St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-01-15

Ii irds of the land rented In cottons
that each renter be allowed to SOW i've
acres of wheat to every % acres cultl-.
waited by him. IT this policy can be
made general one it will not be long
before Texas will at least double her
grain-growing acreage.
AN erroneous impression prevails
largely outside of Texas concerning
the personnel Of its tenant-farmers-
The idea is that most of them are
shiftless and thriftless negroes, who
rent from rich landowners and con-
fine their energies to the hand-to-
mouth limit This is not the case.
The great mass of the tenant-farmers
of Texas. particularly in the
rich and populous northern
and central sections of the state,
are sober. intelligent and industrious
white men. They are not types of the
naturalborn nomad species, 50 fami-
liar in early days, with decrepit prai-
RE schooners, bone-factory teams and
a long enrolment Of 'yailer' dogs.
They are good average American citi-
Gems. But they. their wives and their
children are pitiable representatives OF
povcrty's partially. None has a word
to say against Texas soil, Texas eli
mate. Texas health or Texas manage.
ment of public affairs. All have one
grievance, however-'iow cotton and
cash rent They would go back and
spend the winter in the old home in
the old states. Ii the new movement
for crop-share rent should be accepted
by the landlords they would come
back to Texas next spring; if it
should not, they would stay away.
1.-The landowners have not been
heard from as class on the demands
of the tenants. They don't need to
hurry. Crops don't grow in the win
ter. 1t is long season till cotton
planting time in 1898. They have, as
rule, collected all the cash rent that
was owing to them in 1897. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof ap.
pears to be their motto. But if they
do not heed the warnings going up
from every county in Texas, the un-
ripe threats of sowing johnson grass
and burning buildings may ripen into
lawless action on the part of the more
desperate element in the spring to come.
Already Gov. Culberson has called
| on Attorney-General Crane for opin-
ions on the laws covering threats made
by white caps and kindred peace dis.
turbers. This shows how seriously
the situation is viewed through official
eyes, under certain contingencies"
| Feed the Land and 1t win Feed You.
The importance of having the great
est possible quantity of manure is gem
orally understood by farmers, even
when they fail to give proper atten-
ton to the matter. Every crop taken
from the land, every pound of meat
sold from the farm, represents an as
certainable amount of fertility with.
drawn. And none will deny that we
can not continue to draw from the soil
| without making returns, any more
than we can draw on the bank with
out making deposits. The best blooded
COW ever stabbed could not furnish rich
milk upon diet of straw. Now the
bank that never fails and can not be
broken, is nature. and il we make the
necessary deposits of fertiliziLg mat
ter into the soil we can be sure of get.
ting back the principal with good in
terest. A good crop of wheat-say
25 bushels-has taken out of the soil
in the form of straw about u
pounds nitrogen, 23.2 pounds pot
ash aud 1914 pounds of phosphoric acid
in the form Of grain % pounds nitro
gen. 8. pounds potash and IL pound.
of phosphoric acid, making total
drain of 43 pounds nitrogen, 81:
pounds potash and pa pounds phos
phorid acid. 1t will take three ton.
of good, unleached barnyard manure
to restore these elements 10 the soil
Our richest soils can not endure such
drains for many years without show.
ing it. Our uplands have, to a great
extent, been SO impoverished that il
will cost the value of the land to re
store them to their original vigor, anl
our wonderful bottoms, although fire.
quently enriched by floods and clover
do not yield as heavy as when they
were new. When farmers pay as much
attention to raising the greatest quan
tity of manure of highest quality. i,
will be comparatively easy matter to
raise premium crops. Feed your lane
and it will feed you.-Indiana Observer