The Southern farm gazette., 1909-06-19
Whose Fault is 1t if Your Land Re-
mains Poor?

LA> land is poor. what kind and amount OF fer
SS tizer shall | use?" for this. that the
other crop. And yet, in nine cases out OF ten,
these men have been cultivating that land
for years and still the only report is. that II Is
poor. Whose fault is It that the land remains
poor? There are men all over the South whose
land. once poor is getting more and more produc-
tive and yet there are thousands scratching away
land they know will not make good crop.
and yet who make effort TO get out OF the old
ruts and try to improve their land. Only the old
hopeless dribbling OF a little 2-S2 in hopes
that by some sort Of a miracle they may be able
to make a crop to sell Talk about gambling in
stocks and futures but II the farming OF many
land owners In the South is not the most hopeless
gambling on futures. | do not know anything
tha; Is.
The same old scratching with a single mule
nd q tooth-pck plow. the same old methods Of
estivation and the same old results that the fer
nlzer men and the merchants own the cotton.
These are tho men who do not believe In book
farming" and the greatest desire OF their lives
Is a formula" that ~ill give them more cotton
10 sell and will no; cos, much These the
who keep stock and do not have
milk for their coffee. And yet. know NJ least
one man. who went in debt for \ piece o. land as
poor any OF the sand hills OF the South. and
who. folks said. Was agreeing TO pay three times
what the land worth. Bat today. that man
"A
has barn bigger than aimoat any church. and
last year cleared $40 600. and has refused so
acre for the old sandy land ho bought years ago
for little over $40 an acre. when no one thought
II worth bali that much. But be believed In book
farming. and has made fortune because he acted
on his belief. He does not tell any one that hs
and is poor. though he likes TO tell how poor II
know a man who Inherited a fairly good farm
bu, did not believe in book farming" He
thought that farming was simply hard work and
eradgery but he knc~ O! nothing better. lie
kAx lived years and the farm II poorer than when
&c took possession OF IT, lie haa worked hard.
Lived trugally. has no bad or expensive habih.
but be Is better OF than when ho started. sim-
sly because he did not believe In farming. and
really has love for H.
know another man ~ho inherited a farm no
better. but has been student. has read and
studied all the bulletins OF his experiment alta
ton. lie went 10 work TO improve his land and
Improve the seed be plants. He has improved his
! eorn Ill his whole crop is sold for seed every
4 Tear for from 400 TO t2.75 per buShel. and he
buys all tho corn ho feeds from the men who do
to' believe In book farming Ills wheat crop
aso goes largely for seed. for he has improved
| lis seed wheat too. and rarely makea lcaB than
| ory bushels per acre. and generally more. Ills
| @fh on clover sod will probably make him
| 1000 bushels this summer. and all but the tips
nd butts ~ill be sold al fancy price for seed.
w be took all the nrst prizes ht the corn SHOWS
a., fall against the whole country. and nifty bush
| ~ OF corn per acre would be a dead failure In
ah fields. He is stlll jus, past forty years and
20 one can prophecy what he will bring his seed
| saa Ills farm TO produce yet. for he never let's up
" TIE breeding and improvement OF the seed corn
hall pet n fellows