The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-13
AGRICULTURAL
AGRICULTURAL WEALTH

several weeks ago my attention was called to an article in one of our great papers on the Agricultural Wealth of our country. The writer put considerable stress on the souths shortage in the production of this great volume of agri- cultural wealth. I filed the paper, but can not now find it, but l recall that the writer made 1t a point to show that the south was short of what she should be producing by an enormous sum. This set me to thinking and l have been look ing for some of the reasons for this con dition that would warrant the writer's statements. After Investigating the mat ter, am led to conclude that the writer was correct
 In the first place, we find that some of our great northwestern states, such as Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, have Co depend almost entirely upon agriculture and horticulture for their revenues. These states have no timber to export; have hut few manufacturing industries and these are as a rule in their experi- mental or infant state These facts being true, it necessarily forces the best talent of these states to the farms If we should eliminate agriculture and horti- culture in either of the three states named they would soon go back to wild grass and cactus brush and become a habitation fit only for jack rabbits, coy otes, prairie dogs, owls, rattlesnakes and bats.
 In many of our southern states the case is different. In Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee there is great wealth in mines and in the forests and this is also true of most of the southern states. The demand for the product of these mines and forests has been so great for the last few years that the larger part of the capital. as well as the best intellect and the strongest muscle. have been em- ployed in developing mining and lum- berinS industries. Besides this, the man. ufaeturing interests of the south have l been growing rapidly for the past few years. Great cotton mills, oil mills and many other like industries have sprung up in many parts of the south all of which have drawn labor largely from the farms. For some time after the civil war, the negro population of the south were all engaged In agricultural work. This condition has changed our colored farmers have been leaving the farms. Many go north, others go to the public works and this has gone on until the negro in many sections of the south has ceased to be a factor in the production of agricultural wealth.
 While the people of many of the south ern states have been educating them selves in lumber. mining and manufae- turing, the people of the great north western states have been forced to edu- cate themselves along the most scientific
  ton of farm products These are some a of the reasons why the bulk of our agr- cultural wealth is being produced in the north and west. There are other reasons also for this condition, which it may be well to notice. There is no denying the fact that nature has favored the north west in way of soil, and has made 1t much easier and less expensive to pro- duce crops here than it is in many sec tions of the southern states. Here in the west we find farmers that will SOW from twenty to sixty acres of small grain and plant from forty to sixty acres of corn for one team to handle This is far diff ferent from the many hilly sections of the south where the farmer is narrow ed down to the use of a one-horse blow and where from fifteen to twenty acres is as much as man and his horse can handle.
 Steam Flows Used.
 In many sections of the west steam blows are now brought into use and whole fields are broken, the seedbed pre- pared and the land seeded all in one day. After all this difference in natural a1f ntages in favor of the west should not discourage the southern farmer from better system of soil culture or from making the best of his conditions It Is fact that the southern farmers as a class have not made the advance in agriculture that the soil and climate of the south will allow While the western farmer may have the advantage in soil, yet there are many things in favor of the southern farmer.
 The farmer of the south has the ad- vantage in markets, for he has home market for everything he can produce, except cotton, which Is the only crop that would bring him in competition with the western farmer This condition leads me to conclude that one of the first steps necessary for the increase of agricultural wealth in the south would be for the older southeastern states to drop the cotton crop entirely and turn their attention and energies to rotation of a line of crops that will enable them to increase their agricultural wealth without doing so at the expense of their soils, for the farm CTS in these older states can never com pete with the new west in the production of cotton.
 There are other points that it may be well to notice, for, as before stated. many of our southern farmers are not making that careful study of farming that they should in order to obtain great results. Take the conditions of agriculture of Iowa and Arkansas as an illustration. In Iowa the farmers have developed their farms up to such high state of culti- vation that here the earnings of the man who tills the soil are greater than in any other state in the union. In Iowa the average earnings of the farmer are Sl1So per year, While Tn ArkanSdS the earnings of the farmers are only $460 per year, difference of SIPS in favor of the Iowa farmer. Now there are reasons for this great difference, besides that of na- tural advantages which favor Iowa There are two great reasons for this which I will here mention. In the first place. the Iowa farmers have been edu- cated to know how to prepare their seed beds, how to care for their lands and how to breed and select their seed In fact, all the details of farming have been studied until they know how to make every days work on their farms count and how to grow the largest crops at the least expense. The farmers of Arkansas. as a rule are not as we'll up In these matters as they should be. Again we find that in Iowa every farm hand has at his service two good strong horses, while in Arkansas there are three farm hands for every work animal on the . farm. There is also a great difference in Zkhe service and power of the farm horse ,4of Iowa and those of Arkansas. The aver Rage farm horse in Iowa will give three Btimes the service that the Arkansas horse ls able to give. So we see that one of .h first things that Is needed on the