The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-07-17
FARMING I'm
THE SOUTH
OTHER MONEY CROPS FOR
SOUTHERN FARMER.
Many Things for Many Markets.
Stock Raisins-sugar Cane as a
Money-Maker.

The prevailing belief that cotton
is the only money crop for the south
has almost bankrupted many of our
people. And its universal growth up
/. on the same soils year in and year
at has been a fearful drain upon
4heir fertility. No record is given
& where an agricultural people have
maintained the productiYeness of their
lands, and themselves grown in
wealth, where a one-crop system has
been the rule.
Nine out Of ten men growing cotton
today viii tell you that it is the one
and only money crop. Many are hon
est in this claim, for they know very
little of the possibilities of our soils
in producing other crops, and less
about making, gathering and market.
ing any other crop.
Some of our leading argiculturists
have been advocating diyersification
of crops for decades, with apparently
little reward for their teachings. But
The time Is rapidly approaching when
this system viii be forced upon US
whether we want it or not. Several
changed conditions are upon us, which
will make this method the only tenable
one for our farmers. > One Of the
chief factors in bringing about this
change is the unsettled and unreliable
state of our agricultural labor, which
makes It utterly impossible to cult
vate or gather cotton as formerly.
Another cause for the change is the
sure and rapid Impoverished of our
lands by the constant growth Of one
crop on il. This method soon robs our
most fertile soil OF all its human and
vegetable matter, leaving it in condi-
ton to be worked of by the excessive
rains we have at certain seasons.
Besides we ara nearing the limit in
available cotton lands in this country,
there being comparatively small areas
to be cleared and brought into culti-
ration, after we have worn out the
soils we already have in cotton. Our
fcrefathers followed this method too
long for it ever to be adopted to
great extent by ourselves.
The Boil Weevil a Factor.
While all the above are factors to
be reckoned with, the most TO be
dreaded, and the one with the most
far-reaching results 10 our entire
country is the rapid, unchecked and
seemingly uncheekable march of The
boil weevil, which IS unauestionably
destined to cover our entire cotton
growing states within the next few
years.
To show that other crops can be
grown from which money can be OBJ
tanned, with less labor, less financial
risk, and with a far less drain upon
our initial savings bank-the soil
will be the object OF the writer OF
this article.
We will start out with the assump-
ton that any crop that can be sue
cessfully grown, and viii furnish food
for man or beast is a money crop,
whether consumed on the farm where
grown, or sold 10 other parties. For
IL we grow all cotton, and buy all
our foodstuff for man and stock, as
great number Go, it is very evident to
any sensible man that they are all
money crops to some one, and we
think this season, judging from open
Ing prices for these articles, the farm
er, who has them TO buy, will decide
that they are very much of a money
crop.
So let's start out in 1909 to grow
everything we need to feed ourselves
and stock, with some to spare, and all
the cotton we possibly can, after do
ing this. My belief is that we will
not need warehouse to put it in for
fair prices, and that the terrors OF the
boil weevn will be greatly lessened.
We have noted during our thirty
odd vA,,s experience that the man
who follows this pia,9. is the one thai
feels hard times, money pafles, SaoFs !
crops, etc, with the least degree of
.,1-s--H--sz5-s-~7
concern.