“Fireside Chats” by M.G. Mann, General Manager, Carolina Co-Operator, November, 1935
For the past 36 years, ever since he was 19 years old, Dr. Clarence Poe has been talking and writing to and for the farmers. A farmer himself as well as an outstanding farm editor—he worked with his own hands on a farm in Chatham County till he began work on the Progressive Farmer, and still operates his “Longview” dairy, poultry, and general crops farm just outside of Raleigh—he is always active in any movement that has for its purpose a better day for agriculture. His many achievements are too numerous to list here—“Who’s Who in America” takes up three and one-half inches in telling of his accomplishments.
The Writer: Dr. Poe, we are celebrating our 14th anniversary of the Cotton Association by publishing an anniversary number of our Carolina Co-operator. I believe you were the first man in the State to sign a membership agreement, and also the first man to deliver a bale of cotton to the association.
Dr. Poe: Yes, Mr. Mann, I am proud of this distinction. Of course, at times all of us have been disappointed in the progress of the movement, but I feel that we have been building, year after year, on a firm foundation.
The Writer: We are dedicating our 14th anniversary number to education, for, as Dr. Frank Graham has expressed it so many times, we believe “education and cooperation must go hand in hand.”
Dr. Poe: That’s the doctrine I have always tried to preach, Mr. Mann. My visit to Denmark years ago convinced me that education and community group work, going right back to the individual farmer, are the two most important factors in the cooperative movement. Rural cooperation can’t be handed down to the farmer. It must be a growth from the ground up. By the way, Mr. Mann, what are you doing about small community groups in this State?
The Writer: Dr. Poe, in cooperation with the Vocational Teachers, we are now holding more community meetings than we have in several years. We will hold at least 75 community meetings this fall, and beginning in the spring, we will hold meetings to stress the importance of planting better cotton.
Dr. Poe: I am glad you are taking a broad view of your duty to your members—glad you are not just thinking about cotton but also urging them to grow what we call “The Three F Crops”--food, feed, and fertilizer, so that cotton can be their “clear surplus,” as Henry Grady said.
The Writer: Right! That is an important part of our program, and you know, Dr. Poe, I think you are due a great deal of credit for the success of what is generally called the “live-at-home” program in North Carolina, and the increasing interest in live stock.
Dr. Poe: Well, of course, there can be no real farm prosperity as long as our farmers send their dollars to the West for corn and hays, nor so long as we depend on crops alone to make our farms prosperous. As I have often pointed out, there are two great arms for producing farm wealth: plant production or crops and animal production or livestock, poultry, dairying. Heretofore in the South we have largely had “one-armed farming” or plant production only. We must change to “two-armed farming” or plant production plus animal production.
The Writer: I was certainly impressed, Dr. Poe, by your recent address before the State College Grange, and especially by your diagnosis of why the Grange has succeeded; where many other farm organizations have failed. You attribute this success of the Grange to the fact that it gives the women a definite part in its program and in this I heartily agree with you. If you were to ask me the greatest mistake that the Cotton Association has made during the past 14 years of its existence, I would say it was that of leaving the women out of the program. We have held hundreds upon hundreds of meetings with the men invited, but the women have been left out. But the one thing that is giving me more encouragement today is that more and more of our farm women are attending our meetings and showing a keen interest in them. And your address before the Grange certainly made a deep impression upon me, and has encouraged me to work even harder in the future than in the past, in making the farm women an integral part of our program.
Dr. Poe: Well, that’s my firm conviction. I decided years ago that if I were ever again active in a sign-up- for a farm cooperative, I would favor having contracts signed by both the man and his wife.
The Writer: We not only wish to reach the women but in fact, we have been going a little further than that, to include the boys and girls in the co-operative program through our annual essay contest.
Dr. Poe: That’s fine, Mr. Mann. Of course that fits right along with the program of the Federal Board for Vocational Education and the National Youth Administration, in which I am so much interested.
The Writer: And in my opinion these are among the most important committees that the President has appointed. They begin at the source and are building for tomorrow. It is true, isn’t it, Dr. Poe, that there are only three members on this Federal Board from the whole United States, and that you are one of the three representing agriculture.
Dr. Poe: Yes, that’s correct. Tom Browne and his associates have done such a fine work in this State that it is an especial pleasure to be able to work more closely with them.
The Writer: Before leaving I want to mention a new phase of our North Carolina Cotton Work. The Re-purchase Pool, which was created by the Board last May, is going to enable the Cotton Association to render the service to the farmers now that you have always wanted it to render. Now, every farmer who uses the Re-purchase Pool will be in position to know just as much about his cotton as the man who buys it.
Dr. Poe: That sounds interesting, Mr. Mann. Tell me more about it.
The Writer: Any cotton producer, whether he produces one bale or many bales, may place his cotton in any of the 60-odd warehouses that hold contracts with the association, samples will be sent to Raleigh where the cotton will be graded by Government Licensed Classers, and an Advice of Grade and Staple mailed to the member. Whenever the member wants to sell his cotton, even though it is a day after he received his Advice, he can ask the Association to advise him on the best price it can get for his cotton, and he can then take his Advice and go to his local cotton buyer and offer his cotton for sale. If, for any reason, the local buyer can offer more, the member can get his cotton back and it will cost him only $1 a bale and storage at 25 cents per month for this service. Since we intend to get the Advice out promptly, any farmer can now deliver his cotton and sell it in an intelligent way.
Dr. Poe: Fine! Suppose some of my cotton was reported of extra staple length and the local mill could not use it, and you could sell it for more than I could get, would you sell this extra staple cotton and return the other to me?
The Writer: Yes, Dr. Poe. If, when you receive your Advice of Grades, you find that you have certain cotton you can sell locally to advantage, we will gladly return it to you and will sell only that which you feel we can sell to best advantage.
No comments:
Post a Comment