Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-04-08

,~HARLEsTON, S. c., April Prime
Mississippi, Florida or Carolina beef
~ will figure on bills of fare in the near
future as special appeal to the epicure'
much as Canada mutton and LynnhaVen
oysters do now. For these states, and num-
Der of others in the far south, are going into
the cattle and general live stock business on
a large scale, and with a view to producing
stock of the best grade.
Several factors conspire to turn attention
to the live stock business in South Carolina
lust now The cotton planter is reducing his
acreage in cotton because of low prices Tor
that commodity. The cattle tick has been
practically eliminated and the quarantine re-
moved from the state. High-grade stock is
moving freely in and out of it.
Part of the growth of cattle-raising busl-
ness in the South is taking place on the
farms, as a part of the general tendency to-
ward more diversified farming; but the big
opportunity lies in the enormous area OF cut
over and swamp lands.
Few people realize just how great an OPP
portunity this is South of the Mason ana
Dixon line in the cotton belt there are now,
according to best estimates, two hundred
million acres of uncultivated lands. me
whole public domain of the United States
is only 100, 100000 acres. So that the avail
able range in the south Is really greater
than the free range of the west 1t is also
vastly better. Indeed, with the passing OF
the cattle tick, everything lnQlCdCeS that Iu6
south is to become, for time at least, the
great cattle breeding region of the United
States More and more of the better western
lands are being reclaimed for agriculture,
and the poorer cnes are good only for sheep
or for nothing.
There are two chief parts of the southern
cattle range area. One is the coastal region
from Norfolk to New Orleans, and the other
is from that point up the Mississippi river to
Tennessee This is all yellow pine country,
and it is in the cutover pinelands and the
adjacent lowlands, subject to overflow, that
the great potential cattle range lies.
The use of these lands for cattle is one of
the numerous good things that war pro-
noted Much of this land has lain idle ever
since the timber was cut The owners re-
garded the land as sort Of by-product that
they got with the timber. The Valuations
and consequently the taxes, were low. 1t
was easy to carry the lands, hoping for
future rise in their values.
Building of better roads, with attendant
road taxes, was the first thing that disturbed
these gentlemen The war, with its higher
rates of taxation, disturbed them still more.
The great rise in the value of beef gave them
an idea, and a number of experts for the
department of agriculture came along oppor-
timely to assure them that the idea was feas-
ible AS a result there are now some line
herds of cattle in the south, and they are
mere fraction of the herds that are to be-
Of course, large part of this great south
ern cut-over and swamp area is potential
farm land 1t is especially adapted to truck
and fruit growing. But it requires much
money to prepare cut-over land for the plow,
and still more money to drain swamps. Also,
markets are far away from much of the land.
Secretary Lanes farms-for-soldiers plan,
which has been so long neglected by congress,
contemplated the reclamation of some of this
land by cooperation between state and ma
tional governments. But even if the govern
ment does undertake this work, it will be a
long time before any considerable portion of