The Starkville news. (Starkville, Miss.) 1902-1960, 1909-05-28

southern farmers SO long talked
and preached without result was
brought to a head all at once in
Claiborne county where he saw
that we had to diversity or go
broke.
1.-The board of supervisors i'm.
mediately appointed G. H. AL
ford as county commissioner of
agriculture, according to the re-
Communications of the mass meet
ing of farmers and business men.
Mr.. Afford is a graduate of the
Mississippi Agricultural n d
Mechanical College, and at the
same time an experienced, scien-
tific agriculturist.
THE MISSING LINK.
He at once dropped all other
connections and went actively to
work to show the farmers
of Claiborne county how to
save themselves from disaster.
due to all cotton and lack of di.
versification.
"Mr. Afford got in touch with
the officials at Washington, who
are in charge of the boil weevil
investigation, and learned just
how that pest can be successfully
combatted. This information
was already available to every
farmer who would request it, but
the point of the whole matter is
that as body our farmers are
not approachable by the agricul-
tural scientist. We have proven
conslusively that through the
medium of a live, progressive
man right on the ground, even
the most ignorant and unlettered
farmers will take hold Of modern
methods and will carry them out
according to directions. Under
Mr.. Affords directions 6 small
experimental farms have been
established in each of the five
districts of the county. These
farms range in size from 10 to 20
acres, and on them practical de-
monstrations are being carried
out to show our people how to
fight the boil weevil, how to di-
versify their farm products; in
other words, how to get out of
the old ruts and to take advan-
tage of all modern methods that
Will apply to the farming require
ments of Mississippi county.
"Claiborne is typical cotton
county. The population is about
&c, 900, and the cotton produc-
ton $4,000 bales. When farm
ing operations fail the county
will fail all over. The business
men of Port Gibson, the site, a
town eff some 5000 people. which
differs in no important respect
from others of the same size
throughout the south, immedi-
ately realized the benefit of the
new official to the interests Of
the whole county, and have Civ
en- h m hearty cooperation.
They already see the results
from his work in the steady and
general improvement of condi-
tions throughout the county.
We have solved a problem in
Claiborne county that has been
confronting the whole south for
many years.
GREATEST BENEFIT.
II firmly believe that the crea-
ton of this Office is the greatest
thing that has ever happened to
the farmers of our cuunty-and
ours are just like those of every
other cotton county in the south.
The ma t. ional government,
through ite experts, offered our
farmers the results of years of
study, but our methods of farm
ing remained unchanged. The
state maintained a most excellent
agricultural college and expert
mental farm, but only the most
progressive of our farmers pro-
flied by it's work and publications.
Here and there we have had pro-
gressive spirits, but the great
body of our tarm population re-
NAMED untouched by modern
methods. The men in the field
making the crops which furnish
the commerce of our land and