The Madison journal., 1913-12-13

great climatic advantages that per
NIT outdoor pasturing and feeding dur.
ing the whole, or the greater part, of
the year. We can obtain large yields
Of oats, leguminous crops, johnson
and Bermuda grasses, sorghum cane
hay and an abundance of corn for
making silage, the most economic
form Of carbohydrates. The keep
ing Of good cattle and the intelli-
gent use of thoroughly good, perman-
ent pastures and grazing crops, and
the economic use of the silo and cot
tonseed meal will make our lands rich,
keep millions of dollars at home that
are now sent to the north and west,
and make our people prosperous.
The calamity bowler says: What
about the lack of lime in the soil?" DR..
TAFT Butler, probably the best-posted
man on southern agriculture, says, in
summing up a most excellent editorial
on Lime in Southern Feeds" I'VE
have shown: % That our soils are
not deficient in lime as regards the
CD that plants grown in the south
have as much ash as the same plants
grown elsewhere, and that the feed
crops of the south, especially the
legumes peculiar to the south, contain
as high a per cent. of ash as the
feed crops of other sections; (3) that
typical southern rations are those
made up of typical southern feeds and
contain more ash than typical north
ern feeds. The conclusion Is, there
fore, that while our animals fail to
get the mineral matter they need, it
is not because this material is de-
ficient in our feeds, but because our
animals do not get sufficient of our
feeds"
In the cotton belt, live stock farm
ing has been avoided mainly for two
reasons: % Because all-cotton farm
Ing paid better until the soil became
poor; (2) because Of the cattle tick.
Now, millions of acres are too poor
to grow cotton profitably, and we can
easily eradicate the cattle tick. Since
the work of eradicating the tick was
inaugurated, nearly 100000 square
miles have been cleaned for all time;
this Is an area over three times as
large as Alabama. The tick Injuries
the hide. reduces the milk flow at
least ten per cent, makes 1t very diff
ficult to fatten cattle, prevents the in
PRODUCTION of good cattle to breed up
our native cattle, lowers the price of
our cattle on the markets and destroys
more than enough cattle every year
to pay for its eradication.
The invasion of the boil weevil and
the consequent reduction of the profits
Of cotton growing is forcing many
farmers to grow crops which must of |
necessity be marketed through the |
agency Of live stock, and 1t is the func-
ton Of live stock on the farm to fur
nish a market for the crops that are |
grown, enabling the farmers to con- |
vert grasses, forage crops, COW peas
and soy beans, and so on, into higher |
priced finished products and to return |
70 the soil the plant food taken from |
t. The greatest need Of the farmers
,f the cotton belt at present Is more
grass and more live stock, and those
who assist In eradicating the cattle
lick and in otherwise helping to
create conditions that will enable
'armers to grow two good animals In
he place of one scrub is surely as
great benefactor as those who cause
wo blades Of grass to grow where
,nly one grew before.
Live stock should certainly be given
prominent place in the agricultural
development Of the cotton belt. Next
o having good and intelligent people
n a country, good live stock ID
probably Of the most importance.
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