Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1918-02-12
MARSHALL ADVISES
SUMTER FARMERS
co SLOW ON COTTON
PUTTING IN OF PLENTY OF FOOD
CROPS ADVOCATED, WITH EV-
ERY ACRE TO BE PLANTED IN
SOMETHING.

section is offered by the county agent,
G. o. Marshall, who specially urges the
importance of rather conservative
farming policies for the present, ow-
ing to the abnormal conditions, and
the nevessity of utilizing every acre
of cleared land and of planting first
OF all sufficient amount of food for
the farmers individual use and for
his live stock Mr.. Marshall said to-
day:
Recent notices from Washington
advise all farmers to play safe this
year in planning their seasons work.
Time is too valuable, the necessity
for the utmost production by every
farmer too vital, for any man to make
any radical changes along established
cropping systems for 1918.
The country has always been de-
pendent on the farmer, but never to
such degree as at present, and the
armies of the world today are watch
ing the man who tills the soil as
never before In this regard, too
much stress cannot be laid upon the
imperative necessity for every per
son to raise first of all enough food
stuff Ior himself, and all his live
stock Hay and grain are high, hay
especially being in great demand and
very scarce. Don't let a single acre
OF cleared land lie idle. If labor is
too scarce to put it into the staple
crops, then sow it down in peas or
millet or surghum. These require the
minimum of labor and produce maxi
mum returns. We should not neglect
corn under any circumstances. Well
need it for ourselves, our work stock
and hogs, and oversupply is bound
to be in great demand. This crop
requires but little labor, and when
beans or peas are sowed with corn,
we have almost produced two blades
of forage where there was only one
before. Remember to plant the velvet
hean.
"As to cotton, it is sure to be dam
aged the coming season, despite the
hope held out by some that the cold
winter has destroyed the weevil
Much more depends on whether We
have a rainy spring and simmer as to
what the damage by the weevil will
really be- Cotton, remeber, requires
much labor, but its value as money
crop cannot be minimized. Whatever
we do, plant only as much as can be
we'll cultivated and quickly gathered.
Do not overplant on this crop. The
government is very apt to fix the price
of cotton before another crop.
"The high prices obtained last year
for Irish potatoes is stimulating many
people to plant largely of this crop,
but it should be borne in mind very
clearly that the country produced the
largest crop in its history last year;
that this crop is very we'll distribut-
ed over the entire country; that the
white potato is perishable crop, and
whatever price may be had this year,
it will be largely question of trans
portation, as to profits. Cars are go
ing to very scarce, the railroads are
now overburdened and, all in all, it
would be well to go very slow on
Irish potatoes this year.
fertilizers are high and it should
be borne in mind that heavy applica-
tions cannot make up for poor prep
aration of the soil. The better the
condition of the land the better the
crop, and it takes good soil to utilize
guano to the most profitable advant-
age. The better the soil, the heavier
the application Poor land seldom
produces a profit for the use of guano
above a reasonable application, say
400 pounds per acre. Let us keep
clear in our minds the necessity for
absolute maximum yields for 1918, a
clear plan of action on the farm, and
not so much greater acreage, but
greater care and greater attention to
those acres we do plant.
A GOOD SALESMAN WANTED-An
unusually good opportunity for one hig
grade salesman to handle exclusively
in this city and build up himself a
lucrative business of his own with
remarkable product which is abso-
lutely guaranteed and needed in ev-
cry business house, and household.