The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1945-