The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-07
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

Huntsville, the jewel of the Tennessee
 valley.
 Situated 500 feet above the sea level the climate is mild and pleasant, outdoor work the year round. The summers are | usually long and the winters short There
 are few times in the year when the ground cannot be occupied by crops of } some kind.
 The report of the surgeon general of
 the United States army shows Hunts
 ond healthiest place in the United States.
 During the civil war the federals oc-
 cupied Huntsville as a hospital and sup
 ply station and during the Spanish-Amer-
 ican war it was again chosen by the government health camp for soldiers
 returning from the tropics
 Not to speak of Huntsville's big spring
 affording daily 24OOo,Oo0 gallons would be
 like going to see the play of Hamlet and emitting to comment on the moody Dane The spring is thing of beauty
 and a joy forever.
 
 I drove through the country from Ath- ems to Huntsville and what drive
 Coming from the parched fields of south
 Alabama it looked like a veritable oasis After viewing the fields of wheat, corn
 peas, rye, oats and cotton I was ready
 to believe the claim of the old settlers | who say that a crop failure in Madison county has never been known. Another thing that differentiates Mad 1 ison from many other counties in the state is that 1t stands at the top in diversification, and proudly boasts that it's the only section in the United States that if walled off from all outside com municaton would be self-sustaining. Tn farm products it is the banner county of the state, having for 30 years won the first prize at the annual state fairs. sss I went to see things for myself. The soil of the Tennessee valley is a deep, red clay usually 40 to 60 feet to bed | rock and it is susceptible to a high state of cultivation, well drained yet holding
 
 for times of deficient rainfall. Madison county lands sell from S10 to $50 per acre, depending upon improvements and distance from town.
 The Tennessee valley Is not dependent upon commercial fertilizers as it is the home of alfalfa, red alsike, crimson, Japanese and burr clovers, besides being the home of the cowpeas, velvet beans, The production of wheat, corn and fall sown oats is equal to the production of the famous grain producing sections of the north. It is a county capable of being made the grain producing county of the United States
 Huntsville has an absolute sanitary dairy, equipped with an electric milker and clarifier, no human hands ever touching the milk. It is delivered in pa per bottles which are never used again SEos, towers of prosperity, are spring ing up all over Madison county, and herds ofs blooded cattle are a common sight as one rides along the hard sur faced roads.
 Huntsville has one of the best blooded stock farms in the south.
 Through the kindness of Col w. F. Garth the owner of the Piedmont Stock Farm, we give some of it's early history and it's present high standing in the live stock world.
 
 The conviction that the great Tennessee valley was perfectly adapted to the grow ing of all kinds of live stock, and partic- ularly hgh-bred horses, is shown by reading some old turf notes written in the early part of the nineteenth cen tury, when such men as Jackson of Col county, Capt. Nicolas Davis of Lime stone county, and the Majors Boardman and Turner and others of this county were engaged in breeding and racing the thoroughbreds. At that time many of the best of the old-time thoroughbreds were imported by one or the other of these men, among which were Levia- than, Glencoe, and many others; their studs were among the very best in the country.
 Knowing that If they were successful in breeding the best thoroughbreds that the trotter would just as naturally thrive on the succulent pastures of our limestone land, where they have nearly 12 months of sunshine and few days when stock of any kind have to be housed. With these thoughts in mind Piedmont Farm was established in a modest way in 1887, and has steadily grown until its present pro- portions were attained. The brood mares are in keeping with the stallions and many winners have been turned out by this farm. The Piedmont farm has been a pioneer in showing that no part of the United Hive stock from the lordly trotter to the practical beef COW and money getting hog at as small cost. quality consid- cred, than the county of Madison in the great state of Alabama. For the hog Madison county has such crops as alfalfa, cowpeas, soy beans, chufas, sweet potatoes, turnips, which are often raised for swine food, and the grasses. There is succession of crops throughout the year and the hog can | usually get his living from the field, with the minimum fattening for market.