The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-01-31

Shouting out the slogan: Alabama
Must Feed Herself" crews Of agri-
cultural experts totaling in all well
over 40 men will this week start the
Alabama crop diversification campaign,
wednesday, February 8, the cam
paign will start with a whirlwind
spea king tour in Jefferson county,
where the headquarters of the cam
paign is located under the auspices of
the Birmingham Chamber of Com
merce. Thursday morning the crews
of agricultural experts will scatter.
first starting into the north end OF the
state and before the month of Feb
ruary has passed they will have held
hundreds of meetings in every part of
agricultural Alabama where there
were farmers live enough to want to
hear them. N
The preparation of this campaign has
been under way for over a month. A
large corps of advance men, experts in
their line of work, have been prepar-
ing schedules arranging meetings, ad-
vertising in the rural districts and so
forth. Now that is over, Wednesday
night the alabama products dinner
will be held at the Tutwiler hotel at
which there will be men and women
present from every part of the state,
among them Gov Charles Henderson,
and the day following the state wide
campaign will be on.
This campaign is the work of the
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce,
assisted by the civic organizations of
Montgomery. Admission, Gadsden, Gull
man and nearly all of the larger towns
of the state. The international Har-
vester company, through its education
al extension bureau, is the real means
by which the campaign will be con-
Quoted. Agriculture experts with prac-
teal knowledge of the science of mod
ern day farming have been furnished
by this company to stump the state
under the general direction of Prof. p.
G. Holden, one of the foremost farming
experts of the world. These men will
be assisted by Professor Duggar of Au-
burn and several of the agriculture
experts of Alabama. During the next
four weeks they are going to say some
exceedingly interesting things to the
farmers of Alabama. In order to pre-
pare these farmers to some extent.
therefore, for what these lecturers are
going to say to them when they come
into their local community and hold
q meeting, there is given here excerpts
taken from two pamphlets published
by Professor Holden in his agricultural
extension work under the title Of "A
Fertile Soil Means a Prosperous Peo-
ple," and diversified Farming FOR the
South" The excerpts are as follows:
When we deal with the soil we are
dealing with the real fundamental OF
agriculture. 1t takes two things to
make great country: First, the soil
second, the people. You may nave n
fertile soil, but If you have a shiftless
inefficient people living on it, You are
not going to make much out of It, You
may have good humanity, but without
a productive soil you cannot make &
great country. Walking over 1T all oul
lives the soil has come to be of lit
tie Importance to us. Some people thinl
that the land we are tilling today il
the same as 1t was a hundred years
ago But soil is constantly changing
just as people are changing from da,
to day.
The soil is not an inert mass; it i
scene of life and activity. Soil tina
is inactive is unproductive Circulation
of air and water, absorption of heat
evaporation, decay of plants and sol
particles. countless minute Sprgantsm
these are the activities OF fertil
soil.
Living on the farm means more thai
most of US realize. Not just to liv
there, but to make it a home. Not jus
to grow corn, wheat and alfalfa. blu
for the benefits that may come to on
\ homes and to our children through tn
\ things that we produce.
1t does not make much difference
how much wheat we raise or how mucl
\prn we grow. but it does make q tire
endous difference what we do Wit
profit that we get from the corr
the other things that are produce,
the SOIL
pioneer American farmer Of tn
\enth century was a power in hi
e did well his work of clearing
Me forests, establishing homes
* roads and settling the wilder
And If he did not cultivate an
caSS for the soil as he should hav
done. we cannot blame him, becaus
the need was not pressing in that da,
1t was not his problem. The care 9
the soil is the problem of the farme
of today. He is being called upon fo
many things that are real necesstie
He must improve his soil.
There are no longer vast acres {
fertile prairie which the governmer
can open up at few cents an acr