The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-06-27
SOUTH BEGINNING
To FEED ITSELF
Many Hogs shipped From Counties
where NoHe We're Rai~ed--Forame
Crop@ shows Increase.

Washington, r G.. June as-There
used to he story about a Southern
farmer who bought his beans in Bos-
ton, his furniture in Grand Rapids. his
food in Cincinnati and his feed in St.
Louis. and alt he raised on his farm
was pack Of dogs. but the story. ac-
cording to reports coming IN every
day to the United States department.
OF agriculture. is getting so far from
the truth that It hardly deserves a
place in the widest fiction.
For the South ia beginning TO feed
itself. More than that. II is beginning
to help feed other sections Of the
country. The South Is divorcng Itself
from it's dependence on the one-crop
system. and is raising food and feed
az well as cotton in large quantities.
Furthermore-aud what is Of imme-
djete 1919 portance--the South by
feeding itself is decreasing the drain
on the North and West and is releas-
ing products OF those sections 10 be
shipped across the ocean as liberty
food.
Hogs where Hogs Never Grew BEFORE
Here are some items that prove the
evolution-almost the revolution--in
Southern agriculture:
lntb four years ago not a single
carload OF hogs was shipped from sew
enteen counties in Southern Alabama
In the wear that ended April l. 1915,
the carloads of hogs shipped from the
same seventeen counties numbered
2.352 The total value OF these hogs
IS estimated to be more than $1,000
coo Formerly this section produced
little except cotton. Now II ts con-
trtbuting to the food supplies OF the
ration. It is raising peanuts, velvet
beans, corn, oats and winter grazing
crops and has permanent pastures Of
Bermuda grass and lespedeza. These
forage crops are transformed into
pork by the direct feeding route
Leguminou~ Crops Increasing.
In the census year 1909 only 1880
acres were planted to velvet beans in
the South. Suddenly Southern farm
ers discovered tho effectiveness of this
plant as forage and feed for live stock
and in improving soil, In 1877 the
velvet bean crop covered $500 600
acres. all In the South.
Soy beans grew on only 1922 acres
in l9oS. but this crop advanced so
rapidly in appreciation that its area
In 1917 was estimated at half mil
lion acres. CowpeaA which have been
planted in the South for many years
are estimated to have trehled in acre
age since 1909.
~
area planted to peanuts remained about
the same as in 1909, but II has in
creased ix-fold in the Georgia, Flor
ida and Ala ALBANIA field and eight fold
IN Texas and adjoining states The
total acreage reported for the sensus
year was below million. In 1917
II had expanded to more than three
and one-fourth millions.
The area of velvet and SOW hearE
and peanuts In 1903 was $4,000 acres
According TO estimates Of the bureau
of crop estimates of the department OF
agriculture, the total for 1917 was
$3.50 600 acres, mostly in the South
The acreage of these three Iegufnes
has been multiplied by ten in eight
years and in the same time the area
of cowpeas the number of acres of
which has not been ascertained has
trebled
Benefits 10 south.
The slRnifcsnce Of the change that
Southern agriculture is undergoing
through the enormous expansion OF
the acreage of these four legumes can
he expressed in important results. One
is the Improvement of soil much in
need of humus and nitrogen, both of
which these crops supply Animal
feeds and forage are produced In great
quantities in a region that hitherto
has brought them in from the North
central states. These crops are meat
and milk producers on farms that were
consumers Of surplus meat and dairy
products shipped from Northern states
A notable increase OF live stock on
farms diminshes the eco
monte weakness of 'ne-crop farming
and means Q more self-sustaining and
agriculture
work of County Agents.
The county agents Of the department
~ agriculture and the state agricul-
tural colleges have been instrumental
not only in Introducing the growing
Of these crops and the raising of live
stock. but in teaching farmers how to