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Show ill ' DiYSRSiFsco rmms ! ' I j bT - program ; Ant !.-fV s:ift...3i Sm - Xi-i each n ' ' ' v T si StifjU.uti 4 ) s, ;. Jl f H . ,i li , ipJrv v 1 . . iElf FIVE-STAR WINNER . . . The five-point program of the Tupelo, Miss., "rJc1'.' Rural Community Development council forms the theme of this com-j2'munity com-j2'munity booth, which won first place over 18 entries at the 1947 Mis-,6sissippi-Alabama fair. Dairying, cotton, truck farming, poultry and forestry are the points emphasized by the council in its plea for di-ggij. di-ggij. versified farming. g' Er,lALL TOWNS, U.S.A. Mississippi Project Sets pattern in Rural Planning $9 By EARLE HITCH di Released by WNU Features. !25i! Country life must be made hopeful, healthy and happy . rural regions are to continue as the main source of our na- .onal strength. One of the major phases in the revamping of !Jelat rural pattern of living is the expansion of rural occupa- )ons. For the first time since the factory system put an end kSA) handicrafts in the home and village shops, economic de-Jelopment de-Jelopment is taking a turn favorable to the rural environ- 'VJ1 . i. A been several years in maturing, and it is the more effective now for having 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. Chief aims are to encourage new types of farming, especially types that will aid in soil enrichment en-richment 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 specialists special-ists have been hired with funds contributed by the program's backers. 1 Chief factor in success of the Tupelo plan is the kind of sponsorship 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 Chamber Cham-ber of Commerce, of which McLean now is president, is doing its part by financing a special program in horticulture, which is allied with the plan in general. Community Backing. In previous years banks and business 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 entire 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 industries indus-tries that will make assured markets mar-kets for things produced on the better bet-ter farms. The plan that has been developed covers five counties and is the biggest 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 details that were followed in establishing the Tupelo plan. I kV'For more than a century it has " 'en otherwise. Rural enterprise, limited to farm- 1 ing and a dwin- Rural America dling retail :dy)lt At Stake trade, followed itu nc the path of non- 3 Tibi resistance. Out- P"! No. 5 side, of the fertile ,ver sf. In a Series fa belts and COJt(j the mill towns of horocji the upper South, NE'i untry income has been declining the land wore out and the people TJt for jobs in the city. Now, there 1jKie reasons to believe, that trend Jjjjn be halted. Invention and discov-JJy discov-JJy offer the earning opportunities UICKF wnicn the country has been wait-FORP- NDIGESpinning and churning are gone; ewise, old-fashioned tanning and tchering, milling and hoeing. But nyse lost occupations, sorely j-issed in the small farm communi-j communi-j 'Is, can be replaced. There is new J kid better work to be done, both the land and in the local mills d plants. The community which Vrtr.es to increase the earning Q Ipacities of its population can do -1 New Pattern Evolves. "iVasted land can be restored and ;d for new kinds of small-farm age. New production systems, is the extension of rural power 'es, give country manufacture an e it never has had before. These A 'ngs, of course, cannot be brought V52ut on a community-wide scale , vhout careful planning and deter-7 deter-7 goohned leadership. They are most UGHctive when they are undertaken your rh a long range program for com-u com-u nity development. D Vine Rural economic problems are ?conmS''" '00 mucn neglected. Only dm 'ew intelligent and patient at-USt at-USt 0 tempts have been made to find nourij;urable solutions. Consequently mmffie plans that are succeeding TIKre important not only as local pri4rograms, but also as patterns tj0r other places, for there are ast areas of rural America ''hich need some kind of eco- omic rescue. most successful plans have -J.vbe adapted to particular condi-is. condi-is. Consumer tastes, market lo-u lo-u Aons and. the job of organizing jW 'c support have to be taken into this gt,:ierat'orl along with restoring nt relif 'and a"d finding out what can ,jtationPruduced by the farmers and the ( ?r labor supply. This will take isheS iness backing and business man-3 man-3 ment. It never has been suffi-ll suffi-ll to make a plan and count on s to work by popular voluntary anally pnn. "tirt Ambitious Tupelo Project. ojpelo, Miss., has one of the most rgetic and far-reaching plans in . country. It is a plan not for -f primarily, but for the large i7pl area of which Tupelo is the "Iier' Tlle Priect 's especially tnrffiable from the fact that it is not Jjtcd to dealing with present rural plems, but also is looking ahead P,s iroblems that probably must be Actio". d in the t. burrj" prop" e Tupelo program is no sud- expoJ""; outburst of enthusiasm. It has utraio |