Will Mims, 59, dies; Was Farmers' Guide  (10-24-1950)

Tireless Agricultural Leader Will be Buried Today at Starkville

Special to the Commercial Appeal

STARKVILLE, Miss., Oct 24 -- The Long and fruitful career of one
of the South's best known and most popular agricultural leaders
came to a close at 2:30 Tuesday morning, with the death of Will
C. Mims, district extension agent, at his home here.

He was 59 and had been in failing health a year and seriously ill
since last May.

	Was Generous and Frank

Big hearted, generous, a tireless worker, Mr. Mims was a man
completely without guile and was always frank in voicing his
opinions.  Equally at home among plantation owners or share-
croppers, he had spent his entire adult life working with farm
people.  He knew Mississippi farm problems as few others do,
and under his wise planning and guidance over the years many
of the state's agricultural ills disappeared.

Services conducted by the Rev. E. M. Sharp, pastor of the First
Methodist Church of Starkville, will be held at the family residence
Wednesday morning at 10:30.  Burial will be in Odd Fellows
Cemetery here.

	Longtime P. to P. Leader

Mr. Mims had been one of the Mississippi leaders in The Commercial
Appeal's Plant to Prosper Contest since the program was launched in
1934.  He served as state enrolment chairman from 1942 until 1947, had
frequently served on the State Judging Committee and had been a member
of the State Executive Committee for 10 years.

He frequently had voiced the assertion that the Plant to Prosper program
has done more to improve the MidSouth's system of farming than any 
other single force.

Mr. Mims began his career with the Agricultural Extension Service in
1914, when he was appointed tricounty agent for Benton, Pontotoc, and
Union Counties, with headquarters at New Albany.  A few months later
he was named as county agent for Union County, a position he filled until
September 1930, when he became district agent for the Northeast District,
with headquarters at State College.

	Pioneered in Co-ops

In 1946, he was transferred to the Southeast District and became district
agent for the East Central District when the state was divided into five
instead of four districts.

Realizing the farmers could not market products for which there were no
local buyers, Mr. Mims pioneered in organizing co-operative marketing 
programs.  He set up such programs for cattle, hogs, poultry, corn, soybeans,
and cowpeas.  he made the first co-operative shipment of livestock in
Mississippi in 1917.

The act setting up the Extension Service was misunderstood and was none
too popular with some farmers when Mr. Mims first too the field.  But by his
homespun, practical approach to men and their problems, he quickly won the
confidence of farm people as he south to raise their standards of living by
advocating crop diversification and better production and marketing methods.

The practice of exchanging cotton seed for cottonseed meal between farmers
and ginners was initiated by Mr. Mims in 1922, and the practice soon spread
to all areas where cotton and livestock are grown.

	Chose Qualified Agents

Highly respected and regarded by all MidSouth agricultural workers, Mr. Mims
had a knack for selecting well qualified men as county agents.  He expected them
to assum responsibility and he always gave them credit for their accomplishments.
He believed that mistakes are associated with activity, and that only through activity can a man
or project grow.

Born in Starkville, Mr. Mims was reared on a farm.  After being graduated from Starkville
High School, he entered Mississippi A. & M. College.--in 1908.  He received his B. S. in 
agriculture four years later.  Before entering extension work, he taught for two years at
Bolton College in Shelby County, Tenn.

Besides his wife, he leaves his mother, Mrs. Carrie Page of Starkville; a daughter, Mrs.
B. U. Jones of Laurel, Miss.' two sons, Jack K. Mims of Corinth, Miss., and Marvin D.
Mims of Knoxville, Tenn; a brother, Lacey Mims of Starkville; two half brothers, Frank
Page, Jr., of Denver Colo., and John Page of Starkville; and two grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be L. I. Jones, M. S. Shaw, J. E. Stanley, Aubrey Carpenter, E. E. Dean,
John Williams, W. T. May, J. K. Morgan, and Boswell Stevens.

Honorary pallbearers include Dr. A. D. Suttle, S. W. Box, H. S. Johnson, J. V. Pace, L. A.
Higgins, Charlie Ashford, L. A. Olson, R. L. Bowen, and county and assistant county
agents of his district.