The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-06
By D. W. McIver.

Tuscaloosa County is in the mineral belt of the State, there being considerable wealth of minerals as well as great lands vary largely in fertility naturally, but can be brought up to almost any de- gree of production by intelligent and sci 1ntific cultivation. As a rule the soil is ssndy, ont on the river bottoms nSn na tnere ,hs IS lands along the Black Warrior in the lower part of the county are eagerly seusht after. the greatT DOT, Besides these staple products. oats. po- tetoes. peas, rye. sorghum, grasses, clo- yer grow luxuriantly and natural pastur- aGe is good the wear round, with an With all these resources there is no wonder that in Tuscaloosa County there are some of the most prosperous and wealthy farmers in all the State. They makink everything for home consumption xhemselves and carry on their farming operations with the same system and or der of discipline as the merchant carries on his business. One of the leading young farmers of the county is MT. Thomas C. Clinton, who farms in that inviting river bottom section that I have spoken of above. He has carried on his farm with
 much success and when asked about 1t he willingly told his experience, giving the character of the soil and value of his section of the county for farming. He eays that 'in no part of Alabama is there more natural advantages for farming op- erations than in localities South and West of Tuscaloosa This is the section of the county adjacent to the Warrior River. The county is nearly as levea as the Black Belt portion of the State, and is better suited for standing drought. On the other hand this part of country can stand an unusual amount of rain in the summer months and produce satisfactory crops. But a dry fall Is one of the es- eentials of success. On account of the low lying lands a wet fall proves more disastrous to us than most any other mis- fortune that could overtake us. In this river section of country there is two dis river Cthe Warrior River), there is a rich candy aIluvial soil. These bottoms vary in width from one-fourth of a mile to one mile and over. They constitute some of the best corn lands in all the State. Probably an average crop of corn on these lands, per acre, might be about forty to forty-five bushels. Though not infrequently we hear of fifty and sixty bushels per acre. And in the year 1889 my crop averaged fifty-eight bushels to the acre. This. however. was unusual. For that year We had as near the right amount of rain as could be desired.
 'I have at times kept an itemized &C., count of the cost of producing corn on this class of land; and 1t most generally cost me 20 cents per bushel, this included e5 per acre for land rent, which is the prevailing price. Then we have joining this strong river land a yet larger scope Of level land designated as second bot tom.' This embraces thousands of acres from the town of Tuscaloosa, lying on both sides of the river to the line of Hale County. This is ideal land for cotton, oats and hay. In my experience with 500 acre farm for a good many years back. 1t Is this class of land I have mostly handled. The great average of this sec- ond bottom is stiff dark clay. Being stiff 1t is inclined to break up cloddy in the spring.
 .sNow a word to my brother farmers about cloddy land. From a long experi- ence find the great antidote for the evil to consist of fall blowing. To blow stin lands in December that they may be sub- jected to freezes that nearly always comes