The above comes from a report from an agency that was part of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) created to deal with the poverty that accompanied the Depression. In the south, with its high preponderance of tenant farmers and sharecroppers, the plight of rural agriculture was extreme especially when surplus acreage in tobacco and cotton were eliminated. Finding an alternative crop for small plots of land, and for farmers with little in the way of resources, was one of the most pressing concerns of that era. Once again, wine was deemed worthy of coming to the rescue and alleviating the endemic poverty of the region. And it was the scuppernong grape that would be central to this endeavour. However, to be successful, farmers had to be made aware of the market opportunities for grapes when it was not clear that such a demand existed.