The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-12
AUDIENCE ATTENTIVE

! The audience at BoaZ was one of the most attentive audiences Mrs. Mathis l has yet spoken before. No one moved
 or spoke during her talk, but followed every word of her simple narrative.
 She explained things in such a simple way that even the children gave. their | undivided attention and understood l That her line of talk was striking the vibrant chord of her listeners was evil denced from the expressions. of the l faces turned toward her and the num- | erous mods of heads when she struck upon points that coincided with the opinion of her audience
 How. Can We Change Conditions in ! Alabama" was the outline to Mrs. Mathis talk, and she said in part: "T am just farmer like you and I have | come to bring you a message along l the lines of farming. Farming is the greatest thing on the earth and l thing that we are all interested in. l No one can live without the product of the farmer and I am here to try 1 to tell. you how to make more money 1, from your farms and labors. The south 1 is the poorest part of the United l States today. Our lands are the cheap l est in the United. States and we are
 
 1 money and know less Why, did won | know that the average farmer works | for less than 20 cents day? It is a l Tact. neighbors, and the condition in some parts of our own state is de- plorable. have looked into the faces of men and women who were starving l on the farm. and working themselves to death raising cottSn. Our farmers are not farming right. They are work ing five months in the year and idlins seven months. They make money | three months in the year and spend ] money and go in debt nine months. and it is from this condition that we must lift ourselves"
 HOW TO DIVERSITY Mrs. Mathis told the farmers of Boaz how to diversity their crops. how to raise hogs, cattle, grain and other things and make many more times the money they were making out of cot
 ton raising. She showed that the cot
 ton raised in. the state last year lacked $46, 100000 of feeding us and where one acre planted in other produce would
 make twice the money that it would | make if planted in cotton. She said
 one bushel of corn was worth s4 when properly fed to cattle, where it would bring less than s1 otherwise In giving some examples and making compar isons she spoke of a instance where one yearling raised from one acre of ground had been sold for price equal to that of eight bales of cotton She said we had the best land in the world. ! land that would produce and grow most anything. but did not know the farm | ing game as we should After Mrs. Mathis had finished her l talk Rev Paul P. Truitt. local pastor. | took the floor and announced the pro | eramme for the remaining chautauoua l. features. He highly commended Mrs. Mathis speech saying it was the best
 missionary sermon he had ever list ened to- He showed his enthusiasm and interest for the farmer and farm life, telling of his experience on the farm. He said Mrs. Mathis speech was worth the entire price of the chau- l tauoua. although it was free He said he had never heard a talk made by anyone that was more to the point and conveyed more meaning that the one she made
 AT GUNTERsvILLE
 In the afternoon Mrs. Mathis spoke to a large audience in the Marshall county courthouse at Guntersvlle. Her audience here was 95 per cent farm CT audience. Farmers from all sections were present and one could not ask for a more attentive audience The farm CTS, although prosperous and adhering to the diversified farming idea large
 ly. came by the hundreds to hear this
 wonderful agricultural speaker talk
 Many of them brought notebooks and
 took notes during the speech
 The attendance at Guntersvlle was unusually large on account of the large
 number of persons in town for the election returns. and the courtroom was
 crowded to it's capacity. There were
 but. few country women present. but
 score or more of women, prominent in
 civic and club circles of Guntersville were present and sat inside the rail
 through the entire. speech Mrs Mathis was taken in hand by these women and shown over the town following the speech.
 Mrs. Mathis spoke along the same lines as at Boaz earlier in the day stressine the diversified farm plan and urging the farmers to break away from cotton and plant other things and to raise cattle and hogs. Several charts were used both in her morning and afternoon talks to give illustra tions on different subjects, such as hog rais- i ing, cattle tick. canning club work and