The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1914-01-17
PROGRESSIVE h6 iif
(Continan J from page on IA IA

their knowledge. / mea44l
have sized up this situat
broader way than I and
fellow sugar planters have zsz
ssThey have been exam
isiana for possibilities $50 81
dreamed Of We knoSnas .ch
about sugar raising as Gnybody and
they haven't bothered US any on
that score. But while We have been
raising sugar and living on with the
idea that sugar and cotton were the
only things for Louisiana, and thai
after those industries were destroyed
we might as well give the state over
to Johnson grass, these fellows have
been proving that Louisiana can
raise other crops. And that is WnaE
FShey want us to do.
"They tell ME that We sugar plant
ers are farming too much land and
that to meet this situation we've got
to cut down our acreage and go III
for diversified farming.'
Louisiana can grow good corn,
can't it?''
Certainly it can, but it costs more
to grow it there than in the corn
belt. We have to plant more, be-
cause the worms eat up just about
three-quarters Of what we put into
the ground. Then we have rains in
July and August that we have to get
off the ground by surface drainage,
and that item alone costs from fifty
to seventy-five cents an acre. And
then it costs more to harvest and dry
our corn than in the corn belt"
GLOW about alfalfa?" I asked.
That's what the man asked me
over in the Department Of Agricul-
ture yesterday. They told me that
in some portions Of the sugar terri
tory conditions Were just right for
growing alfalfa, and that we
shouldn't lose but one crop because
of the rains that come in July and
August. And they told me that the
sugar lands would grow rice well.
"Then they began to talk about
hogs. We haven't done much of
any hog killing and packing. Some
few are shipped to the New Orleans
market, but it doesn't take much to
fill that up. Some Of the people
went hog-craZy not long ago and
brought animals from all parts of the
earth, and the first thing we knew
we had hog cholera all over the
state. Now we've got a hog-cholera
serum plant and they tell me that
after a while we shall run the dis
ease into the gulf
did they say anything to you
about cattle?" / asked.
Eyes, they did, and I told them I
though the cattle tick was too much
of handicap for any one to work
up any great enthusiasm about that
industry We are doing this cattle
tick eradication work in number of
parishes, but only four Or five are
taking it UP Systematically.
There was a man from our own
state in the department office when
was there. He said that during
the growing season most of the su-
gar belt land would carry three or
four head of cattle to the acre and
thirty-five head of cattle and TWEEN
ty head Of sheep through the sea-
son on seventeen acres of land much
poorer than the average sugar land.
zone of the departments live
stock experts said that the state
could furnish good pasture from nine
to ten months in the year and this
could be followed by silage and les
pedeza hay. They are experiment
ing with the tops and leaves Of the
cane that we have been burning
and they believe good silage can be
made out of this. I don't know so
much about that. Sugar cane isn't
the cheapest crop in the world
to raise, and the other Louisiana man
said he thought we could raise three
acres of corn cheaper than one acre
of cane"
What did they suggest as sys-
tenn of Agricultural"
That we could grow oats for grain,
lespedeZa for hay, corn and grain
sorghum for silage; beets, beef cat
tie, dairy cattle, truck and some for
age crops for market. The depart
ment man said it look more labor to
the acre for cane than for diversified
agriculture"
II learned one other thing this
that was new to me. One
of the departments men has been
curing hay artificially. The planters
in the sugar belt say that If they can
cut, haul, and dry hay at IS a ton
they can make big money in the live
stock business. This fellow showed
us figures proving that his expert
mental plants have done the work
for less than IS. He turns out a bet
ter product than the finest sun-cured
hay and gets q better price for it,
He paused for a moment, then
went on: We've got three years
left before we go out of sugar rails
ing, and maybe in that time we shall
be able to get down to earth and go
N for some Of these new crops; but
know from my own experience that
is going to be a hard job for us to
change. We sugar planters have
,een used to things on such a big |
'cale that when you Gene to us and |
ak about putting in thirty or forty |
lead of cattle, some hogs, some
Seep, some corn, some aySand some
ruck. it gets on our nerves. We
rent like farmers; we're engineers,
L a sense, and We haven't bothered
bout anything but sugar I