The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-05
CANE AND CASSAVA.
Some Suggestions for south Georgia
Farmers.

Farmers.
Nahunta, Ga, May "a short review
of the recent Brunswick Sugar Cane
and Cassava Convention may not be
without interest. That convention
caused quite a stir among the farmers
Of Georgia, Florida and other states.
The question asked by many is, what
good results come from such conven-
tions? They are highly educational.
The promoters of them are aware that
there are possibilities in our piney
wood lands yet unknown to the most
of us. Our climate cannot be equaled
short of Sunny Italy, our soil is far su-
perior to the soil of that country, and
the diversity of products is almost nn-
limited. Our geographical position puts
us in touch with the whole civilized
world. All parts of the world are seek
ing our products, and, as Secretary
Wilson said in his able address before
the Brunswick convention, we ought 10
call a halt on the. export of one of
cur products, and that is cotton seed
meal He said, let them have the cot
ton seed oil, but it was a sad thing
to see us sell our cotton seed meal 20
foreigners, who bought it for the pur-
pose Of making butter, cheese and 10
fatten cattle, and that we sometimes
bought these articles from them, pay
ing as much as 200 per cent. profit. We
ought not to allow such an enriching
material to leave our country, but
keep it, and make butter, cheese and
to fatten cattle. The cassava and VIZ
vet lean, sc well adapted to our soil
and climate, is bound to reVolutionize
our system of farming. This is the
country in which to raise the worlds
supply of beef. In the West it takes
about all the fat cattle put on in the
sumner to keep them alive in the
winter. Here in winter cattle fatten
at the rate of from two to three
pounds a day on the velvet bean, cas-
sava and our cotton seed meal. Does
this not show that the South is !ae
coming section for the cattle farmers!
Prof H. E.. Stockbridge had a piece
of beef at the convention raised in
Florida, and fed on velvet beans ana
cassava seventy days. The steer from
which it was taken put on over SUI
pounds of meat in that limited time,
and this increase, counting all costs,
made the beef cost about cents
oo,.ud. against s cents as the cost OF
Western beef The West cannot hold
tie beef market against such ngures.
Col. Wade read a paper on cassaVa ana
velvet leans as a ration for peel cat
tie. go ,
The cassava, as a milk producer
cannot be eQualed, not even Dy col'oh
seed meal AS a chicken feed for egg
nrnduction 1t is hard to beat. These
Few Joints are educational, and of the
kind that is calculated. to do our peo-
. x,ocf amount of good
The foregoing remarks were prlncl-
nallv intended to encourage the plant
ing of the velvet beans and cassaVa as
money crops. AS makers of beef pork,
noultrv, eggs and starch, they cannot
he beaten. But sugar cane leads thenl
all. It has been shown by DR.. w. u
Stubbs of the Louisiana Sugar expert
ment Station, and by DR.. whey OF the
Agricultural Department at Washing
~ tnat fine sugar cane grown in
South Georgia does produce more SUI
gar per acre than either LOUISIANA,
C,uha or any of the West India islands,
and that we do produce the finest taDle
syrup in the known world. There has
bean svruns made from South Georgia
sugar cane that, in comparison with
the finest Vermont maple syrup car
ried off the premium. 1t mas peen
demonstrated that it can be shipped to
the e1dS OIL the edl ILL., III o4AS NAN. $50
| climates, without fermentation or sour
ing, providing it is properly made.
This Georgia and Florida sugar cane
business\ is quite a profitable one to
those WHO handle it properly
We ho1e the Agricultural Depart
ment at Washington will be able to
| help us oft in this matter. and viii
produce a plan so as every one that
makes syru1 will make it upon an es-
tablished formula, and thus produce
uniform product. This is one OF the
objects Score airy Wilson has in view.
This is a very important matter, as it
will stimulate he syrup industry to its
proper magnitude. and will be the
means of enhancing the values of
farming lands from one to five hundred
| fold.
Those who feel they are land poor
should give encouragement to the cul-
tivation of cane for syrup making.
]. NJ. Jardine.
Nichols. Ga.