The Lexington progress. (Lexington, Tenn.) 1884-current, 1921-10-07
TALK TO FARMERS
By. T. F. Peck.

INVESTIGATION OF CROPS.
Now that much of the 1921 crop
is harvested, garnered and marketed,
and that remaining getting ready for
harvest, and the time for our 1922
activities approaching, we can afford
to and should give some thought to
our plans for next years crops-what
they shall be.
Some of us have concentrated our
efforts on the production of certain
crops to the exclusion of practically
all others. We may have found
weather conditions unfavorable for
that particular crop, or we may have
been visited by insect pests that ruin
ed the crop, or market conditions
maybe were so unfavorable for our
particular crop that our entire years
labor and expenditures for equipment
and supplies have proved dead loss,
and maybe have been compelled to
buy for use on the farm a great many
things that under more favorable
lconditions our soils would have pro-
duced. sff
Practically all crops suited to the
temperate zone can be successfully
grown on our Tennessee soils, at least
to the extent required for home con-
sumption, and they can be profitably
grown. "Never put all your eggs in
one basket" is an old adage that
Tennessee farmers can apply with
profit in planning their farming
operations for the coming year. |
know that staple crops, such as corn,
wheat, tobacco and cotton, because of
volume, will find a market at some
price, but we have not always found
that price profitable, because of
shrewd manipulations by dealers and
spectators and because we have not
co-operated in marketing our prod
ucts and preparing them for the mar
ket.
Except on large plantations, a
large portion of the products of
farms, if properly diversified, can be
profitably utilized on the farms where
produced. That part of the product
of the farm consumed on the farm is
not affected by market spectators,
and when so consumed the farm own
err is assured of the part Of the needs
of himself and family, and if his
crops are diversified, some of his sur
plus will command attractive prices.
The one-crop farmer, who has to
depend on that crop to buy what he
might as well have raised on the farm
is seriously handicapped if that crop
k., oh ~ hxy 70 rah h 10
season, or there is an Improbable
market for his product. Then, too, at
this particular time, when conditions
are so unsettled and prices so uncer-
tain, the hazard is greater for the
one-crop farmer. More security is as
sured the farmer who diversifies at
least to the extent of providing for
the requirements of himself and
| family.
With the development of the COM
munity cooperative effort among
farmers, a diversified system of
farming is more secure, because with
cooperative effort, quantity, quail
ty and variety of product are assured,
and those are the three requisites for
good prices. Every year some crops
will command good prices, so we will
be assured what we need for home
consumption, which will not be af-
fected by the lamentations of the
market. And that bringing good
prices will enable US to stand the loss
on those less in demand. For the
Tennessee farmer, diversified farm
ing is the safest, especially under
present conditions.