The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1903-06-26
Farm Life In Old MississiD
Norhern Farmer IeMs About and Nll1er

the Shenandoah Iowa. Sentinel, by a
former resident Of that county page. J
1t is just little bit the most lucid
description of farm life in the far
south, as northern man finds 1T,
that we have ever seen. Mr.. Brewer,
the writer OF it, is a strong Republic
can, by the way, though politics do
not enter into his description of the
country. People who sometimes
think they would like to so south
and show them how to farm will get
some ideas from this letter. The
letter is as follows:
| We landed here in Monroe county,
Miss, Dec. %, 1894. Bought 40 acres
Of land two and a half miles west Of
Muldon, which is our post Office. l
paid Sl2 per acre. The years '95 and
| '96 were very prosperous ones in the
South. Big cotton crops and good
prices. Lots of land changed hands
and several northern families moved
in. But l am sorry to say most all Of
them have moved back north again
wiser but poorer in most cases. Only
one other northern family and our
selves remain in this neighbOrho
We receive great many letters from
sthe North asking all about the country
and perhaps it would be we'll for me to
say something about it in this letter.
This and few adjoining counties
are all right, good soil for cotton
and a few kinds Of grass. We raise
some pretty good corn but nothing
like the amount per acre that is
grown on Iowa soil; 25 to 35 bushels
per acre is considered good here and is
worth from 40 to 80 cents per bushel.
Right now it is worth IS cents I
boughta car load last month that cost
me So cents. 1t pays to raise cotton
and buy the corn because corn won't
grow on all kinds of land but cotton.
will. It's an old saying that it's a
poor rule that won t work both ways,
but here is a case where it don't work.
Any land that will made good corn
will make good cotton, but all land
that will make good cotton went
make good corn. 1t takes a northern
man long time to learn what each
kind of land is good for and it is
very necessary that he knows all
these facts because there are SO many
different kinds OF land. You will find
as many as three kinds in one acre in
some localities. Many anorthern man
has went broke because he tried to
show the southern man how to farm
by planting and tending a crop the
same as he did in the North. But he
finds out it won't do, and he also finds
out it's pretty hard to show southern
man how to work negroes.
4 Our soil is all OF a gumbo ma ture, is
very sticky when wet and gets as
hard as rock when very dry. An
Iowa man laughs when he sees oul
plows, they are so small. 1t takes 9
, good span of mules to pull an 8 incl
plow; the same team would pull q /.
inch plow much easier in Page county
B dirt. We fight morning glory vines
sarsaparilla vines, crab grass, cOckl,
burrs, cowitch vines and craW-fish Of
our cultivated lands The craw-tist
area very troublesome little pest ant
we very often have to plant a crop tw'
or three times in order to get a goo,
stand. There are two kinds Of them
the red ones and the common ol,
blue ones. They make little cistern
in the lime rock which is from eigh
to twelve feet below the surface Il
our neighburhood and as many as
peck will live in cistern. Theys ar
in every kind Of land, high or low, bu
not in all the land. / have Seyera
acres of them and It's the best land
have. They come up and cut dow
the cotton and corn on rainy night
as long as it is small and tender
They can clean up a crop equal t
Kansas grass hoppers. The onl
thing that saves us is they work onl
e at night and in the rain, so we Some
times get crop up SO it is too bi
and tough for them before we hay
the rain at night.
Bermuda grass, johnson gras
Mellolotus or sweet clover and CO
peas all grow. to perfection and max
the very best of hay and lots Of i
= = We always find ready sale for it fro,
; !. ss to sl2 per ton. What few men al
lu in the business are getting ricl
Horses, hogs and cattle do well. III
is climate is fine; lumber cheap, woo
II plenty and In fact we have eyerythin
o needed to build homes and make GOO
d farms, il we only had white me
=; =; enough To make use of the things ths
+ nature has put. down for man. I'll
s worst draw back to this country
!, the negro. What is to become OF Iii
and this country is one Of the create!
problems that has ever faced a natio