St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-12-02
FARMER NDP PLANTER.


PROFITABLE COTTON GROWING.
Deaf Try to Cultivate More LaaA Thar
You Can Fake Care OF.
The small average production PEI
acre Of cotton should convince pro
ducers that a great deal Of hard work
is thrown away every year.
In almost every neighborhood in6i-
vidual instances furnish conclusive evil
dence that the fault is in the man and
not in the soil. The great trouble be-
hind all of this is in the universal dis
position to plant more land than can be
properly cared for.
The southern farmer is given to "big'
things, and his standing is rated by the
number of bales of cotton his planta-
ton ships to market annually. There
is very little land in the cotton belt
that will not properly managed) pro
duce from 400 to 600 pounds of lint cot
ton in fair seasons: yet we see the aver
age falls below 100 pounds for the en-
tire acreage.
The lands Of the Yazoo Delta will.
with good cultivation, produce 500
pounds of lint cotton or fifty bushels Of
corn per acre, yet the average given
for this section is about 200 pounds of
cotton and twenty bushels Of corn.
Riding over the country, one fire.
quently sees q fine crop of cotton and
corn, belonging to the same tenant,
while on the same kind of soil, in the
same Enclosure, will be seen another
crop scarcely worth preserving.
Inquiry will reveal that in the first
instance the tenant has just what he
can attend to CAREFUL, while the other
is badly over-cropped. and necessarily
loses in yield. 1t is possible for the
southern farmer to bring up his land
to q paying point by judicious course
Of rotation. The COW pea furnishes a
cheap and valuable soil renovator, and
the average southern farm can be re-
stored to profitable production by the
use of cow peas alone.
A trial Of this will convince the most
skepticaL It must be understood that
no crop should be plowed under green
in our warm climate, but it should be
left until frost has killed vegetation
and then turned under, or do it IN the
winter. january being the best time
In this section. vegetation is SO rank
that after June l it would be almost
impossible to plow under this rank
growth, in fact, it can hardly be done
In the winter, as the dead vines, weeds
and grass on vacant fields. are frequent
" six to twelve inches deep, and must
be removed before the land can be
plowcd. This is usually accomplished
by burning. q practice that should not
be resortcd to. if possible to avoid.
If our farming friends would learn
that it is much more profitable to take
only SO much land rs the means at their
command will justify. and give to that
the best attention in the preparation
and after cultivation, they will soon
cease complaining that farming does
not pay. Competition, even in the cot
ton-growing business, is dri, ing the
limits of profit down to very narrow
margins
We are told that revolutions never 20
backward, therefore we must adapt
ourselves to the new conditions, or drop
out to make room for those who do. In
q few years more cotton production
will be carried into many countries that
have never before grown it. That the
United States can defy all competition
in this line think certain. We can
produce cotton cheaper than other
countries by using improved labor
saving implements The picker"
will be forthcoming when the
time demands it. When it does. cot
ton will be produced 1T . cost Of three
cents per pound. At present, pine cot
ton, gcowh by the old methods, has
ceased to be profitable. We must pro-
due1fop1cq5 per acre to realize any
Hro0J0kSS&n be easily obtained on
'{asoo Delta lands, properly cultivated,
l!nd can bs11lns0 ithout resort to use
Of artificial iert{iizers More attention
must be given to.-thc preparation of
the soil before the seeds are planted
DepeAdin(0 ~ Slle rains to pulverize
the clgaA o0A1olsH makeshift method.
A slow 04auesmethod pays better in
the endJ ~tQsslity Of the article mar
keted should receive more attention.
Quantity, without regard to quality,
requires more labor. more expense,
and certainly sells for less Special
brands, once established and kept up
to . high standard, would become .
trade mark that would pay to keep
mp.
There are several varieties Of cotton
in cultivation here, that most in use
being the short staple, = prolific Va
riety, and is always in demand at
prices quoted in our daily papers. The
Peterkin and Taylor are mostly grown
in the county. Medium staple such Is |
Griffin, Southern Hope, Eureka. and
some others are also planted. They |
are not quite SO prolific Is the shorter |
staples Cook and Allen are the stand |
ard fancy staples; the first named is |
decidedly the best paying Of the two.
These fancy varieties are bought mp
BY thread mills and used for making
spool thread flor sewing.) They sell 1t |
} premium over the other cotton,
from two 70 five cents. This /
article would be too long IL the sub
|ect was followed to the end. defer /
t-W. E. Collins, in Practical Farmer.
MUCK AS MANURE.
M Mock = Net llasars. But lt Il n n.
celleat Abooe0oat.
Not everything is gold that glitters;
not every soil is rich that looks black.
Muck may be Is black rs coal. and vet
70 poor rs poverty. Muck Is not ma
lure. and mucly soils may need ma
,uring more urgently than ordinary
aplands do.
Don't imagine You can raise any kind
# vegetables without the free use of