Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1910-09-22
STUMPS, BRUSH WEEDS. ETC.

siumps, brush, weeds and grass than
is required to support our municipal.
county. State and Federal govern.
ments, to endow ell the colleges and
educate oil the youth Of the land. and
We get no return. A stump no, only
occupies valuable space. but It pre-.
vents the use Of improved implements
for better and more rapid tillage Of
the soil. The cost Of farm labor is on
the increase with the certainty that
this will continue ill the equation Of
wages on the farms and in the town
or city is more equal The remedy
Tor higher priced labor on the farm is
the use Of more and better teams and
implements. II the day wage on the
farms Of the South advances from 75c
to $1.50 then each farm hand must
plow. plant and cultivate twice as
many acres in q day as he did before
and this IS an easy problem. But the
stumps must 60, and the farmer who
does not try to get rid Of them will
soon be a back number. The stump
farmer pays about $500 an acre every
year for the privilege Of having stumps
in his fields. In addition, there are
generally few feet Of untitled soil
around every field stump which pro-
duce foul weeds and grasses to seed
the land.
What has been charged against
stumps applies with still more force to
trees. shrubs and brush patches in tie
field; dig, burn, destroy; they are.
haturai enemies Of the farmer.
Straighten out the sides Of the field;
square up the corners and avoid the
short rows as much as possible; they
increase the work Of tilage.
Farmers have become so accus-
toned to fighting weeds and grass in
the cultivated fields that they regard it
as a matter Of necessity. They think
the land is iull Of foul seeds and Of
course they will germina:e when It
rains.
When virgin soils are FIRST placed
in cultivation they are comparatively
free from weeds and grass, and that
they become foul is due to faulty man
agemeut on the part of the farmers.
It is not difficult to discover the real
causes. First careless cultivation,
which allows weeds and grass to ma
ure seed in the cultivated fields.
Second--httle attention is paid to the
highways, the brush patches, the
fence corners and the pastures, and
they are almost universally breeding
grounds for foul weeds and grass. Il
has been charged that the Southern
farner is careless. l. may be true il
some things. but in one thing too many
Of them stand FIRST among the farmers
Of the world-they never fail to raise
a crop Of weed and grass seed large
enough to seed their own fields anc
their neighbors.
The cost Of this universal weed and
grass seeding amounts annually tc
more than FIVE dollars for each acre in
corn. and ten dollars for each acre in
cotton. In 1909 in the States Of Ala.
bama, Arkansas, Florida. Georgia
Louisiana. Mississippi, North Carolina
| Oklahoma. South Carolina. Tennes.
see. Texas and Virginia. there were
40965.000 acres in corn and 3O693.-
1000 acres in cotton. which would
show a yearly loss OF over S51L000.-
loco. This loss can be greatly re.
duced BY intensive cultivation con
tiuued as late in the season as possi-
bic and by moving the roadsides, the
fence corners; the borders olthe fields
and the pastures in June and August
| AT FIRST it seems like a waste Of labor,
but its beneficial effects soon become
apparent
A persistent war on weeds and
grass. slumps and brush. in the fields
is one Of the grea, progressive move
ments necessary to progress in aeFi.
culture. S. A. KNAPP. Act