The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1915-11-19
Profitable Farming Campaign.

AVAASfH~AO - O1AApuA6h'
The greatest agricultural move
Iment in America, the Memphis More
Profitable Farming Campaign, back
ed by a fund of $4,000 raised by
Memphis business men and supported
by every interest in the eighty-three
counties in Tennessee, Arkansas and
Mississippi in which the work is car
ried on, was opened November 8 in
Memphis. The campaign which will
close December 20, has for it's slogan
''Let the South Feed Herself in
1916" SHY speakers, many of ma
tional fame, lectured at 100 meetings
in Memphis and Shelby County on
the opening day. There were special
meetings at each of the thirty-six
city schools and every district in
Shelby County was visited by the
speakers. The greatest enthusiasm
prevailed and the addresses were
heard by $4,000 persons. The cam
paign is under the direction of Prof
H. M. Cottrell, director of the Farm
Development Bureau, Memphis.
In order to reach every family in
the territory of the campaign, wo-
men experts have been engaged to
preach the gospel of rural sanitation,
child welfare, hygiene, community
welfare and domestic science. This
group of workers is headed by Mrs.
G. H. Mathis, of Birmingham, Ala,
the well-known retainer of worn
out Southern farms, who tells the
story of how she trebbled and quad
rupled the value of cheap land in a
few years by system of crop rota-
ton instead of the one-crop cotton
system.
Professor P. G. Holden, head of the
international Harvester Company
whose force of thirty speakers are
working in the campaign, heads the
force of speakers. Other noted speak
ers are H. S. Mobley, president of
the Arkansas Farmers Union, and
Prof. G. W. Farr, Chicago, in charge
of the educational department.
Every phase of agriculture will be
gone into thoroughly during the
campaign, including soil tillage,
dairying, cattle and hog production,
tick eradication, silos, forage and
hay crops, social problems, commu
nifty interests, economic problems and
domestic betterment.
The purpose of the campaign is to
induce every farmer in the Memphis
territory to raise food for his family
and feed for his animals in 1916. In
addition he should raise surplus OF
products to provide clothing and es-
sential comforts for the family. Cot
ton, in 1915, should be a surplus
money crop. Every farmer following
this plan will make living off his
farm, no matter how small, will have
no bills to meet and his cotton money
will be free for buying necessaries
and luxuries. Farmers will be bet
ter off as a result and will have more
money to spend with his local mer
chants, which, in turn, will be re-
fected by greater prosperity for mer-
chants, bankers and wholesale men
in Memphis.
The idea of the better farming
campaign resulted when bankers and
merchants found from their CORE
spondence that the high price of cot
ton this fall, having jumped from 5
cents to II cents pound, may result
in general return of farmers to ex-
elusive cotton growing instead of di-
versifcation. Such a move, business
men and agricultural scientists say,
would result in disaster. A return to
previous conditions would mean that
cotton farmers would go into debt
for food for their families and feed
4 for their stock If cotton prices are
low next year the industry would be
lparalyzed and the growers with it as
in the fall of 1914.
With this knowledge of conditions
the executive committee of the Blu
reau of Farm Development, headed
by Chas. j. Haase, chairman, and
under the direction of H, M. Cottrell,
agriculturist of the bureau, planned
tl,a oopanaiOn { or hotter farming
which will extend thru eighty-three
counties in Tennessee, Arkansas and
Mississippi.
The cooperation of the Interna-
tional Harvester Company, Chicago,
was secured. At least 100000 farm
ers will be directly affected by the
better farming movement.