Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1902-09-25
FARMERANDP PLANTER.
UTILIZING WASTE PLACES.
un.irhtIy waste Acres That Might
be Beautffed and
Source of Profit.

All throughout the south are to be
found thousands and thousands of
acres which have been so badly
abused and neglected. that we may
properly call these places waste
places" The land is so run down that
it will not produce any crop to profit,
and in many places is so washed that
it will not cover itself with any kind
of growth. Bald, naked, unsightly,
quilted, these places disfigure the en-
tire landscape where they are found.
They are found particularly album
dant around the towns and cities,
and greatly detract from the
beauty of such places. People from
abroad coming south looking for
homes are greatly surprised to find
these unsightly They have
heard and read so much of the Sun
ny South" and its wonderful POSSIBLE
tiles that they come here expecting
to find a land all covered with green.
But when they behold the land so
poorly cared for and neglected, they
often decide that they do not care to
live in such a country.
Take the city of Atlanta for ex-
ample, and within a radius of ten
miles strike a circle around the city,
and you will find hundreds of thou
sands of these waste acres. They be-
long to rich men who are e~ngagcsp1n
other business, and do not care to
look after the land, OF to corpora
tions and spectators. But they com
tinue to lie here from year to year,
exposed to the rains and washing
worse and worse. Now to a stranger
who is hunting a home here these
places are not only an eyesore, but a
downright and unanswerable argu-
ment against the fertility of u soil.
They iniure the reputation OF the city
and section, and prevent thousands OF
persons from settling here who would
bring both brains and capital.
All these places could be utilized,
and that without any real cost to the
wners. If they We're thoroughly
broken with good two-horse plows,
and seeded in any perennial grass or
annual grain crops, the crops wonld
paw the cost of all such work, and
more. The washing would DC stopped,
eu'Iies would be destroyed. the gap
ing hillsides would be covered with
crops of beautiful verdure. The YER
dant landscape would wear a peren-
=. -. wls ..-4.,11 fAyon md
please the eye of the beholder. Ii the
owners do not wish to dc this work,
having neither taste, time mr. talent
FOR it, it would be greatly to their adj
vantage to rent these lands at a nom
inal price, or entirely free, to parties
who would do the work. Andthere are
thousands of such parties in Atlanta,
eking out az existence, hunting jobs
from day to day, who would be glad
to cultivate these waste places. All
they need is a little encouragement
and a start.
The owners would be clearly bene-
flied by the improvement to the land
under such method of treatment. The
land, if they should wish to sell, would
sell for much more with growing
crops than with a crop of gullies.
Such a course would not only beau
tify the approaches to Atlanta and
the surrounding landscape, but would
really increase the value of the real
estate in the city itself. All the pro-
duce would find a ready sale in the
city. Many a man would be kept use
fully employed who is now an idler.
Such a carpet of living green spread
around the city would be an adver-
tisement better than any now used.
The benefit in this direction would
be so great that it would pay the city
authorities and business men to see
that this is done, ever if it had to be
inaugurated at public expense. After
a few years of such work Atlanta
would be known, not only as the
Contemplating city of the SOUTH" not
onlyasthe healthy city of the SOUTH
but as the city beautiful for situa-
ton, lovely to behold, and a joy for
ever to be looked upon. 1t would be
said of it, as of Jerusalem of old,
beautiful for situation is the city"
of Atlanta, queen city of southern
enterprise.
All that we have said of Atlanta
and surroundings is more or less true
of every city and town in the south,
except a few on the seashore.-South-
ern Cultivator.