THE FARM DEMONSTRATION WORK 



South Carolina, in 1910, he advised the young men to pur- 

 chase land as soon as possible. He called their attention to the 

 fact that ownership of land in the old countries was necessary 

 before the titles of nobility could be conferred. He described 

 the great possibilities of independent and honorable life in 

 the country in the South, and prophesied that lands in that 

 Piedmont country would quadruple in value in a quarter of 

 a centurj^ Few of those present realized that his prophecy 

 would come true in a decade, but many of those boys learned 

 later that the advice was most timely, wise and appropriate. 



There was no disposition on his part to minimize or dis- 

 count the difficulties of his stupendous task. In his powerful 

 speech at Pinehurst, North Carolina, on May 30, 1907, in 

 which he made a wonderful portrayal of Southern conditions 

 at that time, he said : 



"Some years since a traveler said that the farms of the South 

 looked like a bankrupt stock ready for the auctioneer; the soils 

 were impoverished, the brush and brier patches conspicious; the 

 buildings dilapidated, the fences a makeshift; the highways but 

 little more than much-used bridle paths, the churches and school- 

 houses were built upon the plan of inclosing the necessary space 

 at the least expense, and the graveyards appeared as if the living 

 did not believe in the resurrection." 



"The viewpoint is not mine. To me the Southern States 

 surpass all of the countries of the earth of equal area in material 

 resources, mainly undeveloped. Underneath almost every acre is 

 concealed a mineral wealth of surpassing value; within almost 

 every acre are agricultural resources that, touched by intellect and 

 labor, will reveal marvelous products. To me the Southern people 

 are the purest stock of the greatest race the world has produced. 

 The rural population has lived under unfortunate conditions for 

 the best development, but the essential material of their natures is 

 not impaired, and it requires but leadership to maintain great 

 results." 



[9] 



