The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-05
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Helping Negroes Change Crops

To the Editor of The Age-Herald
 Some weeks ago, through our southern
 papers, l made a suggestion that each
 negro family raise one or more additional pigs this year in order to help bring about more prosperity in the south have been
 surprised to note how well the suggestion
 has been. received, and how many are fol-
 lowing it; one minister in Uniontown
 went so far as to organize a pig club in
 his church.
 sNow, I want to make one other sugses-
 ton. that, in my opinion, is of still greater and more practical importance. I or ! months the great cry has been all through the south to stop growing cotton or re- duce the acreage.
 Chambers of commerce, business
 leagues, state legislatures, and other bodies have passed resolution without number urging that we in the south stop
 growing so much cotton. To stop grow
 ing cotton is very easy; in fact, 1t Is al ways easy to stop work. but merely to stop growing cotton is a mere mega tive
 proposition and will not, 1 fear, leave the
 south much better off than it is at pres-
 ent. If we destroy, or cripple a great in- dustry, we should be very sure to have
 one, or a number equally good to put in its place. In this connection it should be
 
 tance. that if the labor once leaves the
 farm by reason of changing crops it will
 be very difficult to get the labor to return to the farm in after years
 The great cry is to grow food crops.
 That is well. but one must keep in mind
 that the great masses of negroes who have actually grown the most of the cot
 ton in the south for years, and who live upon the most valuable land in the south, do not hear of the resolutions that are passed by these various bodies. These
 people have been trained to grow nothing but cotton and do not know how to grow z anything else. In fact, in many cases,
 they have not been permitted and are not now permitted to grow anything else! We must also bear in mind that the largest land owners seldom visit their plantations, some not more than once or twice year, and hence can be of little service in teaching these negro tenants how to change all at once from cotton
 producing crop to food producing crop. <. If permanent results are to be secured, the negro who actually cultivates the land
 must be reached and trained into growing
 . good producing crop. How can this be
 done? My answer would be, by putting |
 negro farm demonstration agent into
 every county of the south where there is |
 any considerable number of negro farm l CTS. This negro demonstration agent 1
 BnOulu DC a man OI SOOQ coIliuOH SeHSe l
 He should be man who knows the char |
 acteristics of the colored people. who l
 knows how to reach them in and through |
 their societies. their churches and their |
 various organizations of one kind and
 another. He should be man required to |
 travel from one farm to another through l out the country training the negro farmer I how to produce food crop. Wherever these demonstration agents have already
 been at work in the south they have done l < work which has been most helpful and l
 commendable. If this important work is to be done, no l :. time should be lost in selecting these dem- l !; onstration agents. The most should not l ! be very large. Either through county ap- 1 propriations or from some part of the | state funds appropriated for agricultural
 purposes. a portion of the money for the 1
 salary perhaps could be provided. Ap- 1
 propriations are also being made by the 1 : United States government to encourage pnd promote various kinds of agricultural 1
 work. Some part of this money. I feel l sure, might be secured from the Smith l
 Lever fund, or from the United states l
 demonstration fund administered thraugh |
 Dr. Bradford Knapp. While am not in l ! position to suggest just where the money | may be secured. think if an earnest ef- | 2 fort Is made. some portion of 1t can be |
 secured from some of the funds or agen- | : cies here mentioned.
 z BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. l Tukegee Institute, December 2. 1914.