Show SMALL TOWNS USA improved system of agriculture ly social M B m reforms are IB ni major If feeds by EARLE HITCH released by features Feat the small community must be regarded as a cross sec tion of our common life with economic and cultural resources which will satisfy all the major needs and cravings clavings cravi of most men that thesis expressed by dr arthur E morgan one of the leading U S authorities on the values of small community life formed the basis of the comma anity development plan instituted at tupelo miss the plan now in its second year of operation and hailed as a model in revitalizing rural communities rural ameika has resulted in at stake development ot of the resources in the area surrounding no 6 tupelo in a so rles on a wide scale the region embraces five populous alous counties with a total P population ot of approximately diversity diversify farming most of the agricultural production comes from small family type f farms arms on which cotton has been the main source of income but cotton has been hard on the land also alio it has its ups and downs as a money crop so the small farmers around tupelo are being introduced introduce intro duc c d to an tra improved proved system of agriculture the land ts Is suited to intensive cultivation and a general program to build up the land Is proceeding what is being done at tupelo Is worth the notice of small farm communities muni ties everywhere the best thing about the tu pelo plan is this it Is practical y the difficulties as an well as the needs have been taken into consideration and the goals have been fixed accordingly the plan does not expect to accomplish everything in a day clay it Is in based on a policy that Is doing two highly desirable things at the same mine thin time it Is achieving some immediate results and laying foundations for more important results in the future interest in the farmers problems Is s not new la in tupelo the bariks banks the businessmen and the dally daily journal tupelos Tu pelos forward looking newspaper for years have recognized the importance of making arming earming pay a good return thirty years ago when the boll weevil did heavy damage in the cotton patches the banks began promoting dairying for years the daily journal has been campaigning tor for better agriculture the farmers have been urged to look after their soils and to con ml ilder growing things beside cotton zu recalls pitfalls ot at past this campaign has had the personal interest and a great deal of the time of the daily journals Journal 1 energetic publisher george melean mclean two years ago when mclean returned from war service with the navy he remembered the troubled times on the farms after world war I 1 and during the depression he was aware that cotton again might bump up against a declining market he knew too that mechanization was not far away and that the small email farmers would be at a disadvantage when machine production Is fully established mclean determined t to 0 make a careful study of the wh whole 0 i a farm out outlook lookas as it affected the tupolo tupelo region he employed at the expense of his newspaper a professional farm management mana ement organization to make a study of all the problems and what could be done about them this was undertaken by the doane agricultural service of st louis the outstanding agency in the farm management field the survey was completed and the report filed about a year ago get trained leader the r report was laid before a meeting of farm and business leaders and a sponsoring organization was formed to back a program for building up resources of the five cc counties ties which had been surveyed this organization became the rural devel NEW HERD SIRE imported from the isle of jers jersey ey with the 20 celers heifers was clementes Clemen ces boy a new addition to bulls of the tupelo area artificial insemination association cia tion council the dally daily journal furnished the money and a tra trained agriculturalist was employed to direct the program with headquarters in the tupelo chamber of commerce it was realized that the first big job was to get the people fully informed of the project and what it aimed to do to get out good attendance at meetings an entertainment program offering popular hollywood films was presented once a week for eight consecutive weeks in five main communities the results exceeded expectations as the weekly attendance at the five meetings averaged 1000 by the time the eight meetings had been concluded the council had the groundwork well established tor for the first years yearns program this covered three types of farming which offer offered a d several different ways to increase farm income to furnish adequate markets tor for new farm industry home processing was undertaken in poultry and certain fruits and vegetables having a known customer demand in ih addition to these objectives the council also adopted several planks in the platform of a community social program these included good health including a good diet recreation education the church and the home |