The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-05-03
a LETTER FROM
THE FAR WEST
,ppLIRe WAVES SENDS AN m
rsREsTINe ACCOUNT OF LIFE
IN THE NEW LANDS.

BEFORE leaving MISSISSIPPI county,
Arkansas. February fifth, for my west
ern home, | promised to write you a
letter about this country; and al
,sougb / have been here two and one
ali months, the letter Is still unwrit-
ten. but | feel like dropping in on you
mis- morning with our wall about how
me weatherman has been treating US
ont west and to let Maury countians
know they are not I'm 1t" alone.
In the first place. he has been en-
tirely too stingy with his rain, which
seems especially tough to those of us
lust hailing from Arkansas, where he
is most lavish with 1t at this season of
the year. We had a good rain here
January fifth, with few light howers
at intervals, and the very hottest of
weather in March, the mercury stand
ing at one hundred in the shade on the
twentieth, at which time the prairies
we're afire, all about US. fiiling the at
mosphere with smoke and SCOT from
the burning grass, with which the wind
played hide and seek, In the fields, in
the house, and even our eyes and ears;
and then after all this and we had dis
carded our winter raiment for those Of
lighter texture, on last Wednesday
night he sent us a freezing tempera-
ture, and Saturday morning a two-inch
snow greeted our waking eyes. The
day was cold throughout, but Sun
day was warmer; gentle rain that
night melted the snow and Monday the
farmers started their plows In earnest
and with enthusiasm.
Land that has been in cultivation
two and three years did not suffer so
much for lack of rain, as it seems to
be the nature of this soil to retain
moisture sufficient to make It work
easily and to terminate the seed In
very dry weather, after having been
cultivated a few years, which Is the
opposite Of the sod land and that Of
one years cultivation.
The Steam PIow.
AS there are no forests to be clear. |
ed up, the work Of turning sod is the |
farmers greatest task, for which they |
use disc riding plows, usually working !
four horses; but one Of our progressive
is far seeing, and on a
neighboring farm we witnessed his
work Of turning sod with a steam pillow
4 few days ago. A forty horse power
traction engine pulling twenty-four
iisc plows across field, turning
eighty acres or so every twenty-four
,ours, is indeed a marvellous feat to
IS, but it is a fact that is being accom-
olished every day that a working crew
an be secured at night, otherwise
'nly forty acres are turned. He
harges one dollar and fifty cents an
ere, and has contracted to turn six
thousand acres for one ranchman In
his vicinity. He will use the engine
D his wheat thresher later on.
The late cold snap did not injure
Dung corn sufficiently to justify plow-
lg it up and planting 1t over, and as
tile cotton seed had been planted,
one had come up to be injured. Oats,
1dian Corn and Kafir corn. milo
laize and cotton constitute the princi-
al crops. though alfalfa and wheat ]
row well here and it will be just . I
latter of few years until all these I
-oducts will be grown profitably.
Until few years ago this entire ,
'unty (Wheeler) as well as others in
is part of the state, was considered
lapted to cattle and stock raising on
and little attention was given to
rming.
Ranchmen paid less than twenty-five
nts an acre for the land and now it
selling at from three to twenty
liars an acre. BY persistent adver-
ing, real estate dealers have sue T
eded in attracting a steady tide of '
ligration here and farms OF from {
yhty to six hundred and forty acres v
e fast being settled upon. b
The railroads also own lot OF land j
ing their lines and have lost no n
ne in advertising, and by Offering u
cap rates twice month have e.
med much for the western country s
ar to the Pacific Ocean. Il
rhe Union depot at Memphis, Tenn, N
s crowded with people coming west W
February fifth, as 1t WAS also in "
tober and November. At both times "
vas leaving there for the Territory, tc
! I wondered each time, where do VI
the people come from? II remind II
me Of the fellow in Mother Goose
ries as he crossed the London
dye. met a heap Of people,
ne OF whom were "nicker some