The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-01-02
acre. Yet the poor lands Of Jones

county Win mbio "o
blacks to one white, ha1 ing 26,146
blacks and 1899 whites, fequires $50
acres to make a bale of lotion, while
Union county, with three whites to
one black, having II, $3.50 whites and
4.l42 blacks, requires ony z.5o acres
to make a bale. The firm lands or
Noxubee county. are VALID at WIZ
per acre, and fe lands o Union are
valued at $4.8l. Kinds clunty' with
three negroes to one whitemah, nav
ing 1851 blacks and 1901 whites,
requires $50 acres to makea bale,
while Perry county, with NOR than
two whites to one negro, requires 'aly
1876 acres to make a bale. The farfn
lands of Kinds are valued at three
times as much as are those Of Perry.
In the counties of Lefiore, Bolivar and
Washington, where they have about
eight negroes to one white man, but
almost without exception the negroes
are under white managers, they make
one bale to every acre and a half;
while in Lowndes, Noxubee and Mon
roe. where not many white managers
are employed, they make on al 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
parison made between a white county
and a black one, the black was the
most fertile, yet the white was nearly
twice as productive.
l. claim. therefore, by improving The
character of our labor, We can greatly
Increase the production of cotton in
the South. Should conditions demand
1t, the South can greatly increase her
cotton production by reducing der
corn area, and depending, as she form
erly did, upon the North and WesI for
corn, mules and hogs. This col Use
should not be thought of, except to
meet certain conditions that might
arise at some time in the far dis ant
future. 1t is interesting p note thaf his
was one of the methods" used btthe
South from 1850 to 1S9p (excep Nur-
ing the war period Whetl the ma let5
of the world were clOScd) to inc case
her production of C~OttOnl In 1851, the
cotton area Of the ten Municipal ceaOu
producing States vas oy764,03O aues,
while the area devoted to corn vas
14,877, 80G acres. Beginning at, his
time, there was a decided teDdeacy
on the part of the Southern pla,ters
to increase the area in potion al the
sacrifice of that in corn until 1889,
when the cotton area of these ten
States exceeded that Of corn by l.
las, SGT acres. But under the int9lli-
gent leadership Of the agricultural
colleges and experiment stations dur
ing the next ten years, stimulating
diversificatiOn, and the raising OF
more and better live stock, the corn
area was greatly increased until in
1899 it exceeded that Of cotton in
these ten States by 2,094,3 BIG acres.
Should circumstances demand it, his
process can be reversed, as it vas
in 1850.
The area of improved hands In HE
United States is increasing at a m1re
rapid rate than the national popla
ton, even though the urban poptla-
ton is increasing more rapidly than
that of the agricultural districts.
The last census shows that had he
area of improved land increased at
no greater rate than the population,
it would have been 42,915, 1871 ere
less than it actually Is. This fact IS
due to use of improved agricultural
machinery, by mean of which, 1Gie
man in many instances Is able to Mo
the work of from five to twenty. 1Hs
South has felt the influence and
fects of this machinery less than
other section of the country. But
der the teachings of the agricultAa al
colleges, the experiment stations, Fld
the farmers Institutes, this condl ion
is being rapidly changed, and is
only a question OF a few TtarS
when the cotton farmers will be using
as many improved agricultural nipple
ments as any class of farmers in the
land. With a few more improvements
that are sure to be made, the cotton
picker will be an entire success. SeV'
eral pickers have been in operation
this season, and u Textile School
has demonstrated that the cotton mill
machinery has no trouble in removing
the extra trash gathered by the picEer.
The cotton picking machine a ruh
at night as well as in the day tirrf,
which will enable the farmer to ope1-
ate a double force of hands and saye
the great loss Of cotton caused by nal
weather. With the improved disc
plows that are % being made, By
which one man and team can break
six acres a day, with the improved
cu~ltivators by which one man can
do the work of three, and with the
cotton picking machine a practical
success, by which one man a PICK
six bales a day, there Is no limit Ho
u increase in the production Of cpt-
ton, even though our Industrial de-
yelopment along other lines calls tpr
a larger number Of additional mln
who are now doing agricultural worts.
The South can increase and VIII
increase her cotton production nj.
only by more intelligent selection r.
seed, not only by improving the fet-
tility of her soil by every scientiff
and available method, not only by the
improvement of the intelligence amp
skill Of her %laborers, not only by ths
use of more and more of improved
agricultural machinery, but by TN
opening up of new lands to give enl-
ployment to thousands who are cogi
ing from other sections as well as ~
u fast increasing population. ~
realize the vast possibilities for c,N-
pansion along this line one has o2v
to examine the census report, whtd
shows that less than so per cent of til
farm lands of the South are improyfH
The report shows that is Mississil
only 41.6 per cent of the farm land
improved, in North Carolina only
per cent, in South Carolina only 60
per cent, in Georgia only tf0.2s
cent, in Alabama only AIS