Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-04-06
500 AN ACRE.
Secretary Wilson Has orsat Hopes For
the South.

Secretary of Agriculture James Wh-
son, VINO mas JUST Deen Teappointed py
president TAFT, mas not only seen the
usefulness OF the department doupie In
rne Twelve ricn years ot mis- service as
secretary, but ne mas done especially
notable work In the south. Perhaps no
otner section Of the country, IN tacl
is getting quite so much from the DE-
parlment now as the cotton Deit Ine
south. too, appreciates this. ana tne
south Carolina Farmers Union and
otner agricultural organizations urged
upon president Taft Ine importance OF
continuing mar. Wilson In otice-and
not without effect, so II Is generally
believed. When In Washington city
a few days ago Editor-in-C Chief Foe
of the Progressive Farmer. called on
the secretary and found him deeply
interested In all southern question:.
"The southern farmer, ne declared,
"1s making very gratifying progress.
He is going forward, and we are anx-
ious to have the department co-oper-
ate as fully as possible In the gooo
work.
ABOUT the biggest need of the south,
In my opinion, Is to get rid or the cat
tie tick so that there will be nothing
in the way Of stock raising. You can
handle cattle more cheaply than we OF
the north. In the first place, you have
so much milder winters; In my nome
state Of Iowa, for example. there was
seven inches of snow on the ground
last week. and all the stock must be fed
at so much heavier expense tnan In
une south. Then there Is your cotton
seed, that magnificent cattle feed Feed
IL to your cattle, and you will even
tually take half your present acreage
and grow more cotton than you now
grow on the whole acreage.
"The southern farmer should make
1t a rule never to let anybody get the
nitrogen away from his farm. Let the
lint alone be sold OF, and wise farming
will make and keep your lands fertile
forever.
"The rolling lands Of the south ought
to grow more sheep. Put some woven
wire "a to 80 inches high around the
pastures and not even dogs can bother
them. And hogs, Of course. can be
grown with you everywhere; there
should be plenty OF them.
"Your cowpea is a great advantage,
and should be much more largely utii-
lied than 1t already Is In building up
the land. Better drainage also holds
out much promise for the south. TIL
ing will give life to many an acre now
sour, soggy and Improbable. should
also like to see farmers give atten-
to utilizing rocky, steep or untiiiapie
lands Of any kind In growing wood.
Wood and lumber are bound to become
increasingly valuable with the rapid
exhaustion Of our virgin forests, ana
few lines Of endeavor will pay better
than judicious forestry work. Put your
abandoned fields to growing timber.
Another phase of agricultural work
hot INT IL
ly Is the new interest in daiEying.
Wherever the people set about organ
izing a central dairy, the department
of agriculture will send man down
to help about the building, buying the
outfit and getting the work started.
Our dairy division Is at the service OF
your people.
"That the south ought to raise. its
own colts instead Of sending to Mis-
souri, for mules goes without saying
Here, again, you can raise what you
With your mild winters, longer grow
ing seasons, and greater variety OF
crops, you can beat US every time.
Yes, the south Is making progress,
and 1t has great future-there Is no
doubt about it-and it is going to make
astonishing progress In these next ten
years. With proper attention to STOCK
raising and legume growing you can
bring up your lands to make two bales
Of cotton per acre, and wherever land
will do that, every acre OF 1t Is easily
worth 500. That ought to be your
aim.
~ believe it absolutely, and have
no hesitation in saying It: With good
farming In six or seven years time
you can make your southern lands
worth 500 an acre. 1t ought to be
done, and the department Of agricul-
ture Is here to cooperate with the
southern farmer in every possible way
in bringing about that result."-Prog-
ressiye Farmer.