The Negro Farmer: Extension Work for Better Farming and Better Living

[Music] I'm going to lay down my Everyone [Music] [Music] lay down my heaven [Music] when I get to heaven. >> There are about 9 million Negroes in our southern states and the majority of them live on farms. While many of these farmers have achieved independence and perhaps prosperity, all too many barely make a living. In common with all other southern farmers, they have suffered from a train of evils that have their roots in poor farming, particularly one crop farming. For over 30 years, agricultural extension workers have labored to eradicate these evils. The demonstration work founded long ago by the late Dr. Seaman A. Nap has grown into a nationwide extension service. This map shows the status of this work among Negroes in 1937. There are over 225 agricultural agents and about 175 home demonstration agents now working for better farming and better living among southern Negroes. Aunt Sally Smith, born in Africa and long past her 110th year when she died in 1937, lived to see the hard lot endured by her generation and that of her children in some measure bettered by this campaign to help Negroes help themselves. In the nature of things, extension work among the poorer farmers living in houses like these on small farms, often on unproductive soil, must deal with fundamentals. Thus, the problem of the negro farmer is like the proverbial problem of lifting yourself by your own bootstraps. He has little or no cash income. It is no mere pleasantry to say that for these folks the hound dog is a useful farm animal and that hunting and fishing are not sports primarily but necessary means for providing fresh meat. Under such conditions, the farm agents problem is one of making the most of small resources. Here, for example, is a one room cabin in the cotton country. The farm 3 acres of thin sour land. The household, mind you, they all sleep together on pallets in this little cabin. 12 persons. This primitive home, this big household, this small thin soiled farm, these exemplify the conditions in question at their worst. Live at home is the watchword of the extension program and a good home garden the first objective for otherwise a proper standard of physical well-being cannot be attained. Here's a wellplanned home garden large enough to supply the needs of a big family with something left over for market. Another garden farther south where okra is a garden staple where it is the practice to can surplus fruit and vegetables. Such a garden may go far toward supplying the family living. In the truck growing districts, many families make their living from the sale of vegetables. Here is a farm devoted largely to the growing of eggplant. Thus, the garden may be expanded to furnish most of the cash income of the farm. In any event, the garden remains a major feature of the extension program. Crop improvement work may begin with a neighborhood demonstration by the county agricultural agent. An agent demonstrating approved standards for the selection of seed core. The lessons learned from such demonstrations are fundamental. A county agent gives a group of his 4 age club boys a lesson in seed corn selection in the field. Proof of the value of this work is such a corn field as this on the form of a cooperator or this field of corn and soybeans. Note the luxurian growth of the soil improvement crop between the rows of corn. harvesting tobacco on the land of a farmer who works in close cooperation with his county agent in the work that is being done to improve the methods of handling this crop. This farmer gives each of his children a definite share in the proceeds of the crop. These little girls are working not only for the family but also for themselves. There's wholesome personal pride back of this dexterity. With the help of extension specialists, farmers in the peanut region are giving more and more consideration to the problems of handling this important crop. In certain districts, the extension workers have pushed the production of long staple cotton. A negro family picking Sea Island cotton grown from seed secured through the help of the county agricultural agent. A group of 4H cotton club boys each delivering his bail to the warehouse. The success of each of these boys necessarily has a good effect on the cotton farming of his neighborhood. These bales are silent witnesses for the cause of better agriculture. Soil conservation is a major feature of the extension program. Farmers are urged to plow and cultivate on contours and follow other approved practices. A crew preparing for terracing under the direction of an extension agent. Note that the job is done with simple and inexpensive equipment. Such modern practice is becoming common among these farmers as is the use of soil improvement crops such as soybeans, cowpas, lespadza, Austrian winter peas and vet. Witness this fine stand of Japan clover. On the left, the farmer who grew this crop. The farm poultry flock is a factor of major importance in the live at home program. These barred rocks provide essentials needed for balancing the diet of the household as well as with eggs and friars for sale or trade. This flock of Rhode Island reds is the pride and joy of a former 4 club member. Poultry is a profitable demonstration for both boys and girls and is stressed as one of the main enterprises in the live