The Semi-weekly leader., 1921-12-21
WEALTH BROUGHT
TO "PINEY WOODS"
South Mississippi is Taking the
Lead in Education and
Industry.

following narrative report on farm
extension work in South Mississip-
pi, J. Ruff, district agent, explains
how the lower half of the state, the
'piney woods" section, is taking the
lead in agriculture, education, indus
tries, ETC., and tells something of
the activities of the farmers in that
great region.
"The South Mississippi district
comprises the majority of the terri
tory lying south of the A. & v. Rail-
road and embraces all of the long
leaf pine soil area. The soils of this
section are generally poor, due, no
doubt to the old practice of burning
the forest each year. Even the new
ly cleared lands are destitute of veg
etable matter and required fertili-
ger in order to produce profitable
crops. Hence soil building is one of
our biggest problems.
prior to the advent of the boil
weeVil cotton was regarded as the
only dependable cash crop. Agricul-
tural lands were valued according to
ability to produce cotton. The farm
er's credit at the bank and supply
store was based on the number of
bales of cotton he produced. The
mild winters and generous rainfall
make ideal conditions for the propa-
cation of the boil weevil. Thus cot
ton farming became Improbable for
the South Mississippi farmer. This
marked the beginning of new chap
ter in the agricultural history of
Mississippi.
Farm extension workers in CO.
operation with business men, farm
ers, and all other helpful agencies,
set about finding new cash crops that
were better suited than cotton to
the soils and climate Of South Missis-
sippi. Sweet potatoes grew well, the
quality was par excellent, and the
yield was entirely satisfactory. The
market was the serious handicap.
The entire crop was usually thrown
on the market at digging time, and
potatoes frequently sold as low as
rs cents per bushel. BY January
the market would be bare and the
price would advance to a much high
er level. The old method of bank
ing potatoes in the ground was very
unsatisfactory. More than 60 per
cent of the entire crop was lost each
year from decay. Therefore it was
evident that the sweet potato mar
ket was doomed to failure unless bet
ter storage and marketing facilities
could be provided.
POTATOES BRING $1O,5O0,OOO
After much diligent work and
numerous campaigns we succeeded
in getting farmers to build hundreds
of storage houses with total ca
pacity of about 100000 bushels.
The records show that about 95 per
cent of potatoes put in these houses
keep perfectly, as scattered over the
district. Their combined output is
about 800, 900 bushels annually. A
survey of prices for the past five
years shows that Mississippi sweet
potatoes sold for A cents per bushel
at digging time, while those put in
storage and sold from January to
March brought $1.24 per bushel. The
1920 sweet potato crop was valued
at $10,500,0O0. The majority of
which was produced in the South
Mississippi district. There is much
work to be done along the lines of
varieties and containers, expansion
of markets and the adoption of uni
form grades. A sweet potato grow
ers' association has been organized.
A definite program of work has been
mapped out, looking to the progress
and development of the industry.
Sugar cane syrup is a crop that
is well suited to the light sandy soils
of the long leaf pine soil area. From
a very small beginning, as a crop
grown only for home consumption, it
is now the third most valuable field
crop in the district. Yields of from
400 to 500 bushels per acre are not
uncommon. The crop is easily grown
and rarely ever fails. Marketing in
the past has been rather difficult,
owing to the lack of uniformity of
the produce. A survey of the retail
stores disclosed the fact that rs per
cent of the syrup sold in the towns
and cities of the state is other than
homegrown and has been shipped
from 100 to 500 miles. None of this
was pure cane syrup. When ap-
preached relative to this situation,
the merchants said that they would
gladly discriminate in favor of home
grown syrup when properly packed
and standardized to meet the re-
Quirements of their trade.
Following the lead suggested by
this price survey a meeting of the
syrup growers Of the district was
called at Hattiesburg June Is, at
which time the Mississippi Syrup
Growers Association came into ex-
istence. At a subsequent meeting the
standardization of containers came |
up for discussion, it was shown that
the old-style gallon can with large |
friction top was out of date and |
wholly unsuited to present shipping
ana marketing requirements. Inc TOP |
would frequently jolt off in transit,
thus wasting the entire contents of
the can and soiling the labels on all
the containers in the crate. The asso-
citation went on record as favoring
the adoption of standard container
with two-inch opening. Also that
four sizes of cans should be used in
order to meet the requirements of
both the wholesale and retail trade,
1t was further decided to cook all
syrup intended for commercial pur-
poses to density of "a degrees.
"A small blending plant, co-opera-
lively owned and operated has been
established at Tylertown, by the
farmers of Walthall county. This lit
tie plant promises to be a long stride |