The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-04-30
Possibilities Of Mississippi Soil.

that vast area OF Mississippi, know
as the piney woods section. was re
garded as almost worthless. Their,
was then no demand for the Silen
army of stately pines that stood senti
mel over a wide eXpanse of sand!
slopes, seepy creek bottoms and scrub
by underbrush. An occasional cabin
a gourd vine and a tobacco patch con
stituted the Improvements, and tht
chief inhabitants Of that region were
the gopher, the terrapin and the razor
back hog.
It Is different now. The stately
pines are no longer worthless. They
are valuable-exceedingly so-anC
thousands of them have already
tumbled to the demands of the States
expanding commerce.
Many of the sandy slopes have been
reclaimed by thrifty agriculturists, the
seepy bottoms have been shorn OF
their scrubby u%nderbrush, drained and
doctored into a high state of cultiya,
ton.
The gopher, the terrapin, and the
raZor-baCk hog have vanished in the
wake of civilization-and likewise the
occasional cabin, the gourd vine and
the tobacco patch.
Towns and cities have sprung up
almost in a night, and the few stand
ing pines whisper softly a song that
is full of the sweet beni2ons Of peace
and prosperity.
When the last pine is fallen and the
WoOdman's axe ceases to echo across
the sandy slopes; when the razor.
back has hushed his grunt, and the
gopher and the terrapin remain only
a memory in the mind of the Oldest
Inhabitant-even then, that section
will be blessed with plenty-fOr the
soil, so recently considered worthless,
'espOnds readily to the touch of the
intelligent husbandman and produces
,bundantly.
No section of the world is now
prosperous than the once des.
pincy woods of Mississippi, and
here is every eason to believe that
prosperity will be permanent.
-X-X-
There is lots of railroad building
II old Mississippi these days. Fac
cries are being built here and there
III over the commonwealth New and
letter school houses are being erected
and fences are being jmnroved
houses and barns are taking the
faces of the common and unsightly
that once the hills
nd valleys of the State and peace
nd plenty abounds evervwhere In
of the wide world there is NOT a
n nrosnerous neonle and certainlv
lrtune which has come to hush the
ry of need-not the need of thirst
nd hunger felt in the famished re.
ions of the arid West, for the soil
[ Mississippi has always produced
bundantly, but the need of an indus
'ial and agricultural awakening, such
now pervades every nook and cor.
er Of the State.
Ky
Mr. StuyVesant Fish president of
he ILLINOIS, Cehtrai hallroad company,
.keS an actlFe interest IN all matters
AT are calculated 10 dVanc the in
lstrlal, commercial and agricultural
terests of Mississippi. His company
the largest property owner in the
.ate, hence, what he has to say is
ways read with interest. In regard
our road system, Mr.. Fish says: u
that the time is near at hand
hen the people Of the South will
ore fully realize the advantages to
derived from good roads, and act {
cordingly. 1t is, after all. only a plain
Isiness proposition. For instance,
w long could we run our trains. or
w would we be able to maintain 7
nited schedules. if the roadhed Of
e Illinois Central was not kent in
condition? II is the sama wav
TN tho nuhIir hiphwave Tho f,r,or, C.
mot expect to derive A full measure v
prosperity, or TO obtain the nroat q
their farminp onoratiors ~ -
itch they are iustIv entitled nr,oso :,
have good roads oyar which @@ =
rrv their nr0durts IN marriott
-,
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