Newspapers / The Franklin Times (Louisburg, … / Jan. 10, 1936, edition 1 / Page 10
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City Drain on Farm fVealth Is Serious Problem By A. B. BRYAN Clomson College, South Carolina WHEN one understands more fully the processes whereby wraith in various form* is con stantly being transferred from rural to urban ownership he no longer wonders that farm wealth has not accumulated, says IX W. Watkins, director of the Extension Service of Clentson College. TV How of rural population to urban centers is the farm's first contribution to city upbuilding, Director Watkins states. On this point he-says: "In the largest cities of the country, those having 100,000 population and over, the number of children being reared is 30 per cent less than necessary to maintain a stationary population. On the other hand, farm families are usually much larger and the number of children reared on farms is 50 per' cent greater than needed to maintain the farm popu lation. "It costs a great deal to bring a child to the age when the home ties arc broken. It has been estimated by competent eco nomists that this cost amounts to over $2,000 per child throughout the United States. In the South it Would be less. "During the ten-year period. 1920 "? 1929, the net migration of people from farms to cities amounted to about 6, 300,000 persons. About 60 per cent of all these persons left Southern farms, and represented a part of the South 's contribution to the development of the a ties of America. The United States Bureau of Agricultural Economics esti mates that these 6,300.000 persons rep resent a contribution ot fourteen billion dollars." Rural Estate Tranafara A second wealth transfer factor is th< moving of rural wealth to town through the system now in vogue for the division of estates of deceased farmers. "Let us take the case,of a family with three children, one of whom has moved to towrt," he suggests. "The parents pass away, and the estate is divided The one who moves to the city takes his share and invests it in some city enterprise. One of the others may buy out the estate and continue to operate the farm but with a mortgage of perhapa two-thirds of the sale price. If he is able to pay off the mortgage during his life time, and leaves an unencumbered estate to his children, the process of division and transfer of wealth to the city is repeated. Ill the aggregate it has been estimated that this means of transfer of wealth amounted to three or four billion dollars during the ten-year period 1920-1939. Inter? t and Rant "A further method of transfer con sists of the payment of interest on debts owed by fanners to city people and city institutions. Many of these debts may have originated through a division of es tates to begin with, and were carried as mortgages constantly accumulating in terest. It is estin Kited that seven and a half billion dollars was transferred in the form of interest on debts during the per riod 1920-1929.. "Payments of rent by farmers to other than farm operators amounted to approx imately ten and a half billion dollars for the period 1920-1929." This makes a total of about 35 billion dollars moving from farms to towns and cities during the decade 1900-1929. Thus a three and a half billion dollar annual contribu tion amounts to about one-third of the annual average crop income of all farms during the period. Tha Tariff Dram "Furthermore," Mr. Watkins con tinues, "the protective tariff since it was first inaugurated on July 4, 1789, has WWUIutrd a drain on the South. The Southern farmer has been subject to sell ng his products in an open world market n competition with the lowest class of abor in the world ; and at the same time te has been required to buy practically rverything he uses in a market designed *> maintain the American standad of iving. "Little wonder, therefore, that farm ivealth has not accumulated and that the type of home now constructed on farms is poorer than that built 50 to 100 years ago. Little wonder either that so many Farm people have tried to get away from the farm and migrate to the other end of the economic scale where wealth has accumulated. Little wonder that our lands have been allowed to run down to the point oi no longer supporting an adequate or satisfactory type of farm life. B?tt*r Understanding "Young people who under ordinary circumstances in the first quarter of this century would have gone to the cities are now being 'backed up' on the farms. By the year 1940, just four years hence, , it looks as if there will be one million more farms than at the present time. Un less our agricultural statesmanship is alert this movement may be accompanied by lou-er standards of living tor average farm people. Most of the increase in the farm population is likely to take place in the South because of the heavier birth rate on Southern farms. Southern iarm people are going to have to fight hard and intelligently to have for themselves and their children a standard of living . that is acceptable and wholesome. > "As the situation stands today, this country is not in need oi any more com mercial farms. In fact, three-fourths of the present number of farms could easily produce all of the craimercial farm products for which there iff a satisfactory market. The country is fast approaching a stationary population. Facing A N?w Era "Considering the factors of population, the development of substitutes, the