The courier-index., 1920-06-11

excellent aarLahle ai,hl success made by on the ,fsrrbam Ie, of LaGrange, this sJ 5. an poor land farm. The roun,Is rain,s which is illustrated Sos us ' nn arllei1' s,no barns and stock scenEs a1lo,s ul @s saO"M Markham's farm' IS as io,lI MarI MT. Mr..shteen M years ago J. D. Mark. A. Elgltftt ,aft his mill business Tn west ham ieis and moved on the 54o- Tennesse s,, he now owns. This farm acre ial .ad some 12 miles south or is locavee Arkansas, and lies pretty haliann on Crowley's Ridge. ne well up od this land for $6 per acre. purca!a'esTn snite of this seemingly low uus uu;ce the land was so poor tna; 4;n,o ~ pllse, er,eighborhood gossip at the t,ms was " h;s purchase, that Markham nau ol n h,' . had deal and would sureiy maoe so Q to death trying to make a slalse on m this worn-out land. ln- lVllle +here M was considerable grounds assu ss th;s belief; for the average soli TOT .In .ll'' section is very deficient Tn M -anon a,s organic matter and avail nl,iOeh enhosnhoric acid, and the re- au.e s.;an of the Markham place pre- sented a tedious ahu =. f,,,, ssm'S lsm However, early in his farm. ;v. ;rr experience MT. Markham put Is into effect a farming scheme that s'v aaS coil building as it's chief aim, for au realized that any success that he " M;rht make on his place was de- nude aaedent on his ability to so enrich s;s so;l that fairly yields might be ns .e , That he has made a vots vo.she success in improving his a,ass ;s attested by the fact that he bss been offered $125 per acre Tor h;s farm. However. he has not only made m a rich soil, but at the time ne rss r bringing his poor land back to nroductiyeness he was making rood living from the land:
 MT. Markham's policy is to live at home and produce cotton and sorn for revenue. He keeps herd If about 50 grade Herefords, but ss he expresses it, they are kept to eat up the unstable roughage and manure the farm, rather than for any direct financial gain from the sale of the cattle. He figures that if sells the cattle locally for AS much as it cost to raise them he has the plant food in the manure as. clear gain. However, while livestock through the production of manure did considerable to restore the fertility on the place, the ac- complished most in the restorative process by compelling MT. Markham to plant a considerable acreage IT. grasses and clovers for roughage. It is pretty nearly automatic that the farmer that keeps his place fairly well stocked with cattle and feeds them we'll will find. it very difficult to put in and properly handle sufficiently large acreage of cotton and grain to seriously reduce soil fertility.
 The Manure is Carefully Saved
 On the Markham farm no use IS made of commercial fertilizer, but there is an unwavering faith in the ability of manure to bring "dead" land back to life. The manure dropped in the barn lots is gathered at frequent intervals and placed in mprovised racks. The photograph on this page shows a manure pile that contains approximately 150 loads These piles are made on level ground and while it would be better if some cover were provided, there is no large loss of plant food through the teaching and washing or the manure, for the soil under meath the pile is of a rather tight, mpervious nature and the manure kept moist and well packed.
 TOT number of years common or native cows were kept and bred 70 nondescript bulls, but three years ago purebred Hereford bull was purchased. The use of this bull on the native cows of the section asmonstrates in a very effective way % ,ns value of good purebred sire. lne photograph shows the purebred sis, tne native COW, and the grade tau H With all the earmarks of a hereford purbred.
 me Markham farm is notable if VI no other reason than the de- esse 10 which it's owner has carried Wy ms Tive at home" policy. MT. Nnam has small orchard and avas saroen that produces vegetables s,e s,sa large part of the year. He S,n~s Sas the wheat from which his ias s"su a Hour is made, the sorghum ms., n 'ne molasses, the corn for the Ial, I,a, the broom straw for the f,vv fvvh, the mules that furnish the supply. anu hogs TOT ms hieae ton Ifi Ai.a Markham had 75 acres in cot aess. 'ast Year, of which about 30 pet;. ; was sowed, after the first wirtaqs to either Abruzzi rye or field barley Cattle grazed the sprin. uurlng the winter and this for so,s the crop was turned under com n00ut as S5 acres are planted to ham b a variety that MT. Mark nessee trough with him from Ten a reS It is yellowish red corn with with s.ro, roO. of fairly good size and H~ Hs~ bsa ss the tip and butt of of the the esr ear. ing his his mad made a practice of harvest and S ojetlsest pest plot of corn separately lot, WYE Whag the best ears out of the
 sess,;an sGrn is not as effect;va aa Pio f;o,a