The Portland daily press., 1899-03-02
3 OK FROM TIE SOUTH.
Things the Secretary of Agriculture
Saw and LEARNED There.
(Chicago Record.)


Secretary Wilson has just returned from
q convention Of cotton growers who me-
at Vicksburg to devise some way Of re
storing the price of that staple. which II
now kept down by over production. II,
thinks the Southern farmers are blind tt
their own interests and can only recover
their prosperity by introducing diversi
fed crops. He tried to show them the
way Of salvation but evidently did no,
make much of an impression.
within late years." said the secretary
this afternoon as he was relating his OBJ.
ssrvatons in the south, much Of thu
lands fin the lower Mississippi states that
were not valuable for ootton-growing,
have been found to be well adapted to
the growing Of fruits and vegetables
The demand In northern markets for
these products can be supplied by those
states much earlier than from northern
states, and very profitable business is
being conducted in supplying fruits and
vegetables for immediate use and for can
ming by northern people who have fol-
lowed the lines of railways and secured
homes with view to prosecuting this
business. But that only occupies the at
tention of very small percentage Of
Southern people. AS the industry grows,
1t does not offer new field of enterprise
for Southern labor, but is prosecuted gen.
orally by Northern men who have become
identified with the South in this way.
The pressing question is, what is the lab
orer down South to do in the future. who
has been growing cotton and is not get
ting enough for his product to enable him
to live comfortably, not to speak of i'm
provements In his condition, education
and all thatp
"1he South has marked advantages
over the North with regard to agricul-
ture. 1t has more heat and moisture, the
two great factors of production, and II
the cotton grower Is to diver silly his crops
he must use those natural advantages.
The dairy cow would succeed admirably
In the South, so would the mutton sheep,
but before either is generally introduced
for them to eat must be pro-
vided. 1he winters in the south are
II lid; grasses. grains and legumes that
can be sewn in the fall grow abundautly
the winter, upon which the dairy
COW and the mutton sheep may thrive
and produce. AT the present time. un-
der the reign of cotton. one rides hour by
hour through the South and sees nothing
of this kind OF growing. They will grow,
however, and when they are grown the
farmer Is ready for the brood animal the
mare, the COW, the eve and the SOW. L
discussed publicly and privately with
leading Southern people the advisabiiit
of turning some of the labor of the South
In this direction. A good many contend
- ,,IN ,,a1 IN,
this direction. Others admit that he can.
1t oan only be done. in my opinion, by
the intelligent, educated men of the South
taking hold of their labor and teaching
them now to do 1t. Along agricultural
lines very few people are quite rs inte1li-
gent as they should be, The greatest hope
we have Is that the experiment stations
are gradually educating class who can
take the colorsd man by the hand and
forage plants, then teach him how to care
for the dairy COW, the brood mare and
the IN tton sheep.
There is much science around the art
Of breeding animals" continued Secre-
tary Wilson, land very much yet re-
mains to be Uncovered, but enough is
K nown to enable the colored cotton grow.
or of t he South..to breed his herd intelli-
gently. The South can furnish the spring
lamb much earlier than the North can.
The American is learning to eat mutton,
and as more good mutton is offered the
more will be eaten. Tue South can pro
due, this product just as easily as it can
produce early strawberries.
1.-The southern landowner understands
horse raising. He understands how to
rear and nurture the saddle HORSE. some.
thing not understood by people generally
There Is always greater demand for
saddle horses than is supplied. The world
wants carriage horses, IL wants draft
uorses, 1t wants good roadsters. The
Southern gentleman is ready now to lead
IN this production, and II he would use
the Southern labor along this line it
would be profitable both TO him and to
horses than we know about sheep anG
,ows in all parts of the United States.
Early spring chickens-the broilers-
can be produced down there because they
have milder winters and springs than we,
,nd the Northern market can De supplied.
should the market become over supplied
We can send this market abroad in the re-
frigerator compartments of our steam
hips
'lhe colored man Is learning the trades
1t Tuskegee; he is mining coal and work
ng at the manufacture of iron at Birm
ngham. Some South IN men say they
ave the best labor in the world, ana In
oIne respects am inclined to think they
rave. The South has reached the point
hat most of the states of the Northwest
cached years ago, when section after Sec
ion devoted itself to corn and wheat un-
III the lands refused to yield crops and
he farmer WAS driven to dlversiUcation
luro cans wanted meats, butter pro-
lucts, poultry. etc. Prosperity came to
he Northwest through the diversifioat ton
# industries on tie farm. j know of
10 other way by which 1t can come to the
;outh. 1t seems to me that the necessities
f the occasion are up to the intelligent
and owner. He should inform himself
IN these lines. He should have done it
ears ago. 1be science which relates to
agriculture would stand him in good
tead while his diploma from a literary
Institution is worth very little TO him. 1t
5 not too late. improvement along these
ines cannot be expected TO originate
With the laboring men of the South; it
must begin with the men Of education.