OCR Text |
Show PROGRAM OF "SAFE FARMING" Outline of Plan Recommended by Government Specialists to Secure Safety in Cotton Belt. A program of "safe farming" for the South is outlined in a circular which the United States department of agriculture agri-culture has sent to bankers, business men, and farmers in the cotton states. The history of agriculture in the South, it is said, has been one of lean years and fat years. Short crops and high prices have almost invariably been followed by big crops and low prices and, in consequence, the farmer farm-er has experienced much,, distress. The increased attention which has recently re-cently been given to supporting the people upon the land has already resulted re-sulted in much good, but there is some danger, it is pointed out, that with the price of cotton rising there will be a tendency for farmers to return re-turn to the old system of gambling on cotton. If the people of the South produced their own living, the circular cir-cular points out, it would steady the whole system and keep the boat from rocking. The safety measures recommended recom-mended are as follows: 1. Produce a home garden for every family on the farm, the year round, paying special attention to a plot of Irish or sweet potatoes sufficient suffi-cient to supply the family with food of this character. Where feasible, have a patch of sorghum or other cane to produce sirup for the family. 2. Produce the corn necessary to support all of the people on the farm and the live stock, with absolute safety. 3. Produce the necessary oats and other small grain to supplement the corn as food. Pay attention to winter win-ter grazing. 4. Produce hay and forage from some forage crop, sufficient to supply all of the live stock on the farm. Use legumes such as clover, cowpeas, velvet vel-vet beans, soy beans and alfalfa for the production of hay and to enrich the soil with nitrogen and humus. 5. Produce the meat necessary to supply the people, through increased attention to poultry and hogs, especially. espe-cially. Plan to increase gradually the number of cattle and other live stock, so as to have a sufficient number to consume the waste products of the farm and make the waste lands productive, pro-ductive, -war 6. After all of these things have been amply provided for, produce cotton cot-ton for the market. |