The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-15
PROOF THAT DIVERSIFIED
 FARMING IS PROFITABLE
William Munford on His Two Thousand Acre Plantation Presents Evidence That Cotton
 is Net Necessarily King of Crops
BY L.r. WOODRUFF.

bh hs IT. WOODnGEEs Uniontown, June 14.-(Staff Corre- 1 spondence )-Farmers of the Black Belt and the Canebrake section yester- day paid tribute to the work being done by William Munford of Uniontown to show the farmers of the State that di- Iversihed crops may be raised with profit in Alabama.
 Cotton is no longer king in the Cane brake. The venerable monarch of ag- rlcuitural products within the last two years has been forced to abdfcate in favor of Prince Alfalfa. The abdica- tion was caused mainly through the eff forts of 8 small coterie of Marengo and Perry County farmers, but now the great bulk of the planters of this pros porous farming section pay allegiance to the new ruler.
 The coronation festivities took place Tuesday in an oak grove on MT. Nun fords plantation. Farmers from all Perry County focked to the scene and joyfuily hailed their new king crop. There was also a formidable force Of Black Belt and Canebrake politicians present. They cheered the speeches or the farmers. made speeches themselves ate, drank and were merry. Maybe there was a little politicking going on, but the farmers were too much interested in hearing what Prof. J. F. Duggar or the Alabama Polytechnic Institute hao to say in reference to the culture ot alfalfa, or what Prof. W. J. Spiiiman or the Agricultural Department at Wash ingtons had to say in reference to the methods of diversified farming that within the last year has netted MT. Munford more than comfortable nv ing.
 But the politicians got opportunity to make friends and learn something ot modern methods in farming. There were in the goodly crowd of prosperous planters and influential public men J. B. Ellis of orrvilie, Judge w. H. Tayloe of Uniontown J. Craig Smith of Selma, R. R. Poole of Marengo. Congressman Oscar w. Underwood of Birmingham and c. Wash Taylor of Demopolis. There were present President Johnston of the Planters and Merchants Bank Of Uniontown. who has great farming in- terests; J. H. White of Uniontown, mer- chant, manufacturer, capitalist and farmer. and Mayor ". J. Walden of Uniontown, well-known fin State affairs and a good farmer.
 There were three score others, who could discuss with Professor Duggar and Professor Spilman alfalfa and stock raising in the technical terms of mod ern farming, so entirely unintelligible to one reared on and accustomed to paved streets.
 At II o'clock Tuesday morning, this goodIy array of the backbone of Ala bama repaired to the magnificent 2,000- acre plantation of William Munford, where he Is raising everything, from peanuts to cotton. and from billy goats to alfalfa-bred porkers.
 A BeneHactOr.
 William Munford will in the near fu- ture be looked on as one of the bene- factors of East Alabama. He comes from fine old Virginia stock and all his people have been farmers for genera tions. His broad lands are typical of the canebrake. rolling hills. soil full of lime, genuine old prairie land. AL ways a progressive farmer. MT. Munford at the suggestion of the United States consented to further diver sify his crops one year ago. in order to show to the farmers of his section that this could be done with greater profit than could be gained by the loyal ad- herence to King Cotton. The Govern ment pays him absolutely nothing for thls work. paltry sum that varies between S100 and $200 per year is, how ever, given him for keeping the records of the farm,
 During the year, MT. Munford suc- ceeded wonderfully. He prospered as he had never done before, and he has always been a prosperous and progress sive farmer.
 when ne sJoO0 m the must ot ms farmer neighbors Tuesday, in cool sum mer linen clothes and Panama hat. and viewed his attractive country home on a neighboring hill. the modern wind mill. the new farming implements, the weighty porkers, the stalks of alfalfa. the herds of sheep ,the fields of corn, the flock of billy goats, the crowd of chickens. the beds of cabbage. tomatoes, potatoes. and everything that makes life worth 1iVfnR Qa hp nnffad a I0nR hfaClC Perfecto, his farmer neighbors had an object lesson before them that was worth 150 institute speeches for diver si1ed crops. They had seen the thing tried They had seen the goods deliv- cred They were satisfied and they wanted to know all about how the thing was managed.
 Judge Tayloe presided at the meet ing. He stood on a stand constructed