St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1921-04-09

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. c-e0~~oooo~oooeeo
getting neither rent nor interest. It
takes time to get drainage through,
and by the time he gets convinced
from seeing he will have sunk twice
as much money in his unimprOved
land as he now has in it, and he VIII
| have to wait while longer to get
drainage. That isn't the way to
make money. For such man, If
his wealth is in these lands he will
die ''land poor
No, ii a man won't accept and
act upon the counsel of the best
| authorities on farming, on the ex-
/ perience Of the best farmers II tn ,
world, its no use trying to prove
] drainage to him. The gray matter
of such a man, If he has any, doesn't
function He wouldn't believe what
he'd SEEN It wouldn't mean any
thing to him. He'd simply go on
saying, "Some people do seem to
be born lucky
/ 1t is easily within the power Of St.
Tammany parish to make its own
good luck, and to make it perma-
nent. We can quadruple Cor III
crease to any extent) the sum already
voted for good roads, and this im-
provement within reasonable limits
will bring some return on the in
vestment, but it is not nearly SO val
liable an improvement as would be
drainage. Why? Because the real
value of road is for traficWay, to
haul something over. Until we de-
velop farming industry the chief
value we may expect from these
roads is from the increase of auto
MODELLING, as an inducement to SUM
mer visitors" Remember lumber is
going, almost gone. / am speaking
OF the near future. What will We
use these roads for? Are we build
ing our hopes for the future solely
on the expectations of profit from
to the needs or desires of passers-
through, the travellers That is
pretty slender subsistence, and ii
will add precious little value to these
lands which have to pay taxes for
the building and upkeep Of these
pleasure drives. Is St. Tammany con-
tent with its fading or faded re
noWn as a health resort?
Have we really accepted the
count? Is st. Tammany down and
out? Since came into the parish
have eagerly questioned the wis
itors" / have met. Why do they
keep coming? Some say, 'This is
the last time over. Others tell a
tale of the: past-they formed the
habit many years ago, and being set
in their ways have not been diverted
to the gulf coast. I find very little
enthusiasm even on the part of the
residents. Nearly everyone is ready
to admit that it is more attractive
over in Mississippi. But the differ
ence seems at bottom to be that the
people over in Mississippi have been
more enterprising. Indeed, there are
some people here, whom l almost
forgot, who would like St. Tammany
parish better If everybody would
leave. They say, "There are too
fort 1t interferes with the fish
ing and hunting They like it bet
ter wild. They came over here for
relaxation to get away from the city,
and they hope this parish will grow
into more Of wilderness than 1t now
is. The only question is whether
there are enough of these people to
defeat any progress whatsoever. I
am not finding fault with their
tastes, but there is such a vast ex-
panse Of wilderness in the United
States, some of which is quite in
capable of being made anything else
at present, that, while New Orleans
is under-supplied with farm produce
and here in this parish are nearly five
hundred THOUSAND acres fit for prof
liable farming, the much-desired will
derness ought to be placed a little
farther beyond the pales Of possible
civilization
Why should not st. Tammany par
ish be re-invigorated with a youth
full ambition? Instead of accepting
the crumbs of crumbled past, why
not build strong and hopefully Let
us build farm industry that. Itself
must have roads and will build them.
Oh, but it costs SO much! It's
chief cost is the inclination. An ef-
fort Is painful 20 an old man; to a
youth it Is lift. Let us run with
youth, and not sit in the corner with
hold age. This IS a young mans JOB;
yet 1t is a pleasure to see bright,
old man, retaining the fire Of youth,
come forward to take a leading part
in doing a thing which he may not
live to see fulfilled. It is inspira-
ton to see man in the very tWi-
liht Of his life planting fruit trees,
and it is remarkable how frequently
one finds such a glorious old man ex--.
ceeding in hopefu1ness and forward.
looking the spirit of youth. After
TALL is said about youth and age, it is