The Grenada sentinel., 1904-01-02

come convinced of this, one has only
to exam1ne the statistics OF the last
census which shows the following
facts: Lowndes county with three
to one white man, hav-
ing 21,972 blacks and 7,1z1
whites, requires 3.15 acres 20
make a bale of cotton, while Jones
county with three whites to one negro,
having 1886 whites and 4,670 blacks,
requires 1888 acres to make a bale. :,
The farm lands Of Jones county are /,
valued as found In the census report
at $2.S5 an acre, and the farm lands ,
Of Lowndes county are valued at 1888 /
an acre Yet the poor lands OF Jones |,
county. under intelligent cultivation, ,
produced nearly twice as much per
acre as the rich lands OF
Lovndes county. waen culti-
vated mostly by negroes. Nox-
ubee county With more than five
blacks to one white, having 26,146
blacks and 4,699 whites, requires $50
acres to make bale of cotton. while
Union county, with three whites to
one black, having 1880 whites and
4,142 blacks, requires only 2.56 acres
to make a bale. The farm lands OF
Noxubee county are valued at WIZ
per acre, and the lands of Union are
Vdlu0u dI $3.o1. 11AAuo NOuA~ys "A~A
three negroes to one white man, hav-
ing 1881 blacks and 13,037 whites,
requires $50 acres to make a bale,
while Perry county, with more than
two whites to one negro, acquires only
19G acres to make a bale. The farm
| lands of Kinds are valued at three
times as much as are those of Perry.
| In the counties of Leflore, Bolivar and
Washington, where they have about
| eight negroes to one white man, put
almost without exception the negroes
are under white managers, they make
one bale to every acre and half;
while in Lowndes, NOxubee and Mon
roe. where not many white managers
are employed, they make on an aVera-
age about one bale to three acres.
While this difference Is partly caused
by a difference in the fertility of the
two groups of three counties, yet the
principal reason is due to the supe-
rior intelligence used in the manage.
ment of the first group. This is
proven by the fact that in every com
parfson made between a white county
and a black one, the black was the
most fertile, yet the white was nearly
twice as productive.
claim, therefore, by improving the
character of our labor, we can greatly
, increase the production OF cotton II
the South Should conditions demand
it, the South can greatly increase he1
cotton production by reducing hel
< corn area, and depending, as she form
, erly did, upon the North and West fo1
corn, mules and hogs. This course
: should not be thought of. except t.
5 meet certain conditions that Nigh
: arise at some time in the far distan
2 future. 1t is interesting to note that thi
? was one of the methods used by tn
2 South from 1850 to 1890 Except dur
e ing the war period when the market
= of the world were closed) to increas
: her production of cotton. In 1850. tn
: cotton area of the ten principal cotto
producing States was 6,764,O30 acres
a while the area devoted to corn wa
# 14,877 ,8O6 acres. Beginning at th1
s. time, there was a decided tendenc
= on the part of the Southern planter
S to increase the area in cotton at tn
S sacrifice of that in corn until 1873:
p when the cotton area of these te
e States exceeded that of corn by ]
II las, ,567 acres. But under the INTEL
n gent leadership of the agriculture
Is colleges and experiment stations du
n ing the next ten years, stlmulatln
n diversification, and the raising
e more and better live stock, the COZ
N area was greatly increased until
e 1899 it exceeded that of cotton
e these ten States by 1904, ,316 acre
" Should circumstances demand it, tn
Ill process can be reversed, as it WI
e. in 1850.
r. The area of improved lands in Il
I'd United States is increasing at mo-
st rapid rate than the national pOpul
d, ton, even though the urban popul
a ton is increasing more rapidly thu
at that of the agricultural district
of The last census shows that had u
I'd area of improved land increased
~ no greater rate than the populatio
of it would ,e been 42,915,S91 acr
he less than it actually is. This fact
u due to use of improved agrlcultur
ce machinery, by means of which, O
er man in many instances Is able to
at the work of from five to twenty. I
en- South has felt the influence and
re fects of this machinery less than a
th- other section of the country. But I
ra- der the teachings of the agricultu1
colleges, the experiment stations, a
he the farmers Institutes, this condfti
mt is being rapidly changed, and it
he only a question now OF few yee
Ia when the cotton farmers will be usi
les as many improved agricultural imp
of ments as any class of farmers In
ow land. With a few more improvemel
". that are sure to be made, the cott
ot- picker will be an entire success. s.
,as eral pickers have been in operat1
The this season, and our Textile Sch
re: =: has demonstrated that the cotton
ars machinery has no trouble in remov1
lee the extra trash gathered by the pick
ase The cotton picking machine can
asst at night as well as In the day til
en- which will enable the farmer to or
na- ate q double force of hands and 81
|ro- the great loss of cotton caused by I
weather. With the improved d
rial plows that are now being made,
Yen which one man ana team can Or
the six acres day, with the lmpTO'