St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1910-07-30

EER#HhfAE -
There are SO many cotton gins with
mill attachments for grinding corn
that the transition from The grist
mill (modus operandD to that Of a
merchant mill must be q matter of
very simple and inexpensive adjust
meut, only necessitating an enlarge
ment Of power and few more appli-
ances for grinding. Indeed, by rea-
son of the non-production of cotton,
in many communities, the machinery
of many cotton gins and their power,
with the corn meal attachments,
must be rusting from disuse, and
must be virtually dead capital or, at
least, utterly unremunerative. Now
the owners of these mills certainly
would be glad to put in their dead
machinery as stock. Thus a large
cooperative corn meal mandatory
would soon be organized on almost no
money needed 10 be raised. Soon a
grist-making machinery would be add
ed and then a coFn-hake attachment.
In a little while, such a mill would
be selling its products to markets
in localities from whence they import
them for home consumption: for
meal from Southern-raised corn is
sweeter and more toothsome than
that from Western corn. We had a
most convincing experience Of this
when, in 1897 winter and spring.
we were writing the drouth situation
for The s-Democrat in north
Louisiana. The work stood between
one hundred and fifty thousand people
and starvation. Ii will be remem-
bered that, as a partial relief, the
State bought large quantities Of
Western corn. We visited innumer-
able families. in over twenty parishes
and there was almost universal COM
plant at the meal made from the
Western corn, il being SO inferior to
the meal that they had been so ac-
customed to, made from home raised
corn. Indeed, we seem to remember
that the people told US even their
horses ate the corn with reluctance.
These suggestions, If followed,
would Illustrate the boil Weevil and
turn the calamity into a blessing and
forostall any disheartenment at an
over production Of corn. They would
teach Us The cooperative spirit, so
badly needed in the South.
Another suggestion we would make
is TO put the corn into hogs. That
would help to absorb q very consider
able per cent Of what else would be
surplus corn. For quite a while, in
the West, the farmers raised only
corn. It was q drug, in instances
burned as fuel. Then they got wiser.
They fed the corn to the hogs, and
shipped them to Kansas City, Chicago
and ST. Louis. Then, at last, the
pork packers came out to the hogs.
AT last this mode has m~easurably
moved South. In Texas there used
to be The drive. Then the beeves and
hogs were shipped to Chicago. Some
years ago some Of the largest beef
and pork packers moved into Fort
Worth. and the business there comes
Eto the product.
The South must have pork packers
Fat least in her larger toWns) and we
must learn to cure our own bacon,
hams. etc. It is a shame to see how
we are failing to use our opportuni-
ties to raise hogs and make our own
pork and bacon. Some years ago we
made q journalistic tour along the
Jackson railroad, writing about
this and that. Among other things
that impressed US was the awful
waste of pork-making productions
rotting in the vegetable fields, after
these are abandoned. We visited
some Western man who was tickled
to death at the wonderful chances in
hog raising, but who said he couldn't
sell but q limited number of hogs at
Jackson, Miss, and the market was
SO limited that hog raising for profit
was out Of consideration there. We
suggested q cooperative movement
among farmers TO build q pork cur
ing concern at jackson, the vegetable
raisers TO raise hogs and fatten them
on the waste vegetables ID the truck
fields and sell them to the packing
concerns in Jackson. The hog raiser
became so enthused as to employ )