The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1940-06-20

Mississippi Form
News
By F. j. HURST, Extension Editor

BY F. j. HURST, Extension Editor
One weakness in Mississippi Agri-
culture is the failure of many farmers
to produce, store and save enough
planting seed for their own use. This
tragic fact was forcefully revealed
this week when a local leader who
wanted to aid in the food and feed
campaign being sponsored by agricul-
tural leaders n Mississippi news
papers went out to locate planting
seed of cowpeas, soybeans. sudan, sor-
ghum and other field crops. Cowpea
seed was the only seed he could find
in the county.
Farmers of the state annually buy
thousands of dollars worth of plant
ing seed which they could produce on
their own farms. And almost invaria-
bly, the locally-grown, home-produced
seed is better adapted and produces
higher yields.
Enterprising farmers throughout
the state this week are saving white
clover seed, bur clover seed, and
crimson clover seed. There is an en-
ormous demand for soybean. cowpea,
sudan, n sorghum seed. Farmers
who produce a surplus of any of
these seeds will invariably find a
ready market at highly satisfactory
prices.
One way to feed farm family the
best food at the lowest cost is to
keep the home garden going full
blast. With rains falling throughout
much of the state this week, now is
a good time to make additional
paintings of many vegetables, espec-
tally of such crops as pole beans and
butterbeans.
Every farm family should produce
enough good clover n grass hay to
abundantly feed the family milk cows
during dry periods and the winter
months. Where the family has only
one or two milk cows it is not prac-
teal to produce silage, sweet potatoes
can be easily grown n stored. Feed
ing experiments conducted at State
College show sweet potatoes to be a
valuable feed for dairy cows and beef
cattle.
To Mississippi farm families who
plan to further increase the produce
ton and conservation of food and feed
products to meet home and farm needs
and local market requirements, the
Mississippi Extension Service offers
the following suggestions:
Keep the home garden producing at
maximum capacity by making success
sive paintings of adaptable vegetables,
clean cultivation, and application of
needed fertilizers. Can surplus pro-
ducts for winter use.
Secure a copy of the Vegetable
Planting Calendar" and 1.-The Year
Round Home Garden" prepared by
the Mississippi Extension Service. The
plnating calendar gives a list of 40
varieties of 33 kinds of vegetables
and the planting date of each variety
in each of five zones in the state.
Plant extra patches of cowpeas and
butterbeans for use in season, for
canning, and for harvesting dry and
storing. Bush lima beans are highly
productive, earlier than pole limas,
and especially useful for canning.
Build up and maintain the pro-
ductivity of the poultry flock. Gull and
sell non-producers. Vaccinate young
birds for fowl pox. Control mites, des-
tructive poultry pest, by spraying
roosts and nests with ca,bolineum,
creosote, or some other Goa tar pro-
duct. Provide plenty of coo fresh
water and shade during the summer
months. Raise young birds on clean
range and provide entire flock with
green grazing.
Produce and save all of the hay
needed. Next to good permanent pas