OCR Text |
Show DROUGHT HITS MANYSTATES Farm Bureau President Tells of Widespread Damage in 10 States. By SAM II. THOMPSON ( President American Farm Ilureau Federation. ) (Written Exclusively for the United Press.) CHICAGO, Aug. 20. dMN In for- ', malion comimr to national head- , quarters of the American Farm ; Fiurcau Federation, which reaches j into some 40 states, indicates that the picture of distress and suffer- ing due to the drought in agricul- j Una! America is not overdrawn. If i anything, some instances show that j the true situation is worse than is generally known. Future Fffecl. i The effect of the drought will also ' become more manifest in the near future in areas not now affected by the dry spell. The talk now is large- j ly of damage to the corn crop. Later this condition will be reflected reflect-ed in areas where corn is needed for fattening cattle but where it cannot can-not be obtained because of the short corn crop. While farmers are not exactly faced with a disaster, yet the situation situa-tion is admittedly serious. Damage to the coi n crop will result in a pro-; pro-; duction less than that of any year since 1901. Pastures are burned dry and livestock is suffering from lack of feed and water. T rut: It crops are perishing .nd fruit is withering on the trees. In some' sections ht:;r:n suffering suffer-ing has already begun, with relief (Continued on PLge 6) agencies standing by to extend what aid is needed. Following conferences with President Pres-ident Hoover, the American Farm Bureau Federation has been mobilizing mobil-izing its forces to assist the federal authorities in putting into effect 1 the program of drought relief which was agreed on at the Washington meeting. Several of our state units are also initiating independent relief programs pro-grams among their own members The Indiana Farm Bureau Federal tion, as an instance, is looking ahead to the time when farmers in the drought stricken areas in the southern part of the state will be in need of seed corn. This is the time to employ the most rigid economy of resources, and every bit of oat straw should be baled or otherwise preserved and more than the usual acreage of corn should be cut for feed. |