The news in tills publicS"
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
EWS LETTF.
Published weekly by the
Bureau of Extension of the Uni
versity of North Carolina.
I FEBRUARY 1915
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
Editorial Boards B.C. Branson, J. Gf. deR. Hamilton, L. R. Wilson, Z. V. Judd, S R. Winters.
L'jj''
VOL. I, NO.
Entered as sec«nd-cla«s matter November 14,1914. at the postoffice at Chapel Hill, N.C., under the act of Augnst 24,1912.
'm
CAROLINA CLUB NOTES
Soil Experts For North Carolina
Since 1895, the University of Nortli ,
tiaroliiia ha« neiit 60 trained experts into |
tlie field of mining, ^eolof;ical surveys
and scientific soil surveys in the different
,^ates, Niirth Carolina iachidel.
be sane, safe, sound, and practicable.
Tliese hills call for nr) appropriations
and levy no additional tax burden npun
th(- state.
Eocouraging Co-Operative Effort
Tliiee hills introduced in the le,irislattu-('
of North ('arolina last wi'ek are hopeful
signs of profrress. They authorize (1)
Ci>-operative Enterprise (2) (!o-o[)erative
t^redit I'nions, and (3) charge tlv
Uejiartment of Agriculture with the
duty of campaigning, organizing, and
supervising such efforts among ])eople of
all occupations and classes in the .State.
Texas led the South in such li'gislation
ill 1913, but Xortli t’arolina can greatly
inipro\'e 111 the Texas laws. Only three
other states hav(‘ such laws at present—
Wiscon.sin, New York, and .Massacliu-
setts.
Su far in the l'nitel States, the only
Rural (’redit I'nions in activc' operation
are some 20 odd aiiumg the .lewish farm
ers in four Nortliern states. When the
Jew goes nito an I'nfer.i-ise
Farm Homes in North Carolina
In the census year, there were 224,526
farm homes in N. C., or a tliird more than
in 1900; and 195,S08 other homes, an in-
crea.se iSf nearly tlu-ee-fifths or 57 per :
cent. These lust ligures indicate the!
more rapid increase of dwellings in i
to« iis and mill villages. j
But 140,480 of (he farm homes were
occupied by their own>rs; wliik' only i
63,072 other homes ^\■ere nccupi('d by!
State ! their ow ners. |
Morcdver. 115,549 cir nearly half, 47.7 !
per cent, of the farm homes are free j
from mortgage debt. On the other hand, ;
two-lhirds of all other homes are oceu- J
pietl by n'liters, wnile nearly three- '
fourths of the home-own(>rs were burd- ;
ened with mortgages. j
Iris easy to own a country home and [
to ow'u it fr>e of encumbrance. It is
hard to own a home in our cities and to
ow n it free from mortgage debt.
Farming and Home-Ownership
Farmers in this country are home-
it is suri'to j owners as a rule: nearly, two-thirds or
CAROLINA CLUB STUDY
GREED FOR A MONEY CROP
Henry W. Grady
Nil one crop will make a people
{>rosperous. If cotton holds a mo
nopoly under condivions that make
other crops impossible, or uniler al
lurements that make other crops ex
ceptional, its ,toniinion will be d*s-
fioti.sm.
\\ heneviM' the greed for a money
cro]i, unbalances the wisdom of hus
bandry. the money"" crop is a enrse.
AVhen it stimulates the general econo
my of the farm, it is 1lie profit of
farming.
In an. uni)rosperous strip of Caro
lina, when a.-;ke(l the cause of their
poverty, the people say, “Tobacco—
for it is onronly casii crop."
In l.ancasti'r. I’a., the riche.st farm
county in .\merica according to the
census, when asked the causi- of their
prosperity, the farmers say, “Tobac
co—for it is the golden crown of a
diversified agriculture.''
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 14
Chair, (b) Table, (c) Picture frame,
(d) Dfior lock or hinge.
21. Pressing and cleaning a suit of clothes.
22. Papering a room.
23. Painting, stajning, or treating floor.
I 24. JVlakiug a farm door-yard gate.
Improved Public Boads in N. C.
In the table which follows, Mr. W. .1.
Hardesty of the Carteret-Pamlico Club at
the Univei-sity gives the miles of improv
ed public roads in each county, the per
cent of the total ]>ublic road mileage im
proved, and ranks the counties according
ly. The re|)ort covers the record to .Ian.
1, 1914.
All told, the public, roads of North Car
olina total 48,991 miles; 6,667 liiiU's, or
13 per cent of which were improved.
Behind the Procession
.Twenty-one counties with 7,905 miles
of public roads had no mileage. Some of
them, however, caught the good roads
fever last year.
