NORTH CAROLINA FOOD CONSERVATION COMMISSION
RALEIGH, N.C.

May 14, 1917.

Board of County Commissioners,
___________ County,
___________, N. C.

Gentlemen:

The attention of the North Carolina Food Conservation Commission has been called to the fact that the County Homes of the State in 1915 reported a total acreage of approximately 15,000 acres, with considerably less than 4,000 acres in cultivation. Now we understand, of course, that a considerable part of this 15,000 acres of land is in woods and pasture, but we also know that in many instances there are idle lands upon the farms of our county homes. It hardly seems fair to ask the tax payers of the county to pay prevailing prices for food stuffs for the inmates of these institutions when these institutions themselves, with little or no help, could produce approximately everything they need.

Certainly no County Home in North Carolina should ask the tax payers to buy corn, meal, sweet or Irish potatoes, syrup, peas, beans or other crops that are adaptable to their section of the State. It seems that, even in normal times, this would be a normal activity of the homes, and certainly, in this time of scarcity of food and high prices, such an opportunity to produce should not be overlooked.

Very truly yours,

NORTH CAROLINA FOOD CONSERVATION COMMISSION,
By [unsigned]
Executive Secretary.