The Green Forest tribune., 1914-11-13
OUR WEEKLY LETTER
 FROM JOHN H. PAGE
Interesting Letters for
 the Farmers
ALL PARTS OF THE FARM WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THESE
 INSTRUCTIVE LETTERS

1 nave been taken to CaSK Dy some newspapers and some busi- ness men for the expressions in a letter two weeks ago in which said the farmers needed more aid and less advice about what to do. The space so kindly given me by the papers, 1 must use for the proper purpose, and conse- quently cannot reply to attacks made upon me. However, l in- sist that the farmers do know how to diversity, but need aid to enable them to do so. The ques- tion is what to raise for a cash crop to substitute for cotton. Some will try one thing and some another. The peanut is a fairly goop crop, they make 40 to 50 bushels per acre and sell for 75 cents to $1.00 per bush el; sweet potatoes are good also, making from 75 to 200 per acre and selling at from 50 cents to S1.00. Irish potatoes make a good cash crop, but the market is uncertain. Cabbage makes another pretty good crop, but the marketing feature presents a problem. The watermelon is a good cash crop if the marketing conditions are favorable. Sun flowers do very we'll, selling from 5 to ' cents per pound. Broom corn is a good crop too. The most reliable is winter oats, or corn. A crop of corn, oats, hay, peas, potatoes, pumpkins and wheat, with a milk COW, some chickens, a garden in the spring, and a good brood SOW, will insure a living for any farmer next year. Arkansas has more acres of corn than cotton every year, so Ark ansas is more of a corn State in acres than it is a cotton State. The yield is good too, where the corn is well cultivated. It costs too much to raise corn in Arkan- sas, far more than it does in the corn belt. There, they use mod ern implements and methods. They use more horse power and less hand power. That is because corn is their money crop and they raise it extensively, and prepare for it. If we give our attention to it we can produce corn more profitably than they do in the corn belt. We can produce hay cheaper, and more per acre. We can raise cattle and hogs and pro- vide a pasture easier and longer. Fat cattle and hogs will always sell just as well as cotton. If the corn and hay do not sell, the cat tie and hogs will eat them, and thus they can be converted into meat at a good profit.
 The first step toward making a good corn crop next year is to break the land this fall and get it in good.condition. Plow about an inch deeper than usual. Turn under the stalks, weeds or grass. Then select good seed corn. Get it all of the same variety; nice, uniform ears eight to ten inches long, not too tapering, with rows we'll filled and straight. Keep it Tn a dry place, and before plant ing time take four or five grains out of each ear and plant in some wet sawdust and see if the seed will sprout. Keep track of the ears and throw the bad ones away. Get some farm bulletins and read this winter. They will help you. Write me what you want and l will send it to you.
 Remember the hog. If you haven't a start get one at once. Breed the brood sows this month, have some green pasturing for the pigs at weaning time and you can make them weigh 150 pounds in the fall. I hope the merchants will help the farmers