Twenty-two in 1913 made a. start, and
liad at the end of the year 5 per C('iit or
less of their roads improved.
■Kighteen comities had more than Sand
less than 10 per cent improved; and 17
had bt'tweenlOand 20 per cent improved.
Wide-Awake Counties
Ten counties liad improved from a fifth
to a third of their roads; and six counties
from one to two-thirds of them.
♦Seven counties had iuf>r' than lialf of
their roads improved.
Scotland Heads the List
Koad im])rovement rangeil from noth
ing in twenty-one counties to 8,S |ier cent
in Scotland.
As a ruk‘, the good roads campaign and
the area of improveil mileage centn- a-
round the larger or more ak'rt cities.
What Good Roads Mean
Improved public roads are directly re
lated to better country homes and schools,
to- the reach and infliience of country
churclies, to the timely marketing of
farm products, and to the business of
market centers. Tlu>y are the' art(>ries of,
organized eoimtiunity life.
62.8 i>er cent of them in North Carolina.
People engaged in other occujiations in
our cities or elsewhere are tenants and
renters as a rule, nearly two-thirds of
them both in North ('arolina knd in the
country-at-large.
That is tfi say, the chances of liome-
oWnership are nearly (‘xactly two td one
in favor of farmers in the open country.
For the sake of owning the roof-tree
over your head, stick to the country.
If you want to dwell under your own
vine and tig tree njimolested and unafraid,
stay on the farm.
If yon w ant to call ymir soul your own,
and he an unroutable, unterritied, free
American citizen, li\e upon your own
farm and in your own farm home.
Almost every))ody else on earth to-day
must consult his inter-'sts; but the llome-
owning farmer can iiiionl ,o I'litcrtain
and 1o utter robust ojiinions of his \ery
own.
Home and School
Exactly how to correlate school work
w ith the ' home and bring the two into
unity of elfort is often a problem for the
teacher. The UNIVERSITY NEWS
LETTEl^ has just receixed from the Fed-
I eral Department of Agriculture some very i 25. Waking a home-made tireless cooker,
specific hints as to how this sort of thing,’ one of 2 methods,
can be done. j 26. Making a home canner, one of 2
Some or all of the following jiroiects j methods,
may be followed up by teachers as a j 27. ^Making a kitchen shelf or kiti-hen
means of interesting boys and girls in; work chair for mother,
u.seful tasks about tlie home and farm. I 28. Get out a set of plans and specitica-
Th(‘se projects can w(41 be correlated w ith I tions for model fanu home,
the work of such organizations as the | 29. Show how to give lirst aid to school
('omnmnity Life Clubs now in successfid | furniture and eipiipment; such as
the repair of a seat, window , fence,
broken gate, blackboard, steps, and
sidewalk,
30. Show how to repair tlu
SCHOOL NEWS
GOOD ROADS IN NORTH CAROLINA 1913
\y. .1. 11A RDE.STY,  ^arteret-Panilico County Club.
School Exhibits
Under the directii.in of the rniversity
School (.if Education a leaflet has been
lirejiared containing sugge-stions and
liints on the work of the exhibit com
mittee at County Commencementvs.
\\'rit(‘ to th(> Bureau of ICxtension,
C'hapel Hill, for a free copy.
operation throughout .lohnston County:
The Projects
1. Roiie tying and splicing.
2. JMaking seed testers (box, blotter,
and rag-doll testers.)
3. ^Making a h(*n coop and brooder.
4. Fruit tree-grafting and tree surgery.
5. Making a tiy trap.
6. flaking wood box for kitchen or'sit-
ting room.
7. Making a bird hi.ntse anil watering
trough,
8. Making a liot bed or cold frame,
9. Making a step ladder or handy ladder
for farm and home.
10. Making one dozen vegetabk' market
crates.
11. Sharpenuig saw, pair of scissors.
12. ilaking a medicine cabinet.
13. Makin,: and layhig a cement walk or
floor.
14. Making a bookcase oi' library iile.
15. First aid to farm implements: (a) Re
pair whipple tree, (b) I'air shafts, (c)
Fork handle.  d ! Uepnir gate
16. Iirawing plan of’SO-acre farmstead.
17. For.iring—2 kinds,practical, related to
farm W'ork.
18. Welding—2 kinds, practical, related
to farm work.
19. Horseshoe making.
20. First aid to household fui'iiitnre. (a)
repair tlie cover or
broken back of a boook.
31. Art metal work for hfiusehold.
32. Modeling in ciay and plaster.
33. Leather work: repair of leather goods
or art work.
34. I'abric dyeing and printing.
35. Pottery for use in the home.
36. Basketry for use in gathering and
marketing vt'getables and fruit.
