| Show 4 DIVERSIFIED y f I c ti A C 5 i it t Rt l z STAR FIVE-STAR WINNER The point five-point program of the Ule Tupelo Miss Rural Community Developments council forms the theme of this community community com com- corn corn- booth which won first place over 18 entries at the 1947 Mis Mis- 1 Alabama fair Dairying cotton truck farming poultry and forestry are the points emphasized by the council in its plea for diversified diversified diversified di di- versified farming SMALL TOWNS USA U.S.A. Project Sets Pattern in rn Rural Planning By EARLE HITCH r Released by Features Country life must be made hopeful healthy and happy hapy 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 I pattern of living is the expansion of rural occupations For the first time since the factory system put an end to handicrafts in inI inthe inthe I the home and village shops economic development is taking a ai turn favorable to the rural environment i For more than a century it has been otherwise Rural enterprise limited to farming farming farming farm farm- 11 ing and a dwindling dwin- dwin Rural America Americo d dung 1 i n g r retail eta i 1 I At Stake trade followed the path of nonresistance non- non resistance Outside Out Out- No 5 S side of the fertile In a Series farm belts and the mill towns of off I f the upper South country income has been declining as as th the land wore out and the people left for jobs in the city Now there iare lare are reasons to believe that trend Can an be halted Invention and discovery discovery lery ery offer the earning opportunities for lor which the country has been wait wait- ing It Spinning and churning are gone likewise old-fashioned old tanning and butchering milling and hoeing But those lost occupations sorely missed in the small farm communities I ties can be replaced There is new 1 and nd better work to be done both bothon on n the land and in the local mills Viand and nd plants The community which wishes to increase the earning capacities of its population can do so 0 New Pattern Evolves r Wasted land can be restored and used for new kinds of small-farm small tillage New production systems plus the extension of rural power lines give country manufacture an andge edge dge it never has had before These things of course cannot be brought about bout on a wide community-wide scale Without careful planning and determined determined deter- deter mined leadership They are most le effective when they are undertaken with corn corn- a long range program for community community com com- development Rural economic problems are still too much neglected Only a few intelligent and patient attempts attempts attempts at at- tempts 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 there are I vast areas of rural America which need some kind of economic economic economic eco eco- rescue I The most successful plans have to o be adapted to particular conditions condi- condi ions Consumer tastes market lo locations locations locations lo- lo and the job of organizing public support have to be taken into consideration Consideration along with restoring the land and finding out what can I be ae produced by the farmers and the theother I Iother other ither labor supply This will take business backing and business man man- It never has been sufficient sufficient sufficient to make a plan and count on onit it it to work by popular voluntary sup sup- port Ambitious Tupelo Project Tupelo Miss has one of the most energetic and reaching far-reaching plans in the country It is a plan not for Cor 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 i limited to dealing with present rural problems but also is looking ahead I to problems that probably must be faced in the future The Tupelo program is no sudden sudden sud sud- den outburst of enthusiasm It has been several years in maturing and it is the more effective now for having having having hav 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 enrichment en en- and at the same time yield better income to the small hill hilI farmers Poultry and fruit growing are being emphasized and dairying has been backed for a number of years To aid aidin aidin aidin in getting this work started and to keep it going several specialists special special- have been hired with funds contributed by the programs program's backers Chief factor in success of the Tupelo plan is the kind of sponsorship sponsorship sponsorship sponsor sponsor- ship it has The leadership and the full influence of the Tupelo Daily Journal and its publisher George McLean are supporting the project ct The Daily Journal has guaranteed the funds necessary for the first three years' years activities The Chamber Chamber Chamber Cham 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 business business busi 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 entire entire en 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 buildup buildup buildup up a better farming industry but also to promote new town industries industries industries indus indus- tries that will make assured markets markets markets mar mar- for things produced on the better better better bet bet- ter farms The plan that has been developed covers five counties and is the biggest biggest biggest big 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 wall give five details that were followed in 1 establishing the Tupelo 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