The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1917-04-12
URGES SAFE FARMING
IN WEST TENNESSEE

OLner C0unLleS Oh W est tennessee htl-
der the direction Of the Division
Of Extension, University of Tennes-
see, in cooperation with the business
interests Of West Tennessee, called
attention to things Of importance to
farmers. DR.. Bradford Knapp, head
Of the extension work in the southern
states, who was one Of the speakers
Of the campaign, referred to safe
farming methods that should be fol-
lowed throughout the South. He said:
High prices of certain farm prod
ucts may tempt farmers to pursue an
unwise course. Now is the time to
take stock, to make an inventory and
consider the situation.
think back to 1914, before the war,
when cotton was around IS cents
pound, How much did you pay for
meat, flour and other food products
at retail? Go back to the nineties
when cotton was still lower in value,
and what did you pay at retail for
food products? Then compare the
present prices Of food products with
the present price of cotton.
"The test is the exchange value of
cotton. How much will a pound of
cotton purchase in food and feed
products? By growing all cotton
and exchanging it for living, you
are simply swapping a high priced
product produced by your labor for
high priced product produced by
the labor of the other fellow. When
you follow safe farming, however,
you produce your own food and feed
at cost and sell your cotton for the
other fellows dollars.
"The South has made great prog
ress and has enjoyed great prosperity
in the past year because it produced
so much of its own living.
"Here are the items which should
constitute your program:
II. A home garden for every fam
lily on the farm. From one-tenth to
one-fourth acre, well located, well
titled, and tended as carefully as any
other crop on the farm, planted in
rotation to time the vegetable crops
so as to have continuous supply for
the family table as many days in the
year as possible. To this should be
added one-fourth of an acre of pota-
toes, either Irish or sweet, or both, to
be use as food for the family. An
acre o. sorghum or sugar cane should
be produced to supply the family with
syrup if means can be found for grind
ing the cane and making the syrup.
80. Produce enough corn on each
farm to last the family and live stock
with certainty for one year, with a
little excess for safety.
"3. Produce sufficient oats and
other small grain to supplement the
corn as food for one year with certain
ty, remembering that these small
grains conserve the soil in winter and
provide some grazing for live stock.
"a. Produce the hay and forage
crops necessary TO provide the live
stock on the farm for one year, with
a little excess for safety, not forget
ting the legumes which add fertility
to the soil and produce the best hay.
IS. Produce the necessary milk,
eggs and meat for the family. The
meat should be produced by increased
attention to poultry and hogs, because
Of the rapidity with which these can
be produced. Every family should
have at least two cows so that one can
be in milk all the time. A sufficient
number of brood sows should be kept
to produce the pork for the family,
with some excess for sale. The num-
Der of laying hens should be increased
and tended carefully to produce eggs
and poultry for the table with a sufi-
cient excess for sale. The average
number of poultry per farm should
be gradually increased to at least
fifty. The live stock on the farm
should be gradually increased as
whole so as to consume the otherwise
waste products of the farm.
"6. When the living has been am
ply provided for, grow cotton for the
main money crop.
~. Plan to sell or exchange the
surplus products of the garden, the
orchard, the poultry, the live stock,
the eggs and the feed crops, to cover
the necessary running expenses of the
farm and save the cotton as the real
cash crop.
"The fact that cotton has been up
to IS and 20 cents per pound should
not in any sense tempt farmers, mer-
chants or bankers to depart in prac-
tice or in influence from this program.