37. flaking a milk stool.
38. Hoine-made fi uit juice and'ciler
mill.
39. Hall liat and coat rack.
Using The Results
The results of such pupil activities
may well form a part of the school ex
hibit at the (Viunty Commencement or at
the County F^iir. The very best pic'ces
of work of certain tyj)es might be kept
at .school as a permanent exhibit; other
products mi,rht be sold for the maker’s
proiit or the pupil nu’gh,t be willing to
donat‘ the jii'oeeeds of such >iale to the
school for purchasing bfio^s, ]iicture^,
etc.
More detailed information can be se
cured by writing to the Uniti'd States
Department of Agriculture. Washington,
1). C.
A DEBATE OUTLINE
Kaiik County
Per Cent
Improved
Rank C^ounty
Per Cent
Improved
1
Scotland
.... 88...
. 266 miles
39
(latawba ....
.... 8.. .
35 miles
2
New Hanover
..., 76...
95 miles
39
Martin
.... 8. . ..
33 miles
3
Franklin
. .. 70,..
346 mile.s
89
Robeson
8
75 miles
4
lloke
... 70...
140 mile.s
39
rry
.... 8. . . .
31 miles
5
Itichmond . .. .
... 60...
263 mik's
43
Alleghany
.... 7....
20 miles
6
Iredell
. . .. 57...
231 miles
43
(levelaiid ....
.... 7.. . .
41 miles
7
.Aloore
.... 53...
320 miles
43
('raven
7. . . .
38 miles
8
P>ertie
411 miles
200 miles
43
43
7 ,
65 miles
55 miles
9
Rowan
.... 44,..
riiinicU-
' ■ ■/■
.... 7....
10
IMecklenhurg .
.... 39.. .
393 miles
43
35 miles
11
A\'ake
34:! miles
43
I’itt
.... 7. . . .
77 miles
12
-AlcDowell
30...
106 miles
43
liutherford. . . .
. .. . 7....
54 miles
13
Guilford
.,.. 30...
219 miles
43
Washington . .
... . 7. .. .
11 miles
14
Buncombe , . . .
. . .. 28. ..
157 miles
52
Cherokee
.... 6 . ..
25 miles
15
.lohn.ston
.,., 27.. .
215 mile*
52
Kdgecombe . . .
. ... 6. . . .
43 miles
16
Ilavwood
.... 24...
• 29 miles
52
Traiisyh’ania ..
.... 6....
12 miles
17
Cabarrus. ......
.... 23, . .
83 miles
55
Caldweh
. . . . 5. . . .
35 mik's
18
G astoii
.... 23. . .
116 miles
55
(Jamden. .......
.... 5 .. .
10 miles
19
Anson
... 21...
119 miles
55
Ih'nderson ...
.. . . 5 ...
52 miles
20
Durham
.,. . 20, .
144 miles
55
Aladison
. . .. 5. . . .
16 miles
21
22
Lee
45 miles
124 miles
55
55
5
20 mik‘s
35 miles
Granville
... 17....
Rockin,a:hani..
.... 5, . . .
?,3
Cumberland.. .
... 16....
61
Burke
.... 4.,
11 miles
19 miles
.23
Halifax
95 miles
62
Avery .
. . . . 3. . . ,
24
Alamance
... 15... .
93 miles
62
Caswi41
,.,, 3 , . .
13 miles
24
Nash
... 15. . . .
129 miles
62
Northampton .
.... 3...
18 miles
26
Carteret
... 14
12S miles
62
5 miles
26
Currituck
... 14,...
15 ihiles
66
Beaufort
2
8 miles
26
Forsyth
... 14. . . .
138 miles
66
Davidson
.. .. 2....
15 miles
26
26
Polk
43 miles
130 miles
66
69
5 miles
3 miles
Sampson
... 14....
Bladen
.... 11-2.
31
Brunswick ....
... 12....
43 miles
70
Chowan
1
3 miles
31
A'ance
... 12....
35 miles
70
Stanley
.... 1....
7 miles
31
Wilson
... 12....
86 miles
70
Swain
1
4 miles
34
Lincoln
. .. 11. . . .
45 miles
70
Ihiion
... 1
12 miles
34
Montgomery ..
... 11....
50 miles
74
Stokes
.5.,..
4 miles
34
Orange
. ... 11....
34 miles
74
Wilkes
5....
4 miles
37
Davie
... 9....
28 miles
76
aiiU-hell
... .4....
2 miles
37
.Tones
... 9
39 miles
77
2
2 miles
Is Randolph First?
It is rcportetl that during the fall term,
li\ e new rural school, libraries were i‘s-
tablished in Kandolph county.
if any county luis a better record than
this we w ish it might be reported tn the
I NIN ERSITV NEWS LETTER.
