The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-11-08
INVESTIGATION ON
SOUTHERN FARMS
Cotton Belt to Raise Live Stock
Must Have Pastures.
PASTURES FOR FARM ANIMALS
Very Few Farmers Have Compared
Benefit to Be Derived From Acre
Of Cotton and Acre Of Bermuda
Grass, Lespedeza and Glover.
(By G. H ALFORD)

(By G. II. ALFORDD
II the cotton belt Is to raise hogs,
mules, horses. cattle, sheep and so on
successfully under present land and
labor conditions, 1t must resort to
pastures and cheap hays. II 1t Is to
produce the necessary quantity and
quality Of all kinds Of live stock 1t
must devote more and better land to
pastures and meadows.
Many formers In the south prize
wheat, corn. oats, cotton. rice and
cane as crops because their growth
has become habit. Very few farmers
have compared the profit derived from
an acre of cotton and an acre Of Ber-
muda grass. lespedeza and some win
ter clover. On many farms the grow
ing Of cotton represents a loss instead
of q profit. On many farms in the
south the growing OF leguminous crops
for two or three years until the worn
out cotton lands will grow good grass
and the soding of the land in Bermuda
grass grazing Of pure bred hogs, sheep,
cattle and goats, horses and mules will
result in big profits instead Of the
loss sustained by the growing Of cotton
on the same land year after year.
Senator Ingalls, said: Next in i'm
portance to the divine profusion of wa
ter, light and air-those three physical
facts which render existance possible
may be recorded the universal be-
no6nonnn IF In0ollC told tho
whole truth, but few farmers in the
south believe what he said. Not one
farmer in a thousand fully appreciates
the full value of a good, permanent
pasture. The most prosperous counties
in England owe their prosperous agri-
culture to the magnificent pastures.
The blue grass regions of Kentucky
has done much to cause our farmers to
appreciate grass to some extent. There
are sections of Tennessee and Virginia
where the successful growing Of fine
stock has helped Kentucky to gain
friends for grass.
We firmly believe that we are telling
the truth when we say that the main
cause of the lack Of prosperity on
southern farms is the absence OF good.
permanent pastures. We have turned
out a worn, quilted cotton field,
stretched two or three barbed wires
around it and called it our pasture.
Not a furrow was turned, not a seed
was sown. No wonder that our pas
lures are often referred to "a place
where grass does not grow"
A good pasture is made by thorough
ly preparing very fertile soil and seed
ing it to the right kind of mixed
grasses, so that every square foot of it
is we'll covered with nutritious grasses
instead of broOmsedge briars and
weeds. The large majority of us have
never had a good. permaSent pasture
and therefore base our conclusions on
the value of a permanent pasture on
our experience with a pasture where
grass does not grow. We have never
yet valued thoroughly goor, perman-
ent pasture high enough.
There are, Of course, pastures with
out grass, such as pastures Of COW
peas, soy beans, peanuts. velvet beans,
oats, and so forth, but there are tenn
porary pastures and last for only a
short time. OF course, we must have
such temporary pastures in order to
succeed in the live stock business. but
the subject before US just at present is
a good, permanent pasture full Of nu
tritious grasses and clover. We are
talking about taking land and thor.
oughly preparing it and fertilizing II
with acid phosphate and planting it in