The Tupelo journal., 1915-04-02
3. /. THOMAS GIVES INTERESTING
DESCRIPTION OF RECENT TRIP
TO THE SOUTHLAND
Many Changes Noted Among This Pro
gressive Class Of People-Creat
Agricultural Advance--Beantiful
Cities and Fine Homes
Eirom the Woodstock Republican. Woodstock.
Ill.,, March 10. 1879

H"st
AS a great many people have asked
me about the South since | returned
from my recent trip there, | will take this
method of answering them. This article
will be in regard to Northern Mississippi,
Tupelo. Lee county, where | lived and
farmed for two years, sixteen and seven
teen years ago. This gives me some
knowledge Of farm conditions there. as |
caised nearly all the southern crops, such
as cotton. corn. oats, cow-pea hay, sof-
ehum. sweet potatoes, peanuts and Irish
potatoes, add all kinds Of garden vegeta
bles. besides raising hogs and cattle.
milking cows and making butter; also
quantities Of peaches. pears. plums. grapes
and all kinds Of small fruit. which grow
abundantIy there. Going back there
ibis winter, after an absence Of sixteen
years, | was unprepared for the great
changes which had taken place both in
the town and country. The one thing
| found unchanged was the people.
They were the same kind.hearted and
true friends | knew long ago. They
did everything possible to make it a
pleasant trip for my wife and myself.
Their automobiles, horses and carriages
and fine saddle horses were at our dis
posal all the time, to say nothing OF the
pleasant trips by railroad to New Or
leans, where we had the pleasure Of
seeing the Mardi Gras and a visit to the
Mississippi A. & M. College.
A number Of people here in the
North seem to think the Southern people
are an easy going class Of people. indif-
erent to better methods Of farming, but |
did not find that the case. When you
stop to think.that after the..Civil wal they
were in much the same condition that
Little Belgium is in today. their crops de-
stroyed, their homes in. ruins and no
money to replace them, why it seems to
me it was just pure grit that put them on
their feet again. al d | believe today the
people Of Mississippi are forging ahead
faster han any other part Of our country.
You can drive out Of Tupelo any direc-
ton from FIVE to fifteen miles on fine,
hard roads, and when lived there one
Of our worst objections was poor roads;
now they are building good roads all
ever the state. many being Of concrete
Tupelo is one Of the most up to-date
towns | was ever in, paved streets. ce-
ment sidewalks all over. city water. cleo
uic lights, hue public buildings and
beautiful homes. The great variety OF
trees adds much to the beauty Of both
Town and country. Trees we .dont see
here at home, such as water oak, gum,
persimmon, holly, magnolia and othes |
do not recall the names Of.
When you consider tina. all the ma
senal for good roads has to be shipped
IN, as there is nc gravel in that part Of
the country, it means quite an under
taking.
While in Tupelo we saw the cotton
as it was picked from the field. following
it through the different processes. FIRST at
the gin, where the seed and fibre are
separated. the fibre Abeing pressed into
bales weighing about 500 pounds. For
greater convenience in shipping these
bales are compressed to about one-ihird
Of their original size. The seed goes to
the oil factories, where the oil. meal and
bulls are separated. From there we
went to the Tupelo Cotton Mills. where
different kinds Of cotton cloth are man.
ulactured from the raw cotton. Also
went through the large fertilizer plant
built at a cost Of one.half million dollars.
Farmers are just commencing to use fer
dlizers there and | know Of no other Sec
tion where the land would have stood
that kind Of farming all these years. Tu-
pelo has a large government fish hatch
cry located there through The influence
Of Private" John Allen Of that city, who
represented that district in the Y. S.
congress for a number Of years. He
was known as the wit Of the house.