The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-28
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

am continually reading in the farm l papers and literary weeklies and maga.
 zines about the money to be made ir
 farming.
 Many of the stories sound fishy some
 are written in a humorous vein, while
 others are just filled with gush about
 the lure of the country. have gotten
 used to both styles and read them more
 for amusement than for instruction.
 But every now and then I sit down and talk to some man, like my friend, Byrd how Bill Jones rented place from Sam Williams and moved out there with his family and put in a crop, and sold so many bales of cotton put so many bush els of corn in his crib, got so much for
 so many bushels of peanuts, made so
 much syrup, cut so much hay, fattened
 so many hogs. pastured COW or two,
 raised lot of chickens, and put enough sweet potatoes in the pit to run him the winter, while his wife put up fruit
 and canned goods galore, with the result
 that he cleaned up nearly enough to pay
 for the place while having lived well off
 it-then I know I am getting at facts. Are you in the habit of reading Wade s weekly letter? Oh, you don't even know
 who Wade is? We'll, I tell you, he Is the secretary of agriculture, who Is a better farmer than he is a politician, and so l gives more attention to what farmers are | raising on the inside of their fences than he Is in keeping up his own political fences q know this is contrary to demo- cratic precedent, and therefore I hope no one will unjustly censure MT. Wade for attending to other peoples business instead of his own. For this reason I have been keeping in close touch with his weekly literary output, for he does not rely on Pagaus for his inspiration, but follows behind the mule which stands for farming rather than poesy What I am trying to drive at is that these letters are not written by a mere
 book farmer but are composed by man who knows how to blow.
 After the floods, boil weevil disaster and general depression in 1s16 the de- partment of agriculture and industries thought it wise to conduct small dem onstration farm near Montgomery for the purpose of producing an object lesson in diversified farming and intensive cot ton culture under boil weevil conditions Xe could not use public funds for de- haying the expenses; therefore MT. A. L. Kimbrough, assistant clerk. agreed t. rent the land. furnish the horse, pay all other expenses and superintend 1t before and after office hours for the profit or loss, as the case might be. Twenty-one acres were secured and planted as follows: Eight acres to oats, which were three-fourths destroyed by freeze. After the scattered oats were harvested, the same land was planted to corn and peas. Three acres were planted to sweet potatoes, three acres to corn and cultivated on the intensive plan, and seven acres in cotton planted April II, with Cleveland and Uncle Sam va rieties. The boil weevils were hand picked before squares formed and the crop cultivate shallow once a week un- til August.
 The results were 65 bushels of oats, worth $50; 275 bushels of corn, worth SA25o; five tons peavine hay. with the peas, worth s10o; seven and one-half bales of Jnf oyI fny sold roasting ears and peas to amount of s2o; $50 bushels of potatoes. sold for $S50 total receipts from 21 acres, s216950 Expenses of the crop are as follows: Land rent, $166; seed s45; fertilizer, s5o feed, s10o; totaL $195; labor and miscel laneous expenses. s225; total expenses $5se total net profit $15s3.5o.
 This crop was cultivated in accordance public by the department of agriculture; it was produced on rented land, with hired labor exclusively, one hired man and one pony doing the work. Had Mr. Kimbrough not had other employment and performed the labor himself, his edIulH6S WOulQ nave peSI nearly @<uVu We are publishing this for the benefit of the man in town who has had expe- rience on the farm, to show him that his opportunities are far better on the farm than in town working for small salary or wages, where he is forced to pay house rent equal to farm rent and pay twice as much as in former years for fuel and groceries. I earnestly ap- peal to all men who are living in the towns and cities on small salaries and who have had farm experience, to get on the farms, if possible. Your country needs you to help solve the food ques- ton for yourselves, the country. and to win the war We must recruit our pro- ducing army as we'll as our military forces.
 had funny experience about one of Wade's letters. Just before receiving it good brother preacher had sent me long doctrinal article and I had re- turned it, stating that the columns of tho Alabama Baptist were so crowded that would have to ask him to excuse mo for not printing it. then printed Wade's letter about Boys Corn Clubs" and maybe I didn't get roast. My of | tended brother sarcastically wanted to l know whether I was running an agri-