St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-12-18
FARMER PLANTER.
THE COTTON FIELD.

/ OitlOu VI = SIusbo plOWs W IOtSS every
bushel Of corn, wheat aud oats. every
ton of hay. every pound of beef, NUT
ton and pork, every mule aud horse.
every pound Of lard and butter. wool
and leather that are used in those
states; and in addition, make . large
profit out Of 7.oao. OOo bale cotton
| crop than we now get ont VI TO- 600, :
600 one. But somehow we just wont
do it Conventions. resolutions, re
monstrance or advice have not sue
cecded in limiting the crop. The
clouds only have been successful in
doing this
The mule plows from sunrise to sun
set, and can not do more or eat less.
The plowman's wages are not high
enough to be reduced.
The land il the only other element
in the cost that we can deal with, aud
unless we can lessen the cost of pro-
dacing pound OF cotton. then we
must give up In despair. We can not
blame the land, for it does the best it
can do in its poor, feeble, half-starved
condition. The mule is well fed, and
the plow-hand has full rations, but the
land is half-starved. but yet is expect
ed to furnish full supplies for mule, Ia
borer and landowner. 1t doesn't do it
because it can't do it.. We have put one
bnshel Of corn in lhe ahopper sand
expected two bushels to come out Of
it. That is not God. law. Some
thing for nothing" Il the gamblers
rule. VALUE received" must be the
rule of him who trades directly with
the Creator Himself. and receives his
crops from His beneiicent hands No
man expects . skimperly-fed COW to
give her full h0w of milk, or . half
fed muie to do full work. The same
principle 10 absolutely true of land.
and for exactly the same reason.
As l stated il Z former article, in its
last analysis farming Is feeding. What
is the difference between rich land and
poor? Why will one field an average
year produce 80 bushels OF corn to the
acre aud another barely eight BUSH
cls-nubbins ut that? Why win
one acre produce 1000 pounds Of
cotton and another only 500
pounds? Even an ignorant labor
er knows it is because the one
field is poor while the other il rich.
Rich In what: Poor in whats In fer
tility. In available plant food. II poor
because plant food is lacking. then
why not supply it aud make it rich?
The only thing hungry horse needs
Is food; the only thing hungry land
needs is food. Other than some of the
rich bottoms. there is hardly = field in
Georgia that has not been hungry al
most to exhaustion ever since its third
year from the forest Sometime ago !
saw in = comic paper picture of IN
exceedingly lean horse standing before
grocery store with this placard on his
aide: 'Uats Wanted Inside" II we
only had the eyes to see 1t, there is not
= CALLED spot ON the red hills of Geor-
gia, nor q WORKOUT field in the south,
that does not bear the label: .Am-
monia, Acid Phosphate and Potash
Needed Within"
The question with tho southern
farmer must be not now many bales OF
cotton he can raise. but how eau he
raise . bale cheaper. He only cares
for how much money stays in his
hands. not how much he handles. The
man who takes in $40 to-day, but must
pay out % tomorrow. IL not rs well OF
by lOO per cent Is lac who takes in 5,
but has 70 pay out only 8. The
farmer. who. 10 make . profit Of Sl5,
must RAISE two bales Of cotton. while
his neighbor makes profit of SIS in
raising one bale. Is not only the poorer
farmer, but is uninteus1onally IN
enemy to his ighbor's pgUsperity in
crowding the market vi Pne bale too
many, and thus forcing down the price.
Except in tune Of Mar<Qr great
drought In the souths1k "a will
never sell fer ten censiaA0 N Geor-
gia- and the present oak9Qk is that
will not AAye. - many h14tlAys IS :
boy born on the Goth Of February. Six
and seven cents will be the prices in
the futures hid dh6s St&Sr who can't
probably raise six-cent cotton had
better quit,;tfying. u. raise cotton. l
am sorry this is true. would order it
differently il ] could. But being .
fact, the only wise thing to do
is to look it square in the face and pre-
pare to meet it. It will do NO good to
complain. We haven't time to COM
plain. if We meet it successfully.
What one man hes done. another can
do. IS 2 ote,aeg patch has been made
TO produce 1t = profit two bales Of cot
ION. then by the same treatment 20
acre field can be made to produce -
bales with the same ratio Of profit. IL
this is not true. it il only because 30
times two il not 40
Except in the larger expense Of fer.
tilizer, extra picking. ginning and haul
ing. it does not cost dollar more to
raise two bales Of cotton on an acre
than half . bale. The blowing and
hoeing and trent Of land" are the same
in either case. At even SIX cent cot
ton it doexA't take the extra bale and
. half TO pay the increased ex-
pense. Ten dollars = year per
aero invested in cotton-seed meal.
acid phosphate and kainit will. with
good three-year rotation In which pea
vines to Be turned under predominant,
in ten years build mp any comparative
~ level land that has top-soil and .
good clay sub-soil to where It will
make one and . half 70 two bales Of
cotton, - bushels Of corn or 90 bushels
Of oats to the acre. II the experiments
At the experiment station, 1t Griffin.
Ca, haven't proven this. they have
proven nothing. Parish thurman
thought he could get larger crops than
these in Eve years time. but he used
fertilizer fav more lavishly than any