at home program. This 4 club boy took his chickens to school with him. And with the proceeds from sale of eggs, he is paying his way at a preparatory institution. A way to get an education if you have what it takes. In many communities, turkeys are a profitable source of cash income. And occasionally we find a man who goes into poultry in a commercial way. This is the plant of a farmer who specializes in white legumes. Livestock improvement work is done largely through the boys and girls 4 clubs. Some calf club boys getting pointers on how to judge a dairy cow. And here is the business end of another 4H calf club enterprise. These purebred jerseys have a high record for butterfat production. Particularly in Alabama, local veterinarians with vaccinating equipment in cooperation with the county agent have trained many farmers to help stamp out hog calver. The farmers in a community can get the job done quickly and economically under this plan. These hogs raised by a 4-H club boy show their good breeding. There's profit in well-bred swine. Grade hogs like these from native razerback sows bred to good bores are finding a ready sale on local markets. A neighborhood dairy demonstration made by a girl's 4H club under the direction of the home demonstration agent. Clean milk is a prime objective and county home demonstration agents cooperate with the women of their communities in making all possible improvements in sanitation in the handling of dairy products. In communities where such herds as this are the rule, a long step has been taken toward breaking the regime of fatback and sorghum under which pelagra has resulted and become a curse. In such neighborhoods, fresh and pure dairy products are available for all three times a day. An adequate family supply of dairy and poultry products combined with vegetables and fruits from the home garden helps to safeguard the family health. Clean, wholesome farm butter, good homemade cheese, and other dairy products find a ready market when a surplus in excess of family needs is produced. Occasionally, a farmer takes to dairying in a big way. Witness this big herd, which furnishes gradea milk to a thriving southern city. In the southern coastal plain, the woods are full of scrub cattle, the so-called piny woods breed. Negro extension workers there have inaugurated a better sireers campaign breeding for beef with purebred bulls. Here is one of their Abedine Angus community bulls. And here cattle produced by crossing native cows with such bulls. There has been an increasing use of purebred bulls to improve the quality of beef for market and for foundation herds. A demonstration in approved methods of curing pork. Home canning and curing of the family meat supply saves cash. No outlay is needed for bringing home the bacon, where farmers are thrifty and follow approved meat curing and smoking methods. A smokehouse is a necessity on the southern farm for what is home without a ham. This is a modern concrete smokehouse, but hams from the relatively inexpensive oldtime farm smokehouse will smell just as sweet and stick just as close to the ribs as those from some more modern structure. The ham is what counts. The sorghum mill, an institution of longstanding, plays an important part in the live at home campaign. The product of this home manufacturing plant is a staple that goes far toward reducing cash outlay for food, supplying a cheap suite that has its place in maintaining the balance desired in the family diet. Furthermore, such a meal often yields sorghum or cane syrup for sale. Thus, the live at home program pays dividends, always in saving and sometimes in cash. Home canning of food products is a fundamental feature of the live at home program. A well-filled pantry is not only the best insurance against sickness, but it saves money. A year's food supply for a family of five in this section may be worth several hundred. Since money saved is money made, the women and girls through such activities as this add to the farm family income and at the same time safeguard the family health. A well constructed smokehouse such as this makes a good storage place for canned products in regions where there is no danger from freezing. These well-filled shelves show what the energetic housewife can do toward providing the family living. a canning demonstration under the supervision of a county home demonstration agent. On such occasions, the women of a community meet and do their work in common using community equipment while the agent supervises the work and gives instruction in approved methods of procedure where necessary. Here is a simple homemade canning outfit which is used in community canning where better equipment is not available. A neighborhood canning bee in which the home demonstration agent directs the work. This is typical of neighborhood group activity. And here's an exceptionally wellorganized and productive community canning enterprise. Once each week during the summer season, the people of this community gather in this grove to can their products cooperatively. The women prepare the fruits, vegetables, or meat products for canning. The men cut the wood, keep the fire going in the furnace, and handle the heavy pressure cookers, and everybody has a grand time. It's a sort of weekly community picnic that pays dividends in food put up for winter. Shuttered windows with no sash and no