New-York tribune., 1917-12-24
Cattle Moved
Into Soft Corn
Sections to Feed
Farmers Adopt This Method to
Utilize Grain Unfit for
Shipment
By Archer Wall Douglas

~ Ne Of the most significant incl
I dents Of recent nationwide
survey Of business and crop con-
dtions is the evidence which conser-
vation and adaptation are playing to-
day in intelligent farming. There IS
much soft corn in the great belt OF
surplus corn states, though not 50
much as generally reported. In the
more northern sections il went into
silos. but around SO to 40 degrees
north latitude it was not generally dIs-
covered until husking time. Now, sou
corn il not merchantable. and eleya-
tors will not receive it. Anyhow, the
corn that is sold is but small pro-
portion Of that which is raised, Tor
corn is not specifically a money crop
So it is being fed extensively TO i've
stock. especially to hogs, and to ald III
its use cattle and hogs are being shipped
into soft corn sections from those To-
calities where feed is scarce and hlgh
priced. Western Kansas, for instance
shipped livestock into Nebraska and
Iowa. and it was cheaper TO do this
than to keep them at home and buy
feed for them.
In much of the Southwest Kafir corn
and the other non-saccharine sorghums
came to the rescue when Indian corn
withered and dried up because Of the
feryent heat Of long summer drouth.
So KafTir corn is being adapted to eli
mates and soils as different and as far
apart as Southwestern Missouri and
Southwestern Arizona.
All through the South, save in Texas,
the farmers have corn TO sell, for they
raised more than they consume, and
IL is Of the very best quality. They
arc shipping to those portions Of
Southern and Western Texas which
practically raised nothing at all this
year. because of the most extensive
and prolonged drouth the state has ever
known. That there may be further use
for oil this Southern corn. the South
is importing blooded cattle and brood
sows of long lineage and much fecund-
ity.
Sheep-Raising Farmers
Not only the South, but all the coun-
try between the 95th meridian OF
longitude. or the western line Of Mis-
souri,, and the Appalachian ranges is
trying its hand at raising sheep, as
much necessary concomitant and &C
commitment TO farm life as cattle
and hogs. They are both mutton and
wool. and under favorable conditions
multiply themselves BY several hun
dred per cent annually, always provided
they are left alone by man and preda-
tory dogs. Small focks Of sheep are
becoming increasingly familiar in out
of-the-way parts of farm life where
once they were mere curosit!ea.
Likewise have the people in the
South and West, so the story runs,
solved the problem Of the scarcity OF
sugar b. canny forethought. There
were more saccharirc sorghums htr-
vested IL Northern ATTITUDES than for
many year. and there is much sugar
cane from East Texas all the way
around the Gulf Coast into Southern
Georgia, 50 that long sweetening,'
namely syrup, is very abundant.
The lumber mills are everywhere
running fall turn, despite the general
lack Of building and the abstention
from buying by the railroads. the best
buyers Of lImhcr. There is much gov
ernment demand and many long dc
layed orders to be filed, only cars are
hard 70 get and so is labor.
The coal mines are much in the same
condition. which is most unusual for
them, for their general story in normal
times is q succession of strikes and
lockouts and ceaseless industrial war
fare.
The general spirit of participation in
the war and its duties is not favorable
to labor troubles, and there are far less
Of them tnan usual, though they are
not entirely absent. All manner of