The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-15
HOW TO OPERATE 32O ACRES WITH TWO MULES T0LD
Details Of Demonstration Be- ing Carried Out In Mont
 gomery County Given
STATE CAPITAL BUREAU
 THE AGE-HERALD
MOntROmerv. Ala. Oct, I4

Some interesting details on farm demonstration being carried out in Montgomery county under the direc- tion of farm management expert are given in statement issued to- day, by F. w. Gist, agricultural stat istieian. The demonstration is cal eulated to be of interest to owners of Black Belt farms, the object of the demG~ tration being to show that a @20-acre Black Belt, farm can be made the family unit of forming, and that machinery can take the place of other labor.
 Following is MT. Gist's statement:
 Can a farm of 320 acres be op- erated with two mules and two and half men? An attempt is being made to demonstrate the practicabil ity of doing so at profit in Mont gomery county. The farm belongs to Ed C. Tsylor of Mon ntgomery, and the demonstration is under the direction of J. s. Mobley, the farm manage ment expert of the International Harvester company. The farm is typical Black Belt soil, on which some cattle have been grazed in very recent years, and from which a few crops of hay have been cut since it came into. the present ownership.
 o o O
 :5 Acres Former Unit.
 For many years the average Black Belt farm, whether large planta tion or a small individual farm, has been unit of 25 acres, a negro fam ily. and mule. Therefore, a 320 acre tract of cultivated land has been divided into about 13 tenant farms, supporting 13 men and their families and operated by 13 mules. n some instances, of course, me- gro family has operated two or more pic WIS, according to the number of persons old enc V to pull bell cord over q mules back. When this land produced a bale of cotton per acre, and each mule produced 20 bales of cotton and small volume of corn and other things, this system of farming was profitable, al 'o0st tG the land owner, who received one hai-z tae cotton as rent. The mer chant Who sold food and feed for the operation of these farms also found the system remarkably profitable. A few years ago the boil weevil came along and cut the yield Cf cotton to an average of less than 100 pounds of lint cotton, and the tenant found that he could not cultivate 20 acres in cotton and make anything at all. Since shat time the land owner has frequently failed to get his wonted rent, the merchant has failed to col lect his store bill, and the negro has gone to town or the public works to make d living. The census of 1920 reported 90,000 acres of land in farms in Montgomery county less than in 1910, and the county, which in 1914 produced 54 1000 bales of cot ton, in 1916, produced less than 5000. The county also lost IS per cent of it's rural negro population from 1910 to 1920, most of it after 1914.
 Affected By Labor Shortage.
 Since that time many farms in Montgomery county have been taken over by white farmers from other sections. who have gone into dairy ing. cattle raising, and hay making. These have been more CT less suc- cessful as they have applied prac- tcal farming systems to local con ditions. Even these, however, have been seriously affected by labor Shortage and other problems annoy ing andsaexpeflsive. NE Mobley, in farm, proposes to prove that 320 acres can be made the family unit; that machinery can be made to take the place of man labor; that two mules can take the place of 13.
 The old time Black Belt farmer be- came firmly convinced that corn could not be grown on this soil; MT. Mobley believes it can. Undoubt tedlY, in it's present condition this soil has not been producing sufficient yield of corn to make it profitable, and the idea has become prevalent that corn can be bought cheaper than it can be grown. It is generally be- lieved and so stated, that the soil in this region is rich enough naturally to grow anything. Certainly the natural rainfall is sufficient every year to make a good yield of corn. The season is long enough to mature corn to it's best grade. Then what ''is the matter? Lack of humus is the answer. A century of clean cultiva- tion and taking away all the vege- blp in has pyhanStp1 the b1l- mus content, left the soil. tight and droughty and in seasons of heavy rainfall waterlogged. The first thing MT Mobley propL Sess to do before even planting corn crop is to put back the necessary amount of hu- mus. To do this he intends to grow q crop of oats and white sweet clover The oats will be cut for use the farm and the clover turned under. This process will be followed for two seasons, and then corn will be grown.
 Problem Is to Make Profit.
 In. the meantime, the problem is to make living and profit from the land while~ building it up to the point where a definite system of TO- tation will keep it up. A portion Cf the farm will be utilized as a hay meadow, and another portion as pasture for cattle About 15 dairy
 
 far eas. the pasture will provide beef cattle will be grazed The oats and hay@ will supplement the pasture. Hogs will be kept in proportion to the dairy cows and about 200 hens will complete the live animal com plement of the farm.
 When the growth of corn is begun, each acre of corn will be inter planted with soy beans. Most of the corn and all the beans will be har- vested by hogs, which, when fin ished will go on the market as hard. pork. No crops win be sold from the farm, all the vegetable growth being fed into live animals, which will con stitute the marketable resources. The machinery to be used will consist chiefly of tractor, a disc plow, a disc harrow, section or sharp tooth harrow, a cultipacker, cultivators, manure spreader, hay loaders and balers and other minor implements. Nothing will be ham dled by hand which can be handled by a machine. Hay will be taken directly from the gro und as moved and moved by machines into the barn; only enough corn will be har- vested to furnish meal for the cows and grain feed for two mules. Of course, there will be silos, into