Show SMALL TOWNS USA mississippi sippi project sets battern in rural planning by EARLE HITCH released re 1 eased by features country life must be made hopeful ful healthy and happy hoKe if rural regions are to continue as t the e 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 b been een otherwise rural enterprise limited to farming and a dwin rural am america enco tiling reta retail at stake trade followed the path of nonresistance outside no 5 of the fertile in a series Is farm belts and ithe the mill towns of the upper south country income has been declining the he land wore out and the people for jobs in the city now there are reasons reason to believe that trend can be hal halted t ed invention and discovery offer the earning opportunities lor for which the country has been waiting spinning and churning are gone likewise old fashioned tanning and butchering milling and hoeing but those lost occupations sorely missed eissed in the small farm communities can be replaced there Is new and better work to be done both on the land and in the local mi mills Us and plants the community which wishes to increase the barnin earning g capacities of its population can do so 0 new pattern evolves wasted land can be restored and ed for new kinds ot of small farm I 1 jage I 1 age i new production systems atus F the extension of rural power lines give country manufacture an edge it never has had before these things ot of course cannot be brought about on a community wide scale scale without careful planning and determined leadership they are mos most t effective when they are undertaken with a long range program for community development rural economic problems are still too much neglected only a few intelligent and patient attempts have been made to fi 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 vast areas of rural america which need some kind of economic rescue the most successful plans have to be adapted to particular conditions consumer tastes market locations and the job of organizing support have to be taken into along with restoring ne e land and finding out what can be produced by the far the other labor supply this will take business backing and business busine s management it never has been bee n sufficient to make a plan and count on it to work by popular voluntary support ambitious 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 th the elarge large rural area of which tupelo Is the center the project is especially valuable from the fact act 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 sudden isible n outburst of enthusiasm it has asi been several years in maturing and nd it Is the more effective eff e etive now for or having made progress with caution it has not started to go anywhere until lie its supporters believe it Is in their power to help it get there chief alms are to encourage new types of farming especially types that will aid in soil enrichment rich ment and at the same time yield better income to the small email hill bill farmers poultry and fruit growing are being emphasized and dairying has been backed tor for a number of years to aid in getting this work started and to keep it going several specialists have been hired with funds fonds contributed by the programs backers chief factor in success of the tupelo plan is the kind ot 0 sponsorship 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 tor for the first three years activities the chamber of commerce of which M mclean c lean now is president Is doing its it part by financing a special program S in horticulture which is allied with the plan in general community backing in previous years banks and business 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 community prospers they are convinced that there should be be moze more earning opportunities on the farms and in the rural neighborhoods neighborhood they are helping not only to build up a bett better er far farming industry but also to promote new town industries that will make assured markets for things produced on the better farms the plan that has been developed covers five counties and is the biggest 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 ar ficler will aill give details delaus that were followed in establishing the tupelo plan |