Show SMALL TOWNS USA mississippi P project r sets pattern pal to rin in in kural rural alarming plain Pl longing by EARLE HITCH ne released leased by features country life must be made hopeful healthy and happy if rural regions are to continue as the main source of our national strength one of the major phases in the revamping of that rural pattern of living is the expansion of rural occupations for the first time since the factory system put an end to handicrafts in the home and village shops economic development is taking a turn favorable to the rural environment for more than a century it has been otherwise rural enterprise limited to farm mg ing and a cwm rural america tiling retail at stake trade followed the path of non resistance out no 5 side of the fertile in a series tarm farm belts and the mill towns of the upper south country income has been declining as the land wore out and the people left for jobs in the city now there are reasons to believe that trend can be halted invention and dincov ery offer the earning opportunities for which the country has been wait ing spinning and churning are gone likewise old fashioned tanning and butchering milling and hoeing but those lost occupations sorely missed n in the small farm commini ties can be replaced there is new and better work to be done both on the land and in the local mills and plants the community which wishes to increase the earning capacities of its population can do so N new ew pattern evolves wasted land can be restored and used for new kinds of small farm tillage new production systems plus the extension of rural power lines give country manufacture an edge it never has had before these th of course cannot be brought about on a community wide scale without careful planning and deter mined leadership lea dersh hp p they are most effective when they are undertaken with a long range program for corn coin development rural economic problems are still till too much neglected only a few intelligent and patient attempts have been made to find durable solutions consequently the plans that are succeeding are important not only as local programs but also as patterns for other places for or there are vast areas of rural america which need some kind of 0 economic rescue the most successful plans have to be adapted to particular condi lions consumer tastes market lo 10 and the job ob of organizing public support have to be taken into cons aeration de ration along with restoring the land and finding out what can be produced by the farmers and the other labor supply this will take business backing and business man argement it never has been chent to make a plan and count on it to work by popular voluntary support ambitious tupelo project tupelo miss has one of the most energetic and far reaching plans in the country it is a plan not for tupelo primarily but for the large rural area of which tupelo is the center the project is especially valuable from the fact that it is not limited to dealing with present rural problems but also is looking ahead to problems that probably must be faced in the future the tupelo program is no sud den outburst of enthusiasm it has been several years in maturing and it is the more effective now for hav ing made progress with caution it has not started to go anywhere until its supporters believe it Is in their power to help it get there chiet chief aims are to encourage new types of fanning farming especially types that will aid in soil en rich ment and at the same time yield better income to the small hill farmers poultry and fruit growing are being emphasized and dairying has been backed for a number of years to aid in getting this work started and to keep it going several special ests have been hired with funds contributed by the program programs s backers chief factor in success ol 01 the tupelo plan is the kind of sponsor ship it has the leadership and the full influence of the tupelo daily journal and its publisher george mclean are supporting the project the daily journal has guaranteed the funds necessary for the first three years activities the cham chain ber of commerce of which mclean no now w is president is doing its pa part rt by financing a special program in m horticulture which is allied with the plan in general community backing in previous years banks and busi ness men have helped introduce dairying and better dairy breeds tupelo business men realize that business will thrive and their town will grow to the extent that the en tire community prospers they are convinced that there should be more earning opportunities on the farms and in the rural neighborhoods they are helping not only to build up a better farming industry but also to promote new town indus tries that will make assured mar bets for things produced on the bet ter farns farn s the plan that has been developed covers five counties and is the big gest rural community development plan in the united states in the number of people it affects and the extent of its program it already is demonstrating how small farming resources can be improved when energy and imagination are applied the next article will give deta Is that were followed in establishing the tupelo plan |