Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1907-08-23

An Illinois farmer in a recent letter
to the Clarksdale Register threw out
some hints and introduced matter that
seems to be we'll worth investigation
The subject Of drainage in the delta
is an important one, as well as other
sections of the state, and the letter is
reproduced here that it may be gen.
orally read and considered:
Early in the year I wrote you n
letter in which | stated some conclu-
sions of my own with reference to the
delta and the possibilities of the delta
and the future of yonl ~onderful Sec
ton have been more impressed on me
by a recent trip through Georgia.
Georgia is booming. The farmer
there is in almost as good fix, TAX
ing him as a class, as the farmer in
Illinois. He is farming on a paying
basis and is paying casn for what he
buys. Goods drainage, COW peas and
deep blowing are making of him au
independent man. And Georgia is
raising more cotton 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 fol-
lows suit.
Now it seemed very strange to
Zne that country like Georgia with
its steep hills, poor soil, gullies ana
large tracts of vacant land could make
money out of farming and support
large and growing cities and towns
while the delta, the most valuable
tract of cotton-growing land on
earth, Egypt alone excepted, should
be in debt and stay in debt, with no
prospect of getting out of debt. 1t
insults mans common sense. 1t il
an absurd proposition. Why is it so
"To 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 cultivation a
hilltop or wet land it is not cult
waited. In the delta the people culti-
vate year by year and at loss each
year, wet land which cannot be profit
ably farmed. This is a serious pro-
position. Much more serious than most
Of your people imagine. To give
you an illustration: A southern friend
Of mine in one of your lower delta
counties had on his plantation a wet
fiat which was farmed by tenant
who bore an excellent reputation as
q good, hard working farmer. This
man had 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 profit, and it was not
possible for the planter to derive any
profit from it. At my suggestion, my
friend put string of tile under his
land with two laterals. Results: The
first year that family paid their cur
rent account and cut 1862 of that
debt.
"There is one feature Of drain
age that most of the planters do not
seem to grasp. 1 mean the enormous
economy Of it. Replanting for in
stance, is hardly ever necessary on
tile-drained land. And the drainage
saves many extra plowings. 1t en-
ables 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
enables the planter to plan his work
in advance without having his plans
disarranged. 1t enables the tenant
to pulverize his land sooner and get
it in a condition to stand a drough.
1t makes the work easier on mules
and on tenants. 1t does away with
one of the great sources of loss to a
plantation, the base, wet, water-killed
spots where the hardest work is done
and the least profit derived. It keeps
the plant growing and thus work cas-
Ter, more profitable, more certain,
more healthy and more pleasant. 1t
brings more certainty Of result into
the planters life and enables him to
escape the terrible uncertainty of an
agricultural occupation. It enables
him to know what he can count on and
what he cax afford. It gives him
more leisure and less worry.
II saw an amusing example of
what tile would do for piece of land
in the delta which adjoined piece
that was not drained. The friend
who | mentioned above put in his
first string of tile several years ago.
His land was Of the same kind as that
of his neighbor across the fence, and
they each had about the same sized
tracts which were wet. The first
year was very fine one for cotton
and there was only a slight difference
in the amount each tract yielded. The
neighbor of course. leased my friend