The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-11-17

lions of dollars annually.
WE may clear land, fence it, remove
the stumps, and attempt to increase its
fertility by good tillage, the rotation of
crops, the growing of leguminous crops,
and the application of barnyard manure
and commercial fertilizers, but any I'M
provement in the soil is almost out of
the question until washing is reduced
to the minimum. OF course, no human
~precaution can wholly prevent the wash
ing of cultivated land. However, we can
easily prevent excessive washing.
Soil thoroughly pulverized and full of
vegetable matter to a depth of from five
to fifteen inches will readily absorb
three inches of rainfall, and 4 soil in
this condition will suffer no surface
washing from ordinary rain. The green
crop growing on the land at all times
will bind the surface particles, protect it
from washing, reduce teaching out of
plant food to the minimum, and add veg
etable matter to the soil.
While the soil may be gradually deep
ened, filled full of humus and covered
with vegetation twelve months in the
year, still these methods may not be
sufficient at all times to enable the soil
to absorb all of the rain as fast as it
falls. 1t is, therefore, advisable to pro-
vide for broad entertainments with a fall
of from one to two inches in twenty
feet to carry the surplus water out of
the field. These entertainments must
be broad and must be constructed with
care, and have to be strengthened where
they cross any depression or make a
sudden curve by building up the en-
bankment with sticks and brush. Put
from one to three lows on each embank-
ment, depending on the width of the
e~mbankment. A large pillow and road
machine are the best tools to use in max
ing the e~mbankments.
We have no doubt made up our minds
to diversity and rotate our crops, grow
legumlnous crops, thoroughly pulverise
the soil from five to fifteen inches deep,
make heavy applications of barnyard
manure, ground phosphate rock, and re.
duce the washing of lands to the mini
mum. If this be true, we are ready TO
raise good, strong teams, to get labor
saving farm implements, to have good
summer and winter pasturagc, and corn
and leguminous crops for feed, and to
make a great success raising good stock
for home use and to sell. Our soil is
rich, and we can, by thorough prepare.
ton and frequent and shallow ~cultiva.
ton, grow enormous crops for home use
and to sell.
Senator Ingalls, said: Next In i'm
p%ortance to the divine profusion of wa
ter, light and air, those three physical
facts which rpular ayiSfanon nna,,hi,
may be reckoned the universal benef-
cence of grass. ingalls, told the whole
truth, but few farmers of Mississippi
believe what he said. No one farmer i'm
q thousand appreciates the value OF a
thoroughly good permanent pasture. The
most prosperous counties in England owe
their prosperous agriculture to the mag
nificent permanent pastures. The blue
grass region of Kentucky has done much
to cause our farmers to appreciate
grass. There are sections of Tennessee
and Virginia where the successful grow
ing of fine stock o n grass has helped
Kentucky to gain friends for grass.
The boil weevil is here, and more good
land in pasture grasses should be the
slogan. On many farms the growing of
&c NioPS INV IL "oIH-cut
cotton land will grow grasses and the
thorough preparation and sodding of Tho
land in bermuda grass and winter Glow
ers, and the grazing of pure-bred hogs,
sheep, goats, cattle, horses and mules,
will enrich the land and result in much
larger profits than we have obtained by
the growing of cotton.
Many carloads of mules and horscs
are shipped into this state every wear.
Every farmer in Mississippi should raise
mules and horses enough that neither
he nor his tenants SHOULD nave to buy
imported stock. Let US use brood mares
in the place of one or more mules now
in use on the fafm and raise a good colt.
from each mare every year. Good pas.
lures, plenty of leguminous hays, good
sized brood mares and large pure-brcd
jacks and stations will save our state
millions of dollars every year.
We are spending more money for ba-
con and lard than we are spending for
education and religion. Hogs can be
grown on good pastures, and such crops
as peas, peanuts, potatoes, soybeans and
rape. Very little corn is necessary,
while the hogs are in good pastures.
tn boil weevil suggests that we grow
pork for home use and some to sell.
l cannot close without calling your
attention to the chief enemy of pros
perity in Mississippi-that is the one
horse pillow. The one horse pillow means
a shallow soil, devoid of vegetable mat
ter. The shallow soil devoid of veget-
able matter means small crops and poor
people.
The one horse pillow breaks one acre
two inches deep per day. The four
horse pillow breaks four acres from five
to fifteen inches deep per day. One man,
with four mules and a disc pillow, can
do more and better work in one dav
breaking land and turning under ve9et-
able matter than four men with one
mule plows.
Rich land, thoroughly good perma-
nent pastures, plenty of good live stock.
labor-saving farm implements and strong
pillow teams, spells prosperity for Missis-
sippi.