im probability of expanding foreign markets, as well as the improbability of increasing domestic consumption of farm products, it looks as if agriculture is facing a new era in which it will be necessary to im prove cultivated acres to a higher state of productivity," Mr. Watkins continues. "It will be necessary to secure larger yields per acre of all commercial crops (Continued on l'a>?e 5) GENE KNIGHT In Charge of Stat* College Radio Program College Extends Broadcast Service Five Stations Now Feature Daily Farm Information Radio Programs The North Carolina State College Agricultural Extension Service, searching for new ways in which to spread its information to farm people, has turned to man's newest form of communication ? radio. The service was inaugurated in Sep tember over one station, WPTF in Ral eigh. Since that time the service has been syndicated and now five other North Carolina radio stations are using the programs, which are kiiown as Car olina Farm Features. The broadcasts consist of a talk by a specialist each day except Sunday. The talks afr selected for their timelines*, and attempts are being made to keep them as interesting as possible. The specialists are secured from the State College School of Agriculture, the Extension Service, and the Experiment Station. Response from these programs so far has been excellent. Many out-of-state listeners have been writing in asking for additional information on these talks. One of the listeners wrote in recently: "We enjoy your daily broadcasts and we profit greatly by them." Another list ener declared: "My husband and 1 have been on the farm about a year. We are anxious ttf get all the information we can on the latest and most modern farm ing methods. The talks Which Mr. Nance gave on hog killing were the best and the clearest which we have heard." Modern Plant Houses Clem son Herd \ I . The purrbred Guernseys, Jerseys and Holsteins in the herd of Clennon Agri cultural College, South Carolina, are now housed in this modern, efficient plant built to replace one burned February 6, 1935. Casting $40,1x10 the plant it built of hollow-tile with steel trusses to support a roof of asbestos shingles. Doors are steel, lined with asbestos. The central unit consists of a stanchion barn 1 53 by 40 feet, capacity 75 cows. Connecting are two wings each 40 feet by 118. The east L contains 20 box Malls, the west L is used entirely for storing and processing food. Two silos with 250-ton capacity connect with this wing. A 32 by 69 milking parlor is a feature of the Clemson dairy plant. A creamery and milk depot occupy the basement. MMMIMKi 'Three N. C. 4-H Girls Attend Club Congress; Visit National Capitol Three 4-H Club girls represented North Carolina at the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago early in De cember. They were Josalene Sutton, Sampson County, who won the state clothing con gest; Marjorie Veasey, Durham County, who won the state club records contest; and Floy Barber, Alamance County, who won the state canning club contest. In Chicago, these three North Caro lina girls came in contact witlf over twelve hundred 4-H Club champions from all of the states in the union. Returning from Chicago, the North Carolina girls visited the Capitol and government buildings in Washington, D. C. They were accompanied to Chicago by Miss Ruth Current, girls' club work specialist at State College, and Miss Frances McGreggor, Cleveland County home demonstration agent. JOSALENE SUTTON Mils Sutton is pictured here wearing the brown tweed ensemble, with which she won the state style revue at State College. Miss Sutton made the costume herself as part of her club project in 1935 Thursday of each week has been turned over to the Home Demonstration Department, and these broadcast* put on by the agents are proving to be one of the most popular features of the week. Requests from ail over the state always follow one of these broadcasts. Monday of each week has been set aside as animal husbandry day and these programs are getting a favorable re sponse. The poultry department spon sors a program each Friday and since there are a great number of urban poul trymen as well as those in the rural areas, the response from thoe broadcasts is always good. Other departments which have pro grams are: botany, zoology, forestry, horticulture, and agronomy. Since Station WBT in Charlotte is one of the largest stations in the country, rhaving*^o,ooo watts, probably more peo ple hear the program from this station than am of the others, although the broadcast there comes at 8:iO o'clock in the morning. All of thejtttions have been contacted by Gene Knight, who is in charge of the radio work fot the Extension Service, and they report that the programs are being well received in their sections. The stations and their schedule of Carolina Farm Features are as follows: Charlotte, WBT, 8: to a. m. ; Rocky Mount, WEED, 1 1 soo *. m. ; Durham, WDNC, 12 MO noon; Wilmington, WMFD, 12:15 P- m-: vreensboro, WB1G, ia:jo p. in. ; Raleigh, WPTF, 1 135 p. m. \ Station WPTF in Raleigh, has al lowed the Extension Service a twenty five minute program. After the specialist gives his talk, there is a period of news items of- interest to farm people which is given by Gene Knight
The Franklin Times (Louisburg, N.C.)
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Jan. 10, 1936, edition 1
10
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