The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-14
Stock Company May Put
 It Through.
Commissioner of Agriculture Poole Declares This is the Place for It and Advocates Legis-
 lative Appropriation.

and Industrial Association Tuesday even- 1 ing met with popular favor in Montgom- | cry yesterday.
 Hon. R. R. Poole, Commissioner of Az riculture, said yester lay that Montgom- | cry was unquestionably the best place for | holding State Fair in Alabama. | Montgomery, 1t Is pointed ut IS the | naturaI center of the agricultural section of Alabama. Its railroad facilities are equal to those of any city in the State | 1t has already an unrivaled half n'ilt track. The larger per centage of its reo- l pie and of the people of Its territory are | vitally interested in agricultural matters No State Fair has been held in Montgom. | cry in the past ten years. but larger crowds attended the Stats Fairs held ir | Montgomery than those at Birmingham | or other places.
 In the past ten years important changes | in farming in Alabama have taken place More attention is devoted to stock raising | than ever before in the history of the State. The agricultural movement fol more acreage to alfalfa and grasses is | comparatively new thing and an ex' | hioit in the gricultural section showing | the possibilities of these crops in Ala bama would be of he greatest benefit ] to the agricultural visitors.
 | The Street Fairs of the past years ir Montgomery have been unqualified sue. cesses. This has given the city good | name for a Fair town. The concession aries at the Montgomery Street Fairs al maae money, They have spread the fame of Montgomery as Fair town. This 1 fact alone assures local management of State Fair of good prices for its l concessions. .. The Fair mana cement. it is declared could depend upon valuable assistance l from one or both local street car com panies. A broader and more liberal spirit actuates the street car arrangements of l the city than in the past and 1t Is said assistance from them could be depended upon.
 The State Agricultural Department is deeply interested and would render every assistance.
 The State Fair proposition has been more or less discussed in the past few months. It's formal launching, however, was at the annual meeting of the Com mercial and Industrial Association Tues day night, in the report Of Chairman M. Mohr or the Committee on Agriculture.
 In full MT. Mohr's report is as fol- lows:
 ITO the Commercial and Industrial Asso-
 ciation:
 Your Committee on Agriculture begs leave to report that since your last an- nual meeting, the County of Montgomery under the supervision of this committee, made an exhibit of its agricultural pro- ducts at the State Fair held in Birming- ham last November. Quite number of counties were in competition, but the county of Montgomery was successful In taking the first premium. 1t is doubtful if this exhibit was of any benefit, other than to inform our own people as to what We are actually doing in an agrioui- tural way. Birmingham being outside Of an agricultural district. few people pass ed into the Fair grounds that were re- ally interested in agriculture.
 Your Committee begs leave to esli the attention of this Association to the increased interest our farmers are giving to grasses and grains. We have no sta tistics before us,, but the amount or Johnson grass hay grown in Montgomery County and marketed in the city or Mont gomery Is very large, and Is now receiv- ing due consideration as a money crop I he hay made from this grass sold ir this market as high as SIS per ton. When we stop to consider that from two 10 four tons of hay can be grown per acre. and ready market, we can readily sec what the farmer who is suffering for want of labor can gain by ignoring the bor prot lem and devoting his farm to the cultivation of this wonderful grass.
 Recently there has been a great deal of agitation in the newspapers of this city relative to alfalfa Your committee has noted this agitation with much pleas ure, as it assures us that our farmars are beginning to realize that unless some thing IS done to check the evil or 'noth- ing but cotton, our farmers VIII soon cease to be even self-supporting.
 Montgomery, located as she Is, Ia the heart of as fine an agricultural country as can be found in the United States. should continue to grow and be fed f.um her fertile fields, instead of being fed from the Northwest, as Is now being done.
 We are greatly impressed with the spirit that Is noW being exhibited by our farmers in the purchase of thoroughbred heef cattle 'hecenijy cnr load ot these cattle was sold In our city, bringing good prices We are assured that quite a number will be brought here this iali and sold under good guarantee to n!e for twe,ve months. his oppertu.lIy should not be overlooked by our friends who desire to improve the condition or their farms. A country that produces beef and milk and butter Is q rich coun- try. ,,.. much interts. the work of the Alabama Worlds Fair Comm. s5ion, and reg cts that Alabama Is not to be represente,i at this great fair. Ii we cannot, therefore, show to the outside world what AlabaDIa posse SECS, we can, at least. bring oar own people together, and .et them un- dsrssand what are the poPs bilities of our gieGt State. Alabama to say that the majority O. them are ignorant as to what their own fal ms are cG pablo of prcducing-a great State Fair held m Montgomery. the eIpi- est agr.cultLral country in the United States, will do more towards the up- building of our country than any other.
 We respectfully suggest that com mittee be appointed to undertake the woi k of seeing what can be done towards holding a State Fair in Montgomery this fall. and to make it a permanent insti- tution We also suggest that your Com mittet on Legislation undertake the work of having the Legislature encourage this enterprise by q standing appropriation.
 we, the Committee on Agriculture, stand ready to devote our time and en- ergy in assisting every way possible any work that looks to the upbuiding of the agricultural interest of our county and State.
 we note of late of the possible dan ger that may overtake our State by mi- grafton of the Mexican boil weevil which is now playing such havoc in the State of Texas. we would consider it a great calamity should that pest get foot hold in Alabama. We, therefore, would most earnestly recommend that our Com mittee on Legislation should call the at- tention of our Legislature to that reatened evil, and. If necessary, ask to make sufficient appropriation to stay, If possible, the great calamity.
 Respectfully submitted,
 M. Mohr, Chairman"
 As soon as the reading of the report had been completed. J. C. Adams. Chief Cle rk in the State Department of Agri- culture moved that committee be ap- pointed at once to take up the State Fair recommendation contained in Mir. Mohr's report.
 Mr. Adams has been one of the early advocates for a State Fair in Montgom-