Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1917-04-06
Virginia's Defense is
in Safe Farming

a 81 ate of war and the conditions
of the food crop of the world if not
alarming, are serious. The situa-
ton in brief is: I'VE must take
thought for our bodies, what we
shall eat and what we shall drink"
and thoughtful men may well won
der if we will have food and drink
enough to last US very long. We
owe it to ourselves to produce the
necessary supplies for the family
and, if war is declared, for the men
who must do the fighting. Indica-
tons are that, for the first time
since the lCivil War, we will be
unable to purchase supplies from
other countries, therefore it is i'm
perative that we produce them at
home. A shortage of food may
bring US to acual suffering.
The one supreme problem this
year in the world is FOOD and it
is of the utmost Importance that
enough food for the people of Vir-
ginia be produced here in the
State, within reach, and not Deepen
dent upon interrupted transporta-
ton facilities. 1t is inevitable that
war shall bring distress upon the
people and it is time when every
man should set his affairs in order.
The problem of produc ing the
food supply under a safe system Of
farming becomes at once the most
important of all, and it can not be
too strongly emphasized that every
attention this year SHOULD be
given to the garden, the corn, the
hay, the conservation and breeding
of poultry and hogs, mich cows,
beef cattle and other food products
In this is our greatest fafety and
the slogan of the people throughout
the State should be: Virginia
Must Feed Herself. =" IL
Self-preservation has been said
to be the first law of naure, and if
so, our first law during the season
of 1917 ought to be to grow our
own food. because that means
self-preservation. Safe farming
means a system of farming which
supports the family on the farm,
provides ample forage and other
feed for the live stock, and grows
some crops for cash sold upon the
market. Here are the simple items
of our safe farming program;
/. A home garden for every
family on the farm. From one
tenth to one-fourth acre, we'll loca-
ted, we'll titled and tended as care
fully as any other crop on the
farm, planted in rotation to time
the vegetable crops Sc as to have
continuous supply for the family
table as many days in the year as
possible. To this should be ad-
ded one.fourth of an acre of poto-
toes, either Irish or sweet, or both,
to be used as food for the family.
An acre of sorghum or sugar cane
should be produced to supply the
family with sy up, if meal can be
found for grinding canes and max
ing the syrup.
2. Produce enough corn on each
farm to last the family and the
live stock with certainly for one
year, with a little excess for safety
3. Prouduce sufficient oats and
other small grain to supplement
the corn as food for one year with
certainly, remembering that those
small grains conserve the soil in
winter and provide some grazing
for live stock.
4. Produce the hay and forage
crops, such as cowpeas, soy beans,
sorghum and milIet, necessary to
supply the live stock on the farm
for one year, with a little excess
for safety, not forgetting the leg
umes which add fertility to the
soil and produce the best hay.
5. Produce the necessary meat,
eggs and milk for the family. The
meat should be produced by in
creased attention 10 poultry and
hogs, because of the rapidity with
which cheese can be produced
Every family should have at least
two COWS, so that one can be in
milk all of the time. A sufficient
number of brood sows should be
kept to produce the pork for the
family, with some excess for sale.
The number of laying hens should
be increased and carefully tended
to produce eggs and poultry for the
table, with a sufficient excess for
sale. The average number of
poultry per farm should be gradu-
ally increased to at least fifty. The
live stock on the farm shonld
be gradually increased as a whole,
SO as to consume the otherwise
waste proucts of the farm and make
the Improbable and untillable
lands productive. This means at
tention to the breeding, care and
feeding of poultry and hogs, beef
cattle, mich COWS, ect.
6. When the living has been
amply proved for, grow other
things for the main money crop.