The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-31

the Alabama black belt Is too certain to admit of any claims on the part of the old pretenders. That c. c. Clay is the
 Warwick who has created and enthroned
 this new wealth-producing sovereign in
 Alabama is another accepted fact.
 Five years ago the antiquated methods
 of our revered agricultural fathers held court in this section. Succeeding the an nual revelry of the cotton harvest, mort gages were rewritten, with increased consideration being the only changes made.
 Soils were rapidly being impoverished and the labor problem becoming more se- rious each year.
 But progress marches on and one sec ton of the country profits by the experf- ments and successes of another.
 Just west of us, in Noxubee county Mississippi, MT. c. c. Clay ploughed. planted, harvested and prospered. He dis covered the value of alfalfa for that sec- ton and made 1t one of his chief crops. With it's culture. as has always been it's history, came fat hogs, sleek cattle and | fine horses-a combination that spells prosperity with big letters.
 But the little pocket of Houston Clay, and the tiny trace of the still richer Trim | ity to be found there was too small to | contain the reaches of ambition. MT. | Clay moved to Demopols. Here he made | the ''acid, test. He found thousands of acres of the richest lands, perfectly adapted to the culture of alfalfa, and more fertile than the garden spots of | California, Colorado and Utah.
 l It was then that MT. Clay began to | build new agricultural empire. At | first he had little cooperation and ne
 built slowly. but he built surely. and now the institution has passed the experi- mental stage. First he brought soil ex- perts-chemsts of national reputation | such men as w. J. Spillman of the United I States department of agriculture. When l they had investigated and declared there | were no better lands in all the country, additional testimony was called for. Then came such noted agriculturalists as A. P. Grout president of the National Alfalfa Growers association; P. G. Holden, the best known agriculturalist Iowa has ever produced and Joseph E. Wing of Ohio, who is easily the worlds greatest ex- pert on alfalfa and live stock.
 They came, they saw what we had, l they wondered, and then went back to 1 their homes to write and tell the truth to | the world-that west Alabama is the choice alfalfa and live stock section of | the entire country.
 In the latest edition of Joe Wing s great book Alfalfa in America he gives two beautiful agricultural scenes near Demopolis One scene is a volume in itself It shows field of alfalfa and Johnson grass near Demopolis, Ala.,' and just below the picture two lines that tell the story of Alabama prosperity: | Total yield for season, about five tons per acre The blended hay is superior to either Johnson grass or alfalfa, and is a better money crop"
 When MT. Clay came to Demopolis, about three years ago, the object of his campaign was to promote the culture of alfalfa and the raising of live stock. He first had to educate our people to the value of alfalfa, and in dofhg this made them realize the value of our lands. Ii might have been more profitable to him
 had he attempted to depreciate the value of the lands but his campaign was to se- cure cooperation and make our people realize our lands were more Valuable than
 the rich lands of the high valued west.
 He resisted the temptation to colonixe Il and grow rich quickly but instead, began to bring high-class, intelligent, prosper l ous agriculturalists here to take charge of the lands, build homes and become cit izens. He chose men as carefully as he had selected lands. He sought good citi- gems, just as he pointed out the choice
 soils, and we got the best from the statea
 we drew from. They are men of the same blood that flows through our veins; men
 who love our institutions; men who up- hold white supremacy and the sacred tra- ditions of the south.
 MT. Clay has specialized. He gives thought and time to but one class oi lands, that best adapted to the culture of alfalfa and other rich clovers.
 During the past three years he has sue.
 ceeded in bringing about 15o most excel