The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-04-14
RAISE SOUTHERN BEEF
IMPAIRMENT OF AGRICULTURE
,SS1rEs BULLETIN ON SUBJECT.
ndroD+aoes of south For Raising
Cattle. Important Developments
- Ncar Future Predicted.

Tho Geographical location and the
climatic conditions of the South are
such as to make it good section for
oo+tIo raising. The soils are so varied
that what may be said in a general
WOW will not hold true for all places
~ sectiops of this large area. They
-ory from. light sand to heavy clay
~ 70 the black prairie soils, or the
ut;T most oak. As rule, the sitter
+bo coil and the greater the content
of lime in the soils the more nutri-
+iops the grasses are, and the greater
is the variety of clovers which Will
grow.
i Tho Piedmont section Of Virginia,
West virginia, Western North Caro-
1ino Tennessee and Northern Ala
homa IS a fine grazing country, and
tborsands of good beef cattle are
sound there. The short horn is more
nonr1ar than any other breed in this
rooion and they do exceedingly we'll.
Tho grazing plants are chiefly blue
GRASS white clover, red clover, red
ton and orchard grass. The cattle
fatten very rapidly during the graz
ing season and raise excellent calves.
The black prairie section Of Ala
hama. Mississippi and Louisiana are
extremely favorable sections for
raising and finishing beef cattle. EX-
,Ariments conducted by the Bureau
NJ Animal Industry and the Alabama
Experiment Station show that cattle
when kent free of the cattle tick can
he raised at a cost of three to four
cents a Mound. This cost includes the
keen of the cows for one year,
charges for pasture and all feeds con-
sumed at market prices, depreciation
in the value of the herd, and six per
cent interest on the money invested.
The principal native grasses which
are indigenous to these soils are Ber-
muda. Johnson grass, lespedeza and
melilotus, but red clover, alsike clo-
yer. burr clover and white clover
grow readily when planted in the
pastures and the grazing season can
be extended greatly by their use. AL
falfa, soy beans, cOwpeas, corn, sor-
ghum and other lands produce an
abundance of roughage and hays for
wintering and fattening the cattle.
There are great areas Of ''cut-oyer'
lands in the South that range in
price from 81 to $40 per acre which
could be used for beef production.
The soil OF such lands is usually
sandy or post oak, neither OF which
is as good for grazing as the prairie
or delta lands, but which would fur
nisb good grazing if little care was
taken in getting pasture plants start
ed. On these soils carpet grass, Ber-
muda, lespedeza, white clover, red
top. paspalum dilatatum and burr
CiONtI uO SACCpIAOLcllJ "CAA' 49,
carpet grass furnishes abundant graz
ing on the sandy lands, while the
Bermuda grass does better on
the soils which are a little stiff. The
paspalum, white clover and red top
do well on the damp lands, and if
some lime is present alsike clover
will furnish fine grazing.
One of the greatest dra wbacks to
the cattle industry of the South has
been the presence of the cattle tick
that transmits Texas fever, which
kills many of the cattle and stunts
others in the growth. The tick is
rapidly being eradicated, and it is
only a question of time until the
South is freed of the pest,
No section of the country can raise
cattle as cheaply as the South, and