The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-26
The South's Opportunities

oO".-S
 When an official of the department or agriculture says this country faces the possibility of beefsteak at 50 cents pound and shoes at s1o a pair. he is not dealing in fiction says a writer in the Wall Street Journal "Unplcasaut as the fact may be, it is not at all unlikely, and the part of wisdom is to apply remedy before the possibility becomes a fact
 Much has been published on the question, showing a steady decline in lumber and increase in price of cat tie. It has also repeatedly pointed out the futility of hoping for relief from Argentina and other countries popular ly supposed to be overrun with cattle. It is time the situation was grasped.
 "A wider attention to pigs and ooul- try is the quickest way to add to the supply of meat. It is to be noted also that the most prosperous states of the west are those that have the most hogs and poultry.
 Cattle, however, must be the main- stay Leather, as we'll as meat, IS an absolute necessity. Experience, time and money are necessary to produce cattle. The south seems to offer the most attractive home for them, and yet this is the section lwhere cattle breeding has been the most neglected. If the low price of cotton turns farm CTS to diversified farming it will be anything but an unmixed evil
 Diversified farming, to be a suc- cess, means marketing the crops through animal products. Perhaps, IF the bankers dealing with the southern farmers should adopt the same means employed by those of the northwest much good might come. These men awoke to the danger of all-wheat pro- duction and began a systematic cam paign for better farming
 "In every way possible they taught the farmers that credit was a question of fertility and not acres, and that fer tility could be maintained only through diversified crops and animals. They gave preference to the would-be bor- rower who kept live stock. They im- ported blooded stock for breeding pur- poses and sold the animals to the farm CTS at cost, and advanced the money necessary to stock the farms. Their members even went out through their districts addressing farmers meetings on the subject.
 "The result is seen in the growth of corn in states where it was thought 1t could not grow and farms covered ] with live stock That section would nov ask for no government loan if wheat sold below cost of production" lnI.
 Birmingham is having more musical and old concertgoer
 I've have had some most excellent con- certs by local talent. Mrs. Guessen's series of piano recitals reached a high level Very few visiting virtuosos could | have given finer interpretations of mas l ter composers
 "The Arion club, assisted by local ln- l strumentalists, gave fine concert under 1 the direction of MT. Rienzi Thomas, and the Birmingham Choral association gave an admirable performance of Haydn Creation last Sunday at the First Meth odist church, MT. Thomas directing.
 Under the auspices of the Music Study club several artist recitals have been given, and several more will be given be- | fore the season is over
 ''The ladies managing the Sunday musi- cales presented Aresoni, the operatic tenor, few weeks ago, and on Sunday next December P. they will present MT. Burnham, concert pianist. MT. Burnham Is one of the younger artists, but he has 1 the reputation of being one of the most brilliant. He was recommended to the Birmingham management by MT. Hutche- son, who is himself virtuoso of the first rank and who is a great favorite here. '' l The Iron Market
 The Cincinnati report of Matthew Ad- dy & Co.,, just issued, says in part: l ''The whole thought of the trade is directed to the possibilities of the fu-