The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-03-17
Livestock is Mainstay of
Farming and Colonists
Want Clean Lands.
ESCAMBIA IS WELL
SUITED FOR CATTLE
Natural Pasture is Being
Burned, Says DR..
Nighbert.

81 am greatly impressed with the
vastness of the live stock and agri-
cultural possibilities in Fscanlbia
county, as soon as the cattle fever
ticks are eradicated to give the cat
tie industry a chance" DR.. E. NJ.
Nighbert stated to a Journal repre-
sentative last night just before leav-
ing for his headquarters in Jackson
Vile
During this week have visited a
number of farmers and investigated
the grass growing conditions in a
number of localities to find out
whether this county is fitted for cat
tie raising, and am glad to say that
there are fine opportunities here, but
have failed to find a reasonable
number of cattle on your ranges.
rode for miles this afternoon through
some of your cut-over, undeveloped
lands, and found very few cattle con-
verting the abundance of grass into
beef or milk
Burning Pasture.
From observations, it looks ike
some one is trying to kill your best
range grass, the Paspalum, by burn
ing the ranges. The roads are Dor,
dered by luxuriant growth of this
excellent grass, but it will not sur
vlve fire so cannot be established on
the ranges which are burned off evarv
season.
Outside capital will be very slow
to find investment in your idle farm
lands until they are free of ticks and
released from quarantine. Secretary
Phillips, of your Chamber of Com
merce, told me today of one party
who came to Pensacola to buy a large
tract of undeveloped land and finally
selected 10000 acres in one block
which he expected to develop as a
live stock farm. He had drafts for
money enough to pay for the land in
his pockets, but learned that the
county is under quarantine, 50 made
some Investigations as to cost Of
putting a double fence around the
tract to insure that no ticks could
get onto his cattle. He found the adj
dltional cost of the second fence was
too heavy handicap to the invest
ment, so did not buy the land.
Turning Money Away.
Very few farmers who have lived
IN tick free states win consider this
tick infested property at all when
looking for farm lands to develop. as
they have learned that live stock is
the mainstay Of farm development
and if they cannot bring good live
stock into this country to stock their
farms, they do not want to come here
at all.
The price of commercial fertilizer
Is very high. By using good cattle
to convert the farm crops into beef.
practically all of the valuable fer
tlllzer content of the grain and for
age crops is retained on the farm.
and what Is sold as beef or milk
commands a good profit, as those
farmers who include cattle in their
farming operations can make a profit
farming and developing your raw
land where other farmers must fail.
The Florida native, tick infested cat
Tie do not afford a good medium for
marketing the farm crops as they are
usually Of inferior quality. But the
greatest handicap comes when the
cattle owners try to sell their surplus
cattle for market purposes. All cat
tie originating below the quarantine
line have to be marketed in govern
ment recognized killing centers with
In 48 hours after arriving at that
market, and are sold through the
quarantine pens, giving the buyers
every opportunity to obtain the stock
at very low prices. If the stock
were tick free, the owner could hold
1t for better market or reship it to
some other point, thereby giving him
every advantage for getting the
highest market price for his cattle.
Must Better Cattle.
The greatest need in Escanbia
county seems to be more cattle and
those Of better quality, but little
progress can be made in breeding Up
the stock until the ticks are eradi-
Gated so every season that this work
is delayed here on account of lack of
county funds, means continuing the
handicap on the cattle industry and
on development of your great agri-
cultural resources" he concluded.