Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1957-11-19
AMERICAS NEED
BY CATHY LILLER

Does that title sound strange to
you? Americas Need" you ask
yourself? =? What kind of need do
we have what can this great,
wonderful land of ours be lacking
Natural resources? OF course not,
for we lead the world in oil and
steel production. Standard living?
Couldn't possibly be. We have the
highest average income in the
world, a whopping one thousand
nine hundred ninety dollars per
person. Then what, are you asking
yourself, could we ever need /? The
answer cannot be given in a few
words, or even in couple of para
graphs. It will take a complete es-
say, one complete Conservation Es-
say to explain what / consider
Americas greatest need to be, in
this Americas greatest age -
1857.
To show what America needs
most, I'm going to use an example.
This example is a farm, the farm
/ live on, in fact. It's name is One
Mile Farm, and I'd rather live
there than any place else in the
world! Typically it could be called
a Little America. A small, self-suf-
ficient, bustling world of its own,
enclosed in a larger even more
self-sufficient world. That's where
l live, One Mile Farm, U.S.A.
We have two hundred and eigh-
ty-five acres of land. It's good land,
and with the right precautions it
will stay good land. That means
that our farm alone is supplying
one hundred and ten people year
with the food they need. My fa1ni-
ly is the one family out of ten that
share in this important job of feed
ing America. We have a sensible
rotation plan, one that preserves
and builds up the soil after each
corn crop. One year our front field
of corn produced a record breaking
yield of one hundred twenty-five
bushels per acre. We have land in
oats, wheat, corn, meadow crops,
pasturage, and forest, all worth
while crops. Only soybeans are
lacking, but we decided against
planting them. Our soil wasn't in
condition to plant soybeanS, and
they would take even more nutri-
ents out of the already worn-out
land. We have five hundred hogs, |
thirty-four dairy cattle, and forty
six beef cows, on the farm. Our
buildings are modern, not all new
by far, but they are fairly up to
date. We have two large barns, one
dairy, numerous sheds, and one
proud new addition a Silo. It's
not the tall, proud, erect type that
dot the countryside denoting pros
porous farms but rather the crib
variety. Nevertheless it signifies g
major victory. Mother said if a
silo ever came to our farm she was
leaving. Mothers still here, and
SOS the Silo.
Our farm supports itself now and
brings in an annual income also.
It's an up-and-coming farm; one
that anybody would be proud to
own. And we are proud - proud
as punch because we remember
other days, not too long ago.
In the early autumn of nineteen
forty-eight we became country
folks. Up to this, we had all lived
in the thriving farm community
of London. At the advanced age
of seven, I approved of the move
whole heartedly and only remem-
Der those early inconvenience as
larks. now realize and appreciate
the work that has been put into
our home.
The house was mess, literally.
Mother threw herself into the reno
walton and redecoration of the
house and, room by room, it was
reclaimed from ShambleS.