Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1907-08-22
BIT Il T. BLAKEsLEE. JAcr,o.

An Illinois farmer in a recent letter
TO the Clarksiale Register. threw out
some hints and introduced matter that
seems to be well worth inve~ivs,iou
The subject Of drainage in the Delta i.
an important one. a. well as other se--
tions of the State. and the litter i.
reproduced here tat il NAV be gener-
ally read and considered:
Early IN the year I wrote you a let
ter, IN which I stated some conclusion.
Of my own with reference TO the Delta
and the possibilities Of the Delta. snf
the future OF your wonderful section
have been more impressed on me by a
recent trip through Georgia
Georcia i booming The farmer
there y IN almost as good fy. taking
him as class. a. the farmer in IIIi-
noi<- He i farming on a paying basis
ami - paving cash for what he buys
Good drainage. COW peas and deep plow-
ing are making of him IN independent
man And Georgia is raising more cot
ton than Mississippi Furthermore. .h~
will increase the gap the uex, wear. s-i
the year after. and she viii keep on
Increasing the gap until Mis<issippi
wakes UP and follows sri,.
Nov. il seemed very strange to me
that country Ike Georgia. with it,
steep hiil>. poor soil. gullie< and large
tracts of vacant lsnd. could make money
cut Of farming ami support large and
growing cities and towns while the D~l-
In. the most valuable tract Of cotton
growing hnf on earth. Egyps alone ex-
ewptsd. shouh ~ in deb, and s,ay IN
debt with no prospects Of getting ou,
Of debt II insults a mans common
sense II is an absurd proposition Why
!. Il 50,
TO begin with. In Gsorgia thev do
not cultivate land at a lu-s every wear.
In the Delta they do II there i M
profit in Georgia in eul;ivatiny a hill
top or wet land it i. not cultivated. In
the Delta the people cultivate wear bv
year and at loss each year. we, lari
vhich cannot b prustablv fsrmed- This
Is a serious proposition Much more
serious than most of your people irna--
me To give you IN illustration: A
Southern friend Of mins in one os vour
hwer Delta counties had on his planta-
finn a vet far. which was fsrrn~d hy
tenant who bore an exeellsnt repufa-
tiou a. a good. hardworkinx farmer.
This man had hry~ family. in which
there were three big hoy-. and together
thsy worked - acres Of land. In three
years this family rolled up a debt Of
$500. The lani could not b. farneSl at
. profit. and il vas rot possible for the
planter to derive any profit from il.
At nv suggestion nv frieDd put a
string Of tile under his land with two
hterals- Results The srst year that
family paid their current account and
cut $50 of that debt
There j. one feature Of drainage that
most q the planters do not seem to
grasp. mean the enorurous economy
Of IL Beplanting. for instance. i hard
" ever necessary on tile-drain@d hnl
And the drainage saves many extra
pIcwiags. IL enables ,he planter TO law
BY his crop sooner: IL makes the use
Of day hands less necessary for helping
out tenant who j. behini with his
plowing on account OF wet Land II en-
abs the planter to plan his work in
advance without having his plans dis
arranged II enables the tenant TO pull
verire his land sooner and get il in a
eonditiou 10 stand a drouth- IL makes
the work easier on mules and on tenants
II does away with one Of the great
sources of loss to a plantation. the bare.
wet. waterkilled spots where the hard
est work i dore and the least profit
derived II keeps the plant growing and
thus hastens and lengthens the fruit
bearing season And tile makes farm
work easier. more profitable. more GER
tain. more healthy and more pleasant
II brings more certainty Of result into
the Planters life and enables him to es-
cape the terrible uncertainty OF an agr:-
cultural occupation IL enables him to
know what he can count on and what
Re can afford II gives him more leis-
ure and less worry.
Il saw an amusing example Of what
tii- would do for a piece of land in the