Evening star., 1934-02-24
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Copyright. 1894. by The Evening star)
TINE average income for family
of five in a three-county area
in the North Carolina noun
L tains being studied by the
Tennessee Valley Authority Is
less than 5000 year.
TT e three counties-Avery, Mitch
ell and [Jatauga-llave about the
most progressive and intelligent popu-
lation to be found in the Southern
Appalachians. Those who have made
a close, study of the problem believe
that by few simple changes in the
way of life this average income can
be raised to $400 year.
Eighty dollars seems little enough
to carry human being through II
months, but living costs are very low
The farmer raises most of his own
food supply. He owns his own cabin.
His fuel costs nothing. The extra
5000 would mean just the difference
between normal, healthy living and
a constantly losing struggle that leads
to degeneration. And II the income
doubling experiment proves successful
here it can be extended to similar
regions throughout the South, in some
of which incomes are even lower.
Would Utilize Advantages.
The present plan is to bring about
this revolutionary change essentially
by bringing the county into better in
tegration with the rest of the country
and making intelligent use of its nat
ural advantages. At present the chief
crop is corn. The very steep. rocky
hillsides are plowed with infinite
l-bor and the strength is progressively
sapped from the land by loss of
nitrogen and erosion. And. says
S. T. Henry of Spruce Pine. Avery
County. who is studying the economic
problem for the T. V. A.. there is no
valid reason why the farmers should
raise any corn at all in a land es-
pecially untitled for such a crop.
1T is case" he says, "of too many
grandfathers. When the first set
tiers cleared their tiny farms in these
mountains corn was a sine quanon
of living 1t was the necessary food
of man, pig and COW. 1t could not
be imported economically over the
rude mountain trails. 1t had to be
produced on the spot. The present.
day farmers are raising corn largely
because of the weight of tradition.
1t is the kind of farming to which
they were conditioned in childhood.
1t has been sort of vicious circle.
The farmer must have corn, but so
long as he raises corn he cannot
acquire sufficient surplus to enable
him to import corn and set his land
free for a more profitable agriculture.
And when one cornfeld is worn out
he cannot afford to restore it by
fertilization, but must go further up
the mountainside and clean an even
sleeper patch.
Could Double Luxury.
At least 80 per cent of the land
in the three counties never should
be plowed again. the study reveals
But the remaining 10 per cent of rich
bottom lands and gently sloping hill
sides, devoted to other crops and in
tensively fertilized. would enable the
mountain families to live with at
least twice the luxury and probably
much less than half the effort
In this particular locality. 1t has
been determined. the best money
crops are potatoes, cabbages, string
tables suitable for canning. The bot
tom land and hillside soil is just
right for such ropS. The rainfall is
just right. Some of them could be
brought to maturity in off seasons
elsewhere due to the peculiar posi-
ton of the country which combines
Southern sunshine with a Northern
climate Thus they would not be
competing with the products of any
other section. For the Southeast gar
den produce could be produced which
would come just between the Florida
and the Northern crops.
One of the projects now under con-
sideration is potato storehouse.
Watauga County raised 400 900
bushels of potatoes last year. This
output easily could be doubled. But
without some method of local storage
1t is no use. The farmer must dis
pose of his potatoes for a minimum
price as soon as they are harvested.
They 60 only to increase the great
Fall surplus, which is a burden on
the market. A few months later the
farmers could get twice as good a
price. 1t has been found, however,
that by midi December there is none
of the local crop left and the noun
tain towns are importing Maine and
Michigan potatoes at high prices. A
single acre devoted to potatoes and
heavily fertilized would bring in a
much bigger return than many acres
of steep hillside planted to corn.
Plan Cooperative Cannery.
The other project is for a cooper
ative cannery. There is small one
already operated by Lees-McCrea Col
lege at Banner Elk, but it cannot
supply the local demand. There is
one offer already on hand to pur-
chase 200 tons of canned string beans
and turnip greens as soon as such a
cannery is in operation. These are
products peculiar to the neighbor-
hood. But the greatest need of all is
for local consumption. 1t has been
estimated that approximately 1,500,-
900 cans of vegetables and fruits a
Winter are needed to properly balance
the diet of the population of the three
counties. At present the farm fami-
lies live on corn bread, salt pork,
beans and cabbage for seven or eight
months a year. This results in some
of the peculiar dietary deficiencies
found throughout the region. All
Summer the mountain sides are
covered with huckleberries, blueberries
and blackberries, yet hardly anybody
stores any of them for the Winter
This is partly cue to the force of
habit, but it is due even more to the
fact that the people cannot afford to
buy the containers. There is small
margin to buy anything from 5000 a
year per family. Under the proposed
set-up the farmer would bring in his
products and receive back an ade-
quate supply of the canned goods for
his own family-at the same time
sharing in the profits from the sale
Of the surplus.
But the doubled family income rep