The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1945-07-27

open and ready to pick. ms was
the season wood was cut and
corded for winter. The logging
camps opened up for the mule
likewise had to earn his keep I'M
Ill the next blowing season. Too,
the gins and oil-mills opened up
full blast. Soon there would be
lines of wagons filled to the brim
with cotton ready to be ginned,
baled and hauled to the railroad
platform. The gin companies
paid cash for the seed after the
expense of ginning, bagging and
ties was deducted. The tenant
was given his half Of the seed
money to sustain him while pick
ing his crop.
Too Valuable for Pastures
We raised very little corn,
then too much rain made 1t in
ferior and dangerous to feed to
stock. The land was too valua-
BILE for cotton raising to have
many pastures SO we bought can
ned milk.
About once a year / go up to
the farm to spend a few days,
but find it very different now.
In the mornings | am awakened
by the suffering of the tractors,
and the cars and trucks going
out. The old home has all mod
ern equipment. The electric re-
frigerator has taken the place OF
the old ice box. Electric lights
have frightened the house, yard
and barn. The electric iron and
washing machine have reduced
the servants to one. The electric
pump supplies the water for the
bath and kitchen. The butane
gas heats the house and water,
but | did enjoy so much the glow
of the big open fireplace and its
cracking logs.
The tractor and its farm equip
ment have supplanted the mule.
II plows the land much deeper
and in less time. 1t plants and
cultivates the crops-four rows
in one operation. Some of the
rows are practically a mile in
length. The checked rows elm
mate hoeing and the flame
thrower destroys the other weeds
but doesn't damage the cotton
stalks. The airplane is used to
dust the cotton with insecticides.
Just before the cotton natures a
formula of cyanide is used to de-
foliate the stalk and ripen the
bolls. As soon as this happens, in
comes the mechanical cotton
picker with its nimbie steel fin
gers. gathering about 95 percent
of the open cotton, leaving the
unopen bolls intact. They can OPP
crate by day or night, picking
about n hundred thousand
pounds an hour. The cotton is
placed on the early market with
out the damage caused by inces-
SAINT rains. The bales are hauled
by trucks with a 25-bale capacity,
and stored in fire-proof govern
ment warehouses. The owner
with his storage ticket can secure
a substantial loan for it and can
hold it indefinitely. There are.
few tenants to be found now and
the houses have practically all
been removed.
Modern School Houses
The old rambling school hous-
es have been replaced with beau
tiful brick buildings. Spacious
and comfortable trucks convey
the children from remote coun-
try sections over paved highways
TO these modern equipped schools.
When was a child | walked a
dusty trail alongside of
the road. Now when | am there.
| sometimes drive down the old
roads with their shady oak and
cottonwood trees, but it doesn't
seem the same. The old homes
| once visited are all gone. Their
occupants are all so peacefully
sleeping in their final resting
places. All the business places
are under new management.
There is just so much to remind
you we are all on the same con
.toxtar ~ tt~xx 81 IT..