iiiuers.
These farms are cleared, ditched, drain
ed, ploughed, limed, harrowed aii'l lrag-
ged. They have on them comfni table,
newly built cottage homes and barns.
FA’erything i.s realy for occupancy, anil
the purchasers can pitch their crop-; with-
socifjlly in the conmiunity in which she
works.
It is a most practical piece of work and
well worth careful study and adaptation
to our North Carolina needs.
[Way frowi Cherokee to Alamance.
Monday, May the Eighth
from $909 in Michigan to $3386 in towa.
Producing farm wealth that will not
stick to the [)alm that sweats it out and
that iinniediat(^ly takes the wings of the
morning and tlies away to the uttermost
parts of the earth is a }>itiful performance
in any community or county, state or
)f total farm wealth per worker and also | section. .Vnd it calls for radical changes
in the per capita farm wealth of country | in Southern agriculture.
populations. j Inviting Prosperity
UnderstocKed in Farm Animals
The Southern states are understocked
iu farm animals. In North Carolina in
the census year we were 37 per cent b(>-
low the level of even lightly stoc.ked
farms.
In general, this condition, is due to the
jeneral lack of cash operating caiiital in
our farm regions, to excessive tenancy
farming, to interest in cotton aiul tobacco
mainly, to the small average size of our
farms, to the lack of diversified farming
and to the unavoidable waste of human,
horse, and machine power in raising
band-niade, cash crops on small farms.
Inviting Poverty
A fundamental nt'cessityin .Vorth Caro
lina and the South is farms sufficiently
and properly stocked with domestic ani
mals. We need (1) a larger ((iiautity and
and a greater variety of farm animals, (2)
larger farms and more work animals |>er
farm, (3) more milk cows and other lat-
tle, more pigs, more slieej), and more
[loultry; at least lifty per cent more than
we now have in any Southern stale.
.Such an increa.se would mean (1) a
con,«e.rvation of soil fertility, (2) an agri
culture better balanced, safer and more
stable, (3) a greater iliversity of (Tops,
(4) a Ix'tter distribution of labor through
out the year, (5) a steady farm income
Under such circumstances, we produce I '^^^k by week instead ot once a year, (6)
enormous crop totals, and large crop ; perha|>s a smaller total income but cer-
values per a'-re year by year.
Neverthe-
per farm
The plan of Couiitry-l.ifc Institutes un i rjveiymiii^ j'-'i .,, mi’*. [ Al ¥
Ider church leadership, suggested by Rev. ^ the purchasers can pitch their «'rop-; with- j orlALL Kl!,l UKnS fUK
IT. S. Coble of Mocksvillc, in The Uni-1 out delay. In dircct, practical, business WORKER
J'versity News IA!tter March 8th, has ex-! ways he is trying to solve the pronlem of; table in this issue exhibits the
I:itel wide.spread comment in the press ; landless men and manlc'ss hi North |
kf the State. Responses ha>^ come from ; (jaroliiKi. | produced per farm worker. The figures
[ministers of every denominaftim.ca.y the [ Gerald Stanley i.ee in are liased on the 1910 census volume
Bwds puts Mr. .McRae into his chapter Occupations and Agriculture. The results
j on Inspired Millionaires. Mr. McRae were obtained by dividing the total rop
I has set himself to solve a problem that livestock wealth i)roduced in each
A prehminary conference date has p^Ug for inspiration as well as millions. I state, by the total number of persons, ten
|i)een.set: Monday, May 8th, Peabody i [ am looking, he says, for a plan under ’ years old and over, engaged in agricul-
J;auditorium on the University campus, no man can say that he desires a ‘ ture; foresters and forest products
:at 4 o’clock, P. M. j piece of land on which to make a living omitted.
Ministers of every lenomination and all j and cannot find it; and after he finds it I j Jt must be undertsood, of course, that
•other j>eople interested in the country- j want a scheme of cropping and market- the total farm wealth produced in each
iilife problems of North Carolina are in-1 ing worked out that will make himself- state, as given in the census, i-epresents
wited into this-conference. Its purpose ' supporting if he is industrious and has at the very test only an approximation of
less we )>rQduce small v alue;
worker, and the per capita farm wealth
we are able to retain anil accumulate un
der this system is so small as to be
startling.
