The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-07-16
Down in the Holland of Missouri
Drainage Has Reclaimed Mississippi Tbd Land
n

! Tor tenant to farm Lulu acres l..
D. Baker is tilling that much Scott
County land this year. E. j. MahOny
has 1900 fertile Stoddard County
acres in corn and wheat. These men
are the kind of farmers who are ca
pable of doing big things but they are
outstanding examples of the kind of
farmers swampeast Missouri needs.
Taken as a whole swampeast Missouri
is not a we'll farmed section. 1t is a
country owned by comparatively few
men, not country of home jewellers
like the we'll developed sections of this
State. Owning thousands Of acres the
land holder lives in town, renting his
ground for share Of the crop or for
cash. Most of the tenant houses are
mere shacks. There is little of the
community life that means so much to
the men and women who toll in the
fields. Although inefficiently equip
! ped many tenant farmers are attempt
ing to till twice the acreage of ground
that they are capable of caring for.
As a result fields are not producing
nearly the maximum yields. And to
the discredit of land owner and tenant
be it said that apparently little effort
is being made to improve conditions.
| Socialism is rife in some communities
! In fact, l was told that in one county
it was difficult to get fire insurance,
and two men were sent cover the road"
for night riding depredations just last
month. You can find medievalism as
we'll as modernism in the swamps.
Many of the tenant farmers believe
| they are not getting square deal, and
a disconnected mind breeds trouble. A
few of the land owners are attempting
to better conditions and they are be-
ing well repaid by more efficient serv-
ice. A lot more of them should wake
up.
Swampeast Missouri is a country of
wonderful possibilities. Every farm
seems to have soil particularly adapt
ed to producing some especially profit
able crop. The three great staples of
the wOrld-corn, wheat and cotton
have made record breaking yields.
Two crops a year on one field and
winters pasturage beside is not I'M
common. Wheat is sOwn in the fall,
then pastured until well along toward
spring when the cattle are ready for
market with little grain. AS harvest
begins early in June it is possible to
grow a crop of cOwpeas, silage corn or
sunflowers after the wheat is remov-
ed. Sunflowers, by the way, are ge,>
ting to be one of the popular crops
in this section. Ordinarily the seed
will sell for about So hundred pounds
as an immense quantity is usually i'm
ported from Russia. Last year the
price jumped to 81 hundred and this
spring Southeast Missouri farmers
paid $3.50 hundred pounds for seed
to plant. Little cultivation is needed,
and from 500 to 1000 pounds of seed
an acre is produced. l saw thousands
of acres bong cultivated, and thou
sands more will follow the wheat and
oats. Another new and profitable crop
is winter oats. Adviser Derr of Scott
County believes that this variety will
entirely displace the spring crop.
Tests show an S0-bushel yield.
Is swampeast Missouri a good place
for the homeseeker and investor? l
believe it is. Although land seems
high-some undrained swamp land has
sold for $50 an acre-and cultivated
land with little improvement brings
$50 to $3.50 an acre, the soil has en-
during fertility and the advance in
season is very advantageous. When
drainage is completed there will be no
more healthful section in the State
Winters are mild and conditions are
ideal for livestock production. Land
has doubled in value in the last 10
years, and if the large land holders
can be induced to sell their holding so
that this wonderful country will be-
come country peopled by men who
till their own soil, it will double again
in like time. Just now comparatively
little of the best land is for sale. The
land holder is sitting tight and wait
ing for the rise that he feels sure will
come.
What about the people who inhabit
this reclaimed Missouri paradise?
Most of them are the typically south
ern, soft-voiced, pleasant spoken men
and women who make you feel at
home with hospitality that is clearly
genuine. Southeast Missouri is the
link that binds this virile progressive
State to the old South. It's citizens are
just beginning to realize what Won
derful country they have. Population
has increased 100 per cent during the
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