The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1913-10-30
THE GREAT PROBLEM OF THE
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES.
First Article by Professor John f.
Smith Of Berca College.)


bread problem. Other things are
important, other things demand a
large share Of the attention Of the
people, but nothing demands more
time and attention than this. In the
future IL will demand even more at
teniion than at present. What are
we going to have to eat?
The mountain counties do not
now produce enough food stun TO
support the population. A few Of
them may, but the majority Of the
thirty-flve counties do not. Hun
drcds of thousands Of dollars go out
Of the mountains every year for
canned tomatoes, peaches, corn,
beans, for bacon and meal and flour
and for other produce for the table.
All this might be produced in the
mountain fields. The soil will sup
port the present population easily
and will, with the right kind Of cul-
tivation. support four or five times
as many people. Every can Of to-
matoes or corn or beans or peaches
that is placed on mountain table
could be grown and canned right on
the land. and every pound Of bacon
that is shipped from Knoxville or
Lexington or Cincinnati to the
mountain smoke houses could be
produced right at home. Every
bushel Of meal used for bread could
be produced in the fields and
ground on the home mills. The
soil will produce all these things
and much TO spare. The people
can raise all these things and pre-
pare them at home for the table and
have much additional foodstuff for
the markets. A vast army OF people
in the mountains do this already,
but the enormous quantities Of ba-
con and -four and meal and canned
foods that are shipped into the
mountains every day attest the
truth of the assertion that the
mountain fields are not now pro-
ducing as much food as the people
consume.
The millions of dollars that go
out OF the mountains every year,
and the hundreds of thousands of
dollars that are paid for freight and
hauling every year in order that
the people may have wherewith to
be- fed, is a drain too heavy TO be
endured much longer. The money
at least, much Of it--Ought to be
kept in the mountains and can be
kept there. II is needed for i'm
proving the soil and homes and add
ing TO the comforts Of living. Mil
lions of dollars used each year for
building better homes where they
are needed, for improving the land,
for bringing in more home COM
forts and more community joys
would in very short time make
the mountains paradise on earth.
Roads could be built. bridges con-
structed. better school houses and
churches could be erected. Every
kind Of improvement could be made
if the money that is paid now to
wholesale merchants outside the
mountains for food could only be
kept at home. And the greater part
of il can be kept there if the fruit
and the corn and the bacon that is
now hauled in by the thousands of
tons is produced on the mountain
fields. These fields are capable Of
producing il all-and many times
as much.
There are two other reasons why
this heavy drain cannot be endured
much longer Conditions in the
mountains are rapidly changing.
There was a time a few years ago
when fewer people lived in the
mountains. In ten years the pOpu-
lation increased nearly twenty per
cent. Today there are over $4,000
people in the thirty-iive mountain
counties. II is remarkable that in
spite Of the bad roads in many
places and other things that are
supposed Ia drive people from the
country into the cities only two
mountain counties lost population
during the last census decade. II IL
also remarkable that in the same
time twenty-three blue grass coun-
ties lost population. Now this ra-
pidly increasing population must
be fed and the food must either be
produced ON the mountain fields, or
must be produced elsewhere and be
bought and paid for with money
earned in the mountains.
The resources in the mountains
available for all the people are van
ishing. There was a time when the
people could hunt all the meat
needed for the table. That time is
passed. There was "A time when
thousands of hogs and cattle and
sheep could be raised on the open
ranges, but that time is passed also.
There WAS "A time within the MEM