The Tupelo journal., 1907-08-23

BIT H. 4. BLAKEsLEE, JAcKsos.

An Illinois farmer in a recent letter
to the Clarksdale Register, threw out
some hints and introduced matter that
seems to be well worth investigation.
The subject of drainage in the Delta is
an important one, as well as other Sec
tions of the State, and the letter is
reproduced here tn,t it may be gener-
ally read and considered:
EARLY in the year | wrote you a let
ter, in which I stated some conclusions
of my own with reference to the Delta
and the possibilities of the Delta, and
the future of your wonderful section
have been more impressed on me by a
recent trip through Georgia.
Georgia is booming. The farmer
there is in almost as good a fix, taking
him as a class, as the farmer in Hi
nois. He is farming on a paying basis
and is paying cash for what he buys.
Good drainage, COW peas and deep plow-
ing are making of him an independent
a And Georgia is raising more cot
ton than Mississippi. Furthermore, she
will increase the gap the next year, and
the year after, and she will keep on
increasing the gap until Mississippi
wakes up and follows suit.
"Now, it seemed very strange to me
steep hills, poor soil, gullies and large
tracts of vacant land, could make money
out of farming and support large and
growing cities and towns while the Del
ia, the most valuable tract of cotton
growing land on earth. Egypt alone ex-
cepted, should be in debt and stay in
debt, with no prospects of getting out
of debt. 1t insults a mans common
sense 1t is an absurd proposition. Why
Is it so?
ITO begin with: In Georgia they do
not cultivate land at a loss every year.
In the Delta they do. If there is no
profit in Georgia in %cultivating a hill
top or wet land it is not cultivated. Z In
the Delta the people cultivate year by
year and at a loss each year, wet land
which cannot be profitably farmed. This
is a serious proposition. Much more
serious than most Of your people mag
inc. To give you an illustration: A
Southern friend of mine in one OF YOU
lower Delta counties had on his planta-
ton a wet fiat, which was farmed by
a tenant who bore an excellent reputa-
ton as a good, Woodworking farmer.
This man had a large family, in which
there were three big boys, and together
they worked rs acres of land. In three
years this family rolled up a debt of
$500. The land could not be farmed at
a profit, and it was not possible for the
planter to derive any profit from it.
At my suggestion my friend put a
string of tile under his land with two
laterals. Results: The first year that
family paid their current account and
cut 1862 of that debt.
"There is one feature of drainage that
most of the planters do not seem to
grasp. I mean the enormous economy
of it.. Replanting, for instance, is hard
ly ever necessary on t~ile-drained land.
And the drainage saves many extra
plowings. 1t enables the planter to lay
by his crop sooner: it makes the use
Of day hands less necessary for helping
out a tenant who is behind with his
blowing on account of wet land. 1t en-
ables the planter to plan his work in
advance without having his plans dis
arranged. 1t enables the tenant to pull
verize his land sooner and get it in a
condition to stand a drouth. 1t makes
the work easier on mules and on tenants.
It does away with m of the great
sources of loss to a plantation, the bare,
wet, water-killed spots where the hard
est work is done and the least profit
derived. 1t 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.
1t brings more certainty of result into
the planters life and enables him to es-
cape the terrible uncertainty of an agri.
cultural occupation. 1t enables him to
know what he can count on and what
he can afford. 1t gives him more leis-
ure and less worry.
ri saw an amusing example of what
tile would do for a piece of land in the