The Little River news., 1916-09-13
BY J. R. CAVANAGH.
ten Specially for the News:

Written Specially for the News:
 With all the cry that is bcinS raised for greater diversficatiOn of farm crops it remains that cotton is still King of the crops ill the sunny southland. Little River Cou..ty may grow her melons and her truck crops OF her peanuts and her alfalfa ana it is greatly to her credit that she does, but it still remains that cotton will be for some time to come, the main cash crop of the farmers in this region.
 This has been a cotton country since the first settlers came ill and t Will remain a cotton country. True, as this is, however, it is the farmer who diversifies to a conservative eX- tent rather than the cotton farmer who reaps the rewards 0, the so to their fullest extent. Nitl t.e eN1ep- t.Dn of the Red River bottoms, lands which has been planted to cotton year after year has become depleted in fer tility. This is the natural conse- .Quencc o1 mistre&tment Cf the So1t and the farmer who is growing 9. dlEz ersity of crops is the farmer Wnc cosa as to town each week with his pockets lired with cash.
 Success of HOrati0 and Winthrop.
 The success of Horatic to the north and more recently of Winthrop is going to make whole lot of us look up and take notice. These farm CTS have broken away from the set and steady rule Cf cotton and have made good with melons, beans, and other truck crops, but they have not broken away from cotton altogether Every truck farmers around these points has still stuck to the old st and by and has given but a small acreage to the growing of truck. In other words, they are playing safe and are not putting all their eggs in the one 1 packet.
 A man with a five acre cantaloupo | patch has about all that he can care to handle and especially he dces not have large !amsly to help h III handle the crop. This is more thaG
 ever true at these points where the, have grown cantaloupes for the first
 year Not only do the growers them
 selves have to learn to handle the
 crop, but the hired help as well must | be taught IL is net as it is with most other crops where a farmer can go out and hire experienced help when 1 there is need of it. Tn hired help In | this section does net know as yet how to handle melons and other perishabi- | eS
 Thus it is that the man who desires | to break away from the old Set rue of cotton must watch his way before he plunges. Five acres of melCls i | all that even an experienced man should plant and for t7e new growes l should not as rule reeGmmeni that he attempt to grow more than will keep the average man pretty busy and unless he is sure that he can oh- | tain competent help at harvest time he will do we'll to restrict his plant | ipg to small acreage.
 Diversifca.iOn is going tC help Lit | tie River county as nothing else can. | Crop diversificatiOn and crop rOtation will bring in cash crops through the entire season and will in addition dis tribute the work of the farmer mere evenly throughout .he year. These are most decided advantages in addi- tion to the direct benefit which will be had in the keeping up of the fer | tility of the soil Cantaloupes and truck crops will add much 70 thcpros- | perity of the county, but We must feel our way as we go. Nothing r rsked nothing gained is good motto bat We should not risk too much at the | start.