screen are the usual thing in the cabins of many of the poorer farmers. In cold weather, these shutters are kept closed. Doors are seldom screened. Thus, the first step toward providing better housing is to guard against disease to screen out the malaria mosquito and the typhoid fly. This is a common type of back house. Typhoid flies have easy access here. The approved type of farmstead toilet is not expensive but provides adequate protection from diseases carried by flies. After sanitation come other home improvements that make for comfort and self-respect. Many a cabin like this built in the simple and pleasing traditional style of the region has been made a home to be proud of by the application of a few cents worth of lime whitewash or even pipe clay that costs nothing and the planting of a few native shrubs. Such improvements take labor but little or no cash outlay and the results are sometimes striking. Watch. Now we have an attractive, though unpretentious farm home, screened, whitewashed, and landscaped at little expense. Such improvements make for wholesome pride in the home place. Indeed, beautifification of the yard about the house has a significance that cannot be measured in dollars and cents. When the farm family takes pride in keeping the farmstead and lawn neat and attractive, we may reasonably conclude that the farm business is well-managed. Where there is a beautiful and perhaps profitable flower garden, the field crops are likely to be good, too. In the south, an outdoor bathroom is a possibility. We plug the drain pipe under the pump. The water is pumped directly into the bathtub and we are ready for our daily bath. This is a cheap outfit in line with the extension policy of making the most of things within your means. Of course, the modern pressure tank outfit is better and many farmers are installing standard plumbing such as this. This girl is a 4 club state champion in dress making. All the garments seen here are her own handiwork. The knowledge and skill that these girls acquire in this work have a direct bearing on the family welfare. A successful cooperative curb market. Such activities as this represent the occasional commercial development that comes from the live at home movement. Some of these markets are quite profitable. a cotton gin operated cooperatively by a group of negro farmers under the supervision of their county agent. The building itself is not much to look at, but the machinery is in good shape and it does the work. The crowd gathering at a community fair that has become an annual event. Such fairs have both educational and social features and as a rule they are well attended. They give extension workers opportunity to discuss current farm problems with the farmers of the community and to take counsel with their local leaders. They also give the girls 4 clubs an opportunity to turn an honest penny through the sale of various articles to visitors. This is a rather nifty outfit. Anyway, it seems to suit us. Such community activities sometimes are conducted on a neighborhood scale. Witness this modest exhibit of farm products displayed in a country schoolhouse. Such exhibits stimulate interest and encourage farmers to enter into friendly competition in production. The extension service sponsors 4H summer camps in which short course instruction in agriculture and homemaking is given. These camps are held in slack seasons. Boys and girls from all parts of a state may meet in such a camp. The expense is small and there is opportunity for study and profitable association. Here boys learn the fine points of their profession. For example, a class in stock judging. The agent drives home the points to be considered in judging a dairy cow. Meanwhile, the girls take instruction from other specialists. Here we see a nurse giving instructions to a class of girls in the fundamental principles of first aid. Of course, after study hours there is opportunity for plenty of fun. Recreation as well as study is carefully supervised. Last but not least among these extension activities are those of this movable school operated jointly by the extension service and Tuskegee Institute to teach farming, homemaking and hygiene. Here we see the school nurse giving treatment as a preventive against infantile paralysis. [Music] Dr. Booker T. Washington taught that agriculture should be the fundamental pursuit of his race in America. And the extension service tries to help Negroes in their effort to achieve the objectives he so wisely laid down long ago. The negro, he said, must begin at the bottom and lay a sure foundation and not be lured by any temptation to rise on a false foundation. Progress by any other method will be but temporary and superficial. Since the bulk of our people already have a foundation in agriculture, they are at their best living in the country engaged in agricultural pursuits. And again he said, "We shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify labor and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life. Going to lay down my [Music] No more. I don't want no more. I don't want no more. I say one more. [Music] I don't [Music] want to sing with the prince of [Music] the river. Down. Down. >> Born to sing with the prince of peace. Down [Music] to one no more. I stay one more. I don't [Music] want no more. I will say one no more. >> I don't I don't say [Music] no.