The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-12-25
Della CoundLNames
Winners In Eighteen
County Contest
ButesvilIe Form
Couple Wins
First Place

FIRST FJ0Ce
STONEVILLE, December 10. =
Following announcement by the
Commercial Appeal of winners nj
the Mississippi division of their Mid
South Plant to Prosper Contest, the
Delta Council has made known win
ners in its competitions covering the
Is Delta and part-Delta counties
served by the organization. First
place winners as announced by
Council headquarters are Mr.. and
Mrs. A. B. Bell, Route 3, Batesville
in the Landowner Division and Mr..
and Mrs. Aubie Davis, Route 2,
Coldwater in the Tenant Division.
Awards of $500 will be made to
each.
Other winners in the Landowner
Division are E. L. Cochran, Route
l., Isola, second place, $500 a
ward and Eugene A. Flowers, R. F.
D., Mayersville, third place. $1,000
award. Lewis Inman, RID, Dublin,
took second place honors in the
Tenant Division to win $500.
The Delta Council has for the
past several years conducted it's
Plant to Prosper Contest as a sup
plement to the larger Commercial
Appeal competitions, to encourage a
doption of better farming methods
and ''live at home" practices among
the small landowners and tenants of
the Delta area. 1t has resulted in
increasing numbers in this section
entering the Mid-South contest.
The story of the achievements of
the landowner champions, Mr.. and
Mrs. A. b. Bell, ages 81 and "a re-
spectively, reads like an early from
tier saga. Starting with the mea-
ger capital of so cents in cash money
after their marriage during the
height of the depression in 1881,
they have through intelligent plan
ming, hard work and with courage
born of an iron determination strug-
gled to where they are at present
proud possessors of $50 acres of al
luvial land carved from the one time
heavily wooded overflow area bor-
dering the Tallahatchie River in Pan
ola County. From tenants on a small
farm in Calhoun County, tilling the
soil with the help of one small mule
and old gray horse, gifts Of inter-
ested relatives, Mr.. and Mrs. Bell
aided by tGnants now work their own
acreage with 2 tractors fully equip
ped with all necessary implements.
In addition to mechanical equip
ment. they own z mules, l mich
cow, 2 year-lings, 8 hogs and poul-
try.
Farming 211 acres during the
past year, the enterprising couple by
practicing up-to-date farming meth
DDS and a rigid Give at home" policy
have realized a profit Of $4,000 from
their farm. They have recently built
an attractive Six-room house, equip
ped with water, lights and other con-
%veniences. An eight-year old daugh-
ter, Mary Louise, shares this COM
Portable home with her parents.
MI. and Mrs. Aubie Davis, ages
Al and 38 respectively, first place
winners in the Tenant, are the par
ents of three boys, Carlton, FL; Clay
10, and Thurman Is. The Davis fami-
ly is a perfect example of a rural
American family at work. Coopera-
ton on the part of all members of
the family is the keynote of their
success. Farming 80 acres of not so
productive hill land, they have sup
plemented their farm income with
money earned from outside jobs sucn
as keeping a nearby cemetery, truck
ing, blacksmithing and neigAborhood
barbering to the extent that their
net income for the year has totaled
1868.
Many improvements have been
made to the little farm. More than
forty have been terraced to
guard against erosion. Vetch has
been planted on a wide scale for
soil improvement. Fruit trees have
been planted to such an extent that
income derived from the orchard
has become a major item.
The Davis family live in a small
attractive old farm house which de-
spite its age of more than fifty