The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-09-23
Stumps, Brush, Weeds and Grass.

than is required to support our |
municipal. county, Stat" and Fed
eral governments, to endow all the
colleges and educate all the youth
Of the land; and we get no return.
A stump not only occupies valuable
space but it prevents the use Of
improved implements for better
and more rapid tillage of the soil.
The cost of farm is on the increase
with the certainty that this will
continue till the equation Of wages
on the farms and in the town or
city is more equal. The remedy
for higher priced labor on the farm
is the use Of more and better teams
and implements. IT the day wage
on the farms of the South advances
from 75c to $3.50 then each farm
hand must pillow, plant. and cult.
vate twice as many acres in a day
as he did before and this is an
easy problem. But the stumps
must go, and the farmer who does
not try to get rid of them will soon
be 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 a few
feet of untitled soil around every
field stump which produce 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 the field; dig, burn,
destroy; they are natural 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 tillage.
Farmers have become so accus.
toned to fighting weeds and grass
lin the cultivated fields that they
regard it as a matter of necessity.
They think the land is full Of foul
seeds and Of course they will
terminate when it rains,
When virgin soils are first placed
in cultivation they are compare.
lively free from weeds and grass.
and that they become foul is due
to faulty management on the part
of the farmers. It is not difficult
to discover the real causes. First,
careless cultivation, which allows
weeds and grass to mature seed in
the cultivated fields. Second, lit
tie attention is paid to the high
ways, the brush =, ches, the fence
corners and the pastures, and they
are almost universally breeding
grounds for foul weeds and grass.
It has been charged that the
.ISouthern farmer is careless. 1t
/ may be true in 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
enough to seed their own fields
and their neighbors'.
The cost Of this universal weed
and grass seeding amounts
annually to more than FIVE dollars
for each acre in corn, and ten
dollars for each acre in cotton. In
1909 in the states Of Alabama
: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louis
lana, Mississippi, North Carolina
Tennessee, South Carolina, Okla
homa, Texas and Virginia, there
\ were 40,965,000 acres in corn and
30,693,0OO acres in cotton, which
would show yearly loss of over
i Sill millions Of dollars. This loss
can be greatly reduced by inten
sive cultivation continued as late
in the season as possible and By
moving the roadsides, the fence
corners, the borders Of the fields
and the pastures in June and il
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