Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1913-08-29
From a Former NOxubsean.

Of the program arranged for alfalfa
Day" regretted that I could not
have heard the addresses made by
the eminent and practical speakers
who talked to your people. Those
who were fortunate enough to hear
them are profuse in their commenda-
tions. I enjoyed the sumptuous din
ner spread after the program OF tAe
morning.
Noxubee county presents an W.
usual spectacle in comparison with
many other southern counties. Since
the Civil War the people Of t. e
county have dozed the years away in
blissful ignorance Of their magnih-
cent birth-rlght.
II was the good fortune of the
writer to have been born in old Nox-
ubee, in that beautiful section ten
miles northeast Of Macon known as
X Prairie. 'lrecall the roads we tray-
ersed from there to Macon that spread
out like silver threads through the
mazes OF corn and cotton that lined
each side during the summer, and
became almost impossible mud holes
during the winter season when |
would ride horseback over them with
a pair OF my fathers yarn socks
drawn over my boots to protect my
feet from the mud and cold. ! wore
an overcoat, the thread Of which was
spun on an old wheel and the cloth
woven on an old loom by the hands
Of my mother. The pattern was that
Of the Confederate soldiers coat with
two straps that crossed in the back.
My last trip made over this road in
IN automobile driven by my kinsman
VIII Cavett. an expert chauffeur, who
irOve my brother and me out to the
Did home on Wednesday following
your alfalfa Day" Nearly six miles
If this road now Is macadam and
hope that the district lying east will
rontinue the good work until tn
Dad reaches the Tombigbee river.
1t Is remarkable to note tina
through all this beautiful section
bere are only two white families
wing on this road over a distance
I fourteen miles Mr.. Cockrell OF
he FAINT place and Mr.. Carr at Prai
je church. There is only one more
,use on this road now than there
as when | was a little boy, that o.
II. Carr. This condition manifest
erfect satisfaction with existing con
'.tions during all these years. Few
rangers have invaded the county
With flattering offers for the lands
nd induced the owners to part with
hem, although the best results have
not been obtained from the lands
from the owners standpoint he is
fortunate that his lands have been
held intact by the families, who are
now able to fully realize and demand
their full value from the outsider
who desires to make his home among
them. Although the negro has been
a shiftless laborer, yet, he has not
been an Improbable one to those
who have lived on their farms and
managed him. Had the German,
Italian or Yankee, who labor with
their own hands and economic in
every way, gone into this beautiful
section soon after the war, the own
ers of the land would no doubt have
at that time parted with their lands
for a mess of pottage. After all the
negro has not proven to be an I'M
profitable laborer for you all.
The movement to grow alfalfa on
every farm in NeXubee county should
meet with encouragement from all
classes. Alfalfa has proven to be a
great crop, and with the construction
of good roads, 1t can be made a very
profitable crop grown some distance
from the railroad. 1t makes magnifi-
cent food upon which to fatten cat
| flo nnI hArync Nh, In,,nnI Co., "a
each year is growing and high prices
will be maintained for many years to
come. Alfalfa, however, is not by
any a your only profitable grass.
The broad acres found almost Oh
every farm in the prairie section
abound in luxuriant Johnson grass
Bermuda and Lespedeza, These grass
es are now in a large measure going to
waste for lack of cattle to Craze upon
them and turn them into money.
This is a loss which but few Fan af-
ford. Judging from the few mich
cows and other cattle seer on the
farms the county is almost stripped
of both milch COWS and beef cattle,
Present conditions demand that every
man shall take the question of meat
raising home to himself and provide
for his own household. Prices are
now eXorbitant and meat is out Of
reach of the average labOrer. With