The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-23
South's Prosperity We'll Analysed

TN connection with the annual con 0 vention of the Southern Commer cial congress, held in New York las, week, the Evening Post makes an edi torial survey of the agricultural soutf that is at once Illuminating and cheer. ing. While southern people are ia. miliar with the facts set forth by the great newspaper referred to, it is we'll to read the friendly comments o1 Ia northern editor. The Evening Post in it's timely article on the changed and improved conditions in the cotton belt, has given this section wide advertisement that cannot fail to be appreciated by progressive citizens hereabouts. The statistics show a clear apprehension of agricultural fundamentals. The editorial says in part:
 The southern part of America will
 some day surpass the 1914 record of more than 37.0oo,000 acres and 16,ooo,ooo bales of cotton; but 1t will surely nev-
 ar again see cotton push other crops
 so to the wall. There is an i'm.
 mense waste or half-waste acreage
 t,1 %ha ,,<A
 both cotton and general crop grow
 ing, increasing totals in each, while
 cotton Is going to spread with other
 crops far to the southwest: finer than Egyptian cotton is now grown in the Salt river, Yuma, and Paloverde val leys. The invention of a cheap prac- tical cotton picker would so solve the labor problem as to make possible both more cotton and more attention to intensified grain and animal hus- bandry. Last year, despite the great rise in cotton acreage. Alabama had near 5ooooo more acres of corn than in 1914, and maintained her increase of 210,00o acres of oats; Mississippi had 25o,0O0 more acres of corn than in 1914, and 1e00o0 more acres of oats, | just twice as much; Georgia fell back 1 to her 1914 acreage of corn, but had I 410,0O0 more acres of oats, and Louis | jana had 134,0o0 more acres of corn ! and 4o,00o more of oats. The south l had for years been importing mules, l hay, corn, butter, cheese and pork ! and the southerner realizes the patri- 1 otic motive and the pocket motive in l making his section self-sustaining. 1 Investigators in Alabama have re- l tions in the black belt, with nothing but farms about, 10000 to 100000 pounds ] of corn meal, and pork have been 1 shipped in annually. The south Is
 extraordinarily fitted for the two and even three-crop plans which should 1 supplement cotton raising. - Crop rotation would give great areas Sap-
 preaching soil exhaustion new 1 chance. The danger of overproduction would become remote, and "croppers, :" l small negro farmers. and tenants
 would have far better chance of pros perity. Producers would be lifted
 out of the rut of conservatism and a
 new atmosphere of enterprise and
 intelligence would be felt.
 It is safe to say that no farmer in the south understand intensiv methods more clearly than those Q 1 Alabama. And while all have nc realized the importance of applyin these methods, wonderful strides hay been made within the last three year lin almost every part of the state. Tn year 1917 has been a great year flo Alabama and if still further progres
 is not made in 1918 it will not be tn fault of the man behind the blow. < ,: *
 Turkey and Bulgaria
 Thinking of Peace
 , M s an aftermath to the Kaiser