The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-09-26
AS HE SAW IT
Describes Changes iu The Farm Methods
in The WesviI Seciiqn.
THE CHANGES ARE MANY

A Letter From Prof. Barrow Describ-
ing Trip From South Carolina to
Texas That Will Be Read With In
terest by the Farmers of This
State.
A letter of Prof. D. N. Barrow in
The Progressive Farmer, describing
a trip from South Carolina to Texas,
is Of intrest not only as giving an i'd
ca OF crop conditions but as portray
ing the effect of the boil weevil in the
SouthWest. ....
"Forty-eight hours of railroad
travel have placed a thousand miles
between me and South Carolina"
writes DR.. Barrow. ION the roads
over from Clemson to Atlanta there
are nothing unusual, it is all Pied
mont and the crops are about the
same as in South Carolina. Next day
| saw the crops in the three States
of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisi-
ana. Many of the sections through
which passed had had an abundance
of rain, and some even too much.
In travelling through western Ala
bama, l was reminded of a similar
trip taken some few years ago. 1t
was in the spring when land was be-
ing prepared, and l remember the
chief thing I noticed was the little
plows and light single mules that
were being used for this purpose. 1t
seemed to me that, could recollect
some OF the same fields in which l
saw this preparation going on upon
this same trip; at least, some Of the
crops I saw must have been on land
prepared with such an outfit. Isn't
it a strange trait In the makeup of
some human beings that will permit
them to go on year after year, max
ing the same old failure, and yet,
each year preparing their land exact
ly as they had done for years before?
"Of course, / have no doubt that
many of these poor crops are the re-
suit of the negro tenant, but I am
sure I also saw good many white
men at work in the fields. On the
whole, the crops were pretty good,
however, and / saw frequent fields
that bore testimony to the fact that
brains and modern methods, properly
applied, would produce good crops
In eastern Alabama, rs well as in
Piedmont Georgia and the Carollnas.
The same can be said Of Mississippi.
Here the boil weevil was encounter
ed TO. the first time in my trip, and
his influence on the system Of agri-
culture was, it seemed to me, appar-
ent. There was not so much cotton
tc be seen, but what there was, was
better and had apparently been bet
ter cultivated. Corn was especially
good, and while the fodder was ripe,
1 did not see single man pulling it,
but on the contrary, saw quite a
quantity of it being cut and shocked.
From Jackson, Miss.,> to Vicks-
burg, we passed through what, in my
opinion, and that of a good many who
know them, are the richest soils In
the world. These are the bluff soils,
and an older alluvial than that Of our
present valleys. When fresh they will
easily make a bale of cotton per acre,
and with any intelligent handling,
this productivity can be maintained
indefinitely. But cotton Is not all
they will produce-corn is at home
upon them-and If one does not care
to raise a cultivated crop, all he has
to do is to turn them out and nature
will Immediately clothe them with
grass of all kinds. Bermuda, Japan
clover and the carpet grass, all grow
in profusion. That stamps this as
naturally live stock country. That
the advent Of the boil weevil has con-
vinced a good many people of this
fact, was amply attested to by the
large number Of cattle to be seen
he route. Many of these herds show
ed plainly that they had a large
shrinking of good blood in them, and
it. does not take phophet to predict
that in a few years the scare over
the boil weevil will be thing of the
asst in this section. saw more grass
in .his forty-mile ride than | have
seq, in weeks of travel in South Car
olina, and it was grass that spelled
money for it's owner. But the boil
weevil is not driving these eople out
of cotton. as what cotton | saw was
better than usual.
THE effect of the boil weevll In
changing the system of agriculture
was probably more apparent IN
Louisiana than in any other State.
From Vicksburg to Monroe is a
stretch of soils that for fertility are
not surpassed anywhere in the world.
These lands have produced cotton
continuously for century, and their
fertility is not in the least impaired
by the strain. Five years ago when
II was suggested to the owners Of
these lands that the weevll would
make them plant. at least in part,
some other crops, they secuted the
idea. But to-day, where there used
to be one unbroken stretch Of we'll
cultivated cotton fields, scarcely one
third of the lands arC in this plant.
Corn was in abundance and we pass