Under A Bushel
candle bi>ught to be set under a
and not to be set on a candle-
it worth
Is a
bushel,
stick?
Is the t;ni\ersity a candle;
setting on a candlestick?
If anybody in North Carolina really
wants to know, let him read the Dec
ember number of the Lhiiversity Keeord.
Scud a post card rei|uest for it, if you
have not seen it.
Vocational Training
The old debate between the theoreticai
and the [iractical, or perhaps better,
lietween the remote and the immeiliate
benefit, rises again in the ciuestion of
the curricalum of our ]iublic schools.
Shall the schools train for particular oc
cupations or shall tlicy give general cul
ture? .
The following points for a debate on:
Resolved, That vocational training
shall be introduced into the public
B. Schools in which the jilaii has been
tried have found the results worth the
.small extra exjiense.
A H. The jiroposition is a recognition
of a general movement in education, for
A. The subject is being agitated iii
every state.
B. S(*V('ral cities in North Carolina
have adojited the plan.
Negative Arguments
I. The propo.stH.1 system would be bad
for the State educationally, for
A. It would tend to shorten the jieriod
of education for the children, for
1. It prov ides a (|uick and early prep-
schools of North Carolina, were sup-j a ration for making a living, winch many
plied by till' class in Public Speaking
in the I'niversitv of North (Carolina.
The following have no improved public roads that were reported np to .Ian. 1,
1914—all told, 7,903 miles of unimproxed roads in these 21 counties:
Alexander, Ashe, Chatham, Clay, Dare, Gates, Greene, Hertford, Hyde, Jackson,
Macon, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perqnimans, Person, Tyrrell, War
ren, Watauga, and Yadkin.
Help For The Rural School Teacher
The Department of Agriculture in
Waaliington, I). C, is preparing a bulletin
on methods of organizing agricultural
clubs among children in the rural schools.
It is of jiarticular value to North Caro
lina teachers since it will hel]v to vitalize
tlic teaching of the common school
branches in the rural districts.
AVrite to the Department of Agricul
ture, AVashington. D. C.. and ask for
Bulletin No. 132.
children would avail themselvi's of.
2. Alany parents would force their
children out in the neci'ssity if self-sup
port as soon as that support became
pos.sible.
- . , 1 ■ ,1 , would tend to lower the stan-
cation and of general education would be > ,
, 1 dard ot education, tor
learnel as the same time. ,| . n,,,„
! 1, The childn'ii, attracted by the iiov-
j city and by the fact that the purpost^ is
immediate and easily seen, would put
Affirmative Arguments
I. Time would he .saved, for
A. The rudinients of xocational
edu-
l)c given
Real Community Service
Tugmaii District, Meat Camp Town
ship, Watauga County, organized a
moonlight school Dec. 7, as a result of
Community Service AVeek, writes Koy
M. Brown. Secretary i.)f the Conference
of the People of Watauga County, to the
University School of Education. The
teacher is Mr. AV. A. Tiigman, of Sands.
It is the first school of its kind in the
County.
II'. All children would
equal chance, for
.A. They would get their training for
their life work in school, whereas now
many, because they go no higher than
the public school, have to go without
special training,
ni. It wfiuld benefit the State, for
A. it would provkle a more efficient
body of citizens, for
1. iVIen and women who begin their
training early and thus form habits of
careful, scientific workmanship an' more
efficient.
IV. Pupils in the public schools are
not too young for vocational training, for
A. Only the rudiments would be given
in the lower grades, and the rudiments
of vocations are not more dilficult to
learn than flu- rudiments of general
education.
A'. It would not be too expensive, for
A. The propos(‘d system is not an
elaborate, cfimplete system, but only a
sysU'iii of training in the rudiments of
vocations so that children may learn in
what lines their tastes and abilities lie
anrf may get a good start in training in
those lines.
most of the'irtime on the stiili(‘,s, for
a. Owing to the fact that the purj)ose
of a general education is more remote,
children do not see the value of it.
0. \'ocational training is too narrow',
for
1. Insteal of lieirig an education for
life, it is mert'ly a training for a job.
II. A'ocational training in the schools
will be bad for the State socially, for
A. It would ])roduce a body of badly
trained workers for most of them would
be satisfied with the rudiments taught
in the public si-bools.
B. It would be resixmsible for much
dissatisfaction and for many misdirected,
lives, for
1. Children of pulilic school age are
not old enough to choose their vocations.
HI. It would be bad for the vState
financially, for
A. On account of the great variety o.f
vocations there would have to have to bo
many more teachers in each school, and
laboratories for many of the subjects
would be necessary.