The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1915-11-26
PROFITABLE FARMING
CAMPAIGN SPEAKERS
In Obion County, Speak at Reynolds
Theatre Tuesday Night.


last Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov
23 and "a.
On Tuesday night the speakers
held forth at Reynolds Theatre,
Prof. G. L. Rulings presided, intro
ducing first Mr.. Geo. McKerrow, of
Wisconsin, an expert on cattle and
dairy farming, where the Guernsey
stock predominant. Mr.. McKerrow
suggested that the audience might
wonder why he was here, but that
his wife was better farmer than
he, and he had two sons who were
better than either.
Like the other speakers, Mr.. Nc
Kerrow complimented our county
very highly. But, like the farmers
of Wisconsin, we were not getting
the best results from our soil and
the best returns for our investment.
wisconsin farmers had neglected
their lands just as we do. They had
cropped out the best elements of the
soil with the old one-crop system
the nitrogen, PHOSPHORUS and pot
ash Finally the chinch bug got in
the wheat fields, and this was the
turning point. Necessity forced at
tention to other means of farming,
and then the Wisconsin farmer be-
gan to make cheese. This brought
the introduction of fine cattle and
then the legume crops-clover, al
falfa, peas, ETC., restoring the nitro
gen. Dairy farming became profit
able, the lands richer and more pro-
ductive. And to-day Wisconsin farm
ers are not only feeding themselves
but exporting to other States vast
amount of produce, as the result OF
better farming. Mr.. McKerrow was
a very interesting speaker and very
literally applauded.
]. H. Haynie, connected with the
International Farmers Extension
Work, used some charts in his lee
ture, a very comprehensive illustra-
ton of how our farmers had failed
to get the best results from the farm.
He first showed that Obion County,
exporting $3,521,000, was the big
gest exporter of any heretofore can
vassed by the speakers, but the fact
is that we really export too much.
The local chart for Obion County was
as follows:
In strong contrast to the many
counties of Tennessee, Arkansas and
Mississippi, which import two to five
times what they export, the record
of Obion County for 1914 is holding
the attention of students of agricul-
tural conditions in Tennessee.
Obion County in 1914 exported
products to the value of 1881, 900
and imported products only worth
$46,5O0.
In 1914 this county exported the
following products:
Dressed beef, $500; feeds, alfal-
fa hay, oats, chops, corn, bran, meal,
$1,485,O0O; canned goods, vegeta-
bles, milk, fruits, $4,000; poultry
and eggs, $10O,0O0; potatoes and
fresh vegetables, $4,000; -four, $780,
900; cattle and hogs, 100000;
horses and mules, $175,000; cotton
and seed, 100000; Strawberries and
fruits, $4,000; sheep fish and game,
$4,000. Total, $3,521,00O.
Obion County only imported meats,
lard and lime to the value of $46,-
. 500.
! But Obion County should get much
more for her exports. She should
develop her products into higher
priced articles. In other words we
should develop our lands with in
tensified farming and our farm
products in order to secure the maxi
mum results of profitable farming.
AS an illustration, Mr.. Haynie said
that he saw an Obion County man
selling walnut logs for the market.
These logs manufactured into furni-
ture at home should bring us one
hundred times the profit of the raw
material. Nearly every phase OF
profitable farming was shown on the
chart. The methods of unskilled
farming that prevail in this country
cause us to send away enough to
build good roads and schoolhouses
to paint our houses and barns and to
] provide our homes with electric
: light, steam heat and hot and cold
J running water.
]. w. Beeson, of Meridian, Miss
complimented our farming country
but said that sometimes the good
was an enemy to the best" Obior
County is not too good to profit will
advanced farming methods. We neeC
more brains on the farm. We SHOULD
make our corn and wheat lands brin,
us more money, and farmers shout,
know what it takes to do this. MI
Beeson comes from a sweet potat
country, where the finest potatoe
are raised, and by the use of DIR,
kiln process made very profitabl
crop. The kiln is built with venti
l.