The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-03-04
THE FARM AND THE GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO FARM
Err AND HOUSEWIFE.

Cotton and the Southern Farmer Ex-
periments at the Georgia station.
Broom Corn Culture in Georgia
The south Can Raise Cheap Meat.
Notes on PIums-PreParing Clay
soiI-The velvet Bean-Cisterns.
The South is adapted to cotton. and the
average Southern farmer must and VIII
grow it to a greater or less extent There
may be thousands altogether who will, in
the years to come, make a living, per-
haps a fortune. in a small way. from
filling Southern soil and yet not plant
an acre OF the great staple. But the
great mass of farmers including almost
every tenant farmer. will certainly con-
tinue TO grow cotton.
We should grow it, and we should bend
every energy to make a quantity of 1t.
That is, when we plant an acre of it, we
should use every available means to make
that acre give the largest yield possible.
We should do our very best to make the
greatest number Of bales possible to the
plow.
Every farmer other than trucker,
should make cotton the cornerstone of
his farming structure-let the superstruc-
ture be as varied as it will. Our Climate
suits cotton, our soil is adapted to it, our
labor suits it, So long as cotton is need
ed by the world, the Southern farmer
should supply a part of it. But, If we
plant ten acres, we should not be salts
fed with three bales (of 500 pounds each)
or six bales, or seven, or eight. Nothing
les sthan ten bales must satisfy us. To
be sure there is plenty of land that will
not yield more than three bales to the ten
acres in it's present condition, but we
must either refuse to plant such land in
cotton or determine that it shall be put
in condition as soon as possible to pre-
duce the amount that we must have from
an acre as the reasonable reward for Gull
tivating it.
Are we talking through our hat?" The
intelligent farmer who reads this viii
not say we are, for he has
come to that very conclusion himself
that he will not be satisfied
with anything very much less than bale
to the acre. He must grow cotton, but
he cannot afford 10 run over three or
four acres to get a bale, even If it does
bring s cents a pound. Land that VIII
not do any better than that he will not
bother with. lie can not afford 1t.
If the revival of good prices for cotton
and cotton seed proves permanent, 1t WIZ
| certainly pay the Southern farmer to con-
| tinue to grow The staple, though 1t must
| be under certain limitations. 1t must
| stand only as a cornerstone of his farm
| ing-he must devote only a small pro-
| portion of his best land to it. and he
must make it produce a bale to the acre
or as near it as possible. Some will aim
for two bales to the. acre, and get it,
too
With the very best preparation or SOIL,
| using selected seed that has been care
! fully saved at home from good pro
! life variety, manuring and cui-
! tivating in the most scientific
manner. there is plenty of land
! everywhere in the South that can be
| made to produce a bale of cotton where
| it has produced only one-third that guam
tity under "slip-shod" cultivation.
Land that with good preparation, ma
| nurng and cultivation, will not make a
! bale of cotton or very near it, should be
! given to potatoes, grass or peas.
If cotton is not grown in a rational
manner. as suggested we will soon be
| back where we were a few years ago,
| getting or 4 cents for the cotton that
cost more than that to make it. The sem
sible Southern farmer will surely heed
the lesson that has ben taught him for
| so many years.