For instance in the South our per I'api-
ta country wealth in farm properties
ranges from $221 in Alabama to 1830 in
Oklahoma; but in the West it ranges
tainly larger profits and a greater chance
t-o retain and accumulate wealth.
-And larger wealth in onr country
regions would .soon mean (1) more farms
cultivated by owners and fewer by ten
ants, (2) farms .grailually increasing in
averagt' size, (3) more home-raised sup
plies and decreasing dependence on the
supply-stores, and (4) a tetter credit basis
in the country regions.
PER CAPITA FARM WEALTH PRODUCTION
■is (1) to outline a practicable working
program for the proposed Institutes, (2)
ito organize the subjects that fitly need
■ attention, and (3) to indicate the avail
able workers.
A Working Plan
Mr. Coble’s idea is to draft a model j tenants by nearly 20,000,
plati of work and publish it widely, so
that ministers can easily conduct such
Institutes in the State wherever there is
interested, active leadershi]).
Such a coimtry-life program will be a
“feature of the University Sutnuier School
schedule, if there be any local demand j
for it. It is the purpose of the Universi- j
ty to serve the state as far as possible, j
and to join in all worth-while, forward- j
looking movements. ,
j actual values. The fact that crops are
I fei to livestock involves an unavoidable
duplication of values. However, this is
true in every stati", and taking the figuies
; as wo find them, they afford a basis for
signilii'ant comparisons.
Astonishing Variations
Do they really want farms of their very | With these things said we may add (1)
own? Are they settled into an incurable that the production of farm wealth in
conviction that renting is abetter busi- crops ’
average intelligent.
Are Tenants to Blame?
On the other hand, there are 63,000
landless white farmers in North Carolina. |
XlvGy 3.r6 fi tliirti of nil tlio wliite fflinuGrs -
in the sUite. They outninnher tlie negro j
Covering Crops, Livestock Sales, and LivetsocK Products
1910 Census
s. H. DeVAULT, University of North Carolina.
Average for the United States, $723.
Rank State
I’er Capita;Rank State
Per Capita
and live.stock ])roiuct.s per farm
ness proposition than ownership? Do
they set above home ownership their
freedom to move about at sweet will and
pleasure? Have they lost the fierce land-
lust of their .\nglo-Saxon forteara? Are
they satisfied to be strangers, pilgrims,
and sojourners iu the laud without abid
ing interest in community welfare and
that the figures range from ^255 in j
issippi to li)l,680 in Iowa; and (3)
that
North Carohna with •'}>290 per farm worker
ranks 45th. That is to say, 44 states
made a better showing than North Caro- ,
hna, and only 3 a poorer—Ix)ui.siana, Al
abama and Mississippi.
1
Iowa
5il,680;25
Pennsylvania
^799
2
Nebraska
l,(i08:2()
Connecticut
793
3
North Dakota
1,558:27
Maine
783
4
South Dakota
1,417‘28
New .Tersey
781
4
Nevada
1,417:29
Michigan
750
6
Kansas
l,413j30
Rhode Island
636
7
W yoming
1,32631
Oklahoma
611
8
Illinois
1,297;32
Delaware
597
9
Montana
1,15033
Arizona
581
10
Vermont
1,104 34
Maryland
548
11
California
1,026:35
Kentiu^ky
479
12
Washington
1,024:36
Texas
460
13
Mi nne„sota
995;37
West Virginia
439
14
Indiana
990 38
Virginia
423
15
Colorado
985 39
Tennessee
412
16
Idaho
966 40
New Mexico
361
17
Oregon
958|41
Florida
357
18
Missouri
94i|42
Georgia
355
19
New York
935:43
Arkansas
327
30
Ohio
923;44
South Carolina
302
21
Wisconsin
893l45
North Carolina
290
22
New Hampshire
823 46
Louisiana
265
23
Massachusetts
807147
.\labama
' 257
2A
Utah
805 48
Mi.ssissippi
255