The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-21

cessfully handle and proitably cultivate
say, fifty acres oflsnd. All over the south
,itty-acre men, are spreading themselves
over 100 to 800 acres.
This spreading process results in poor
farming and poorer returns. lt gives the
wAole face otsthe country bad appearance.
1t allows weeds and brush TO encroach on
the pillow land. 1t allows tbs fences to go
down. Ii shortens the yield aud reduces
the quality of the crops. In the trucking
belt, near Norfolk, | see every day the bene-
fits Of the small farm well tilledn in the
shape of small, well cultivated truck farms.
Such farms pay letter than the large one
every time. The western wheat or corn
grower may be justified in spreading him
self, ia his special line of business, over as
many acres as he can; but the southern
farmer who has long growing season, and
who can grow two or more crops a year
from the same land, should reduce his
acreage end cultivate more thoroughly. II
the farms of the south, at the close of the
war, had been as small as at the north, the
south to-day would be far ahead OF auy
other section of the union In the race for
agricultural supremacy. AS it is, these
large old estates must be cut up and pass
into the hands Of small holders. This is now
being done, but at slow rate.
OF course there are drawbacks of minor
farmer must keep his land employed in
growing crops or it soon runs to weeds,
vines and shrubs. Old winter does not ring
down the curtain in October and hold it
there until the following April, but things
continue to grow from one end Of the year
to the other. IL is truly said that IAN idle
mind is the devils workshop" and we may
add-idle land on the farm in the south
breeds much trouble for the farmer In
stead Of lying idle, it should go down in
grass and be grazed by sheep, cattle and
horses This leads to the statement that
another great drawback to southern farm
ing is the effort to farm without live stock.
Too little live stock is raised. Cotton
tobacco, rice, corn, peanuts, &C., are raised
in large quantities. but there is little stable
manure used. as it is not to be hal. Now,
farming without live stock is too much like
managing O boat without a rudder, or with
out ballast. The gentleman previously
mentioned as having $1,000 acres of land,
has but little live stock. That which he has
runs at large all the year. 1t has no food
except that provided by the bountiful hand
of nature There is therefore, no benefit to
the soil from keeping such live stock
til a is to say, there is no manure to be used.
and it does not mean meadow land and
pasture land, where the land would be i'm
proving in strength and fertility. The cattle
run in the woods and subsist entirely on the
natural grazing.
Another reason why the south lags in
agricultural matters is the fact that she
lacks in small as well as in large manufact-
uriug estab Gshments, which utilize the raw
material and make market for the produce
of the farm. This, however, is being
rapidly Temedied, as the south is, and has
been for some time, advancing in manutact.
urin2 matters more rapidly than any other
section of the union. This is going to make
a demand and market for various farm
products such as butter, cheese, poultry,
eggs and all kinds of small fruits aud vege
tables. This is going to encourage mixed
farming, or, as it is termed, diversified in
dustries" on the farm. Any one at all
familiar with the tendency of manufact-
nring establishments during the past ten
years will see at a glance that the entire
south is to become q "hlve of industry, ,
and that the wilderness is destined to "blos-
som as the rose" Agricultural matters
around Norfolk, Va, are in good shape
simply because Of the ease and the cheapuesS
with which oil the great variety of farm
products from this section are placed before
about 20, 600, 900 consumers, at the north
east aud west. Now, as regards natural
drawbacks-such, for example, as cannot be
remedied by the hand of man-they are
hard to find. 1t is true that there are some
sections where the soil is poor, and there are
sections poorly supplied with Transports
ton facilities, but as a whole, the south hal
fewer formidable drawbacks than any othel
portion of the union.
The colored Iaporer is with some a draw
back, but we could not get along withou
him. He is really preferable TO the raw
material from the old world. The heat is
"bugbear" with some, but except in few
localities at the far south. the heat is not 81
oppressive and Objectionable as at the
north or west. The south lacks in many
places in the matter of school facilities
equal to those Of the other sections of the
union. This is also an outgrowth of the
large farms" of the south aud is being bet
tered as the years roll by. In regard tc
social matters, the large farms interfere
again, as neighbors are farther apart in many
sections of the south than those of other
parts of the United States. These minor
matters are all in process of adjusting
themselves. In the trucking section around
Norfolk and similar points in the south, the
farms have already been out up into tracts
ranging from 20 TO 100 acres each
Wherever this has been done, the lesser
drawbacks have all disappeared; therefore,
hold that the greatest, and, in fact, almost
the only, draw back Of the south, is that the
farms are too large. Remedy this and all
the minor drawbacks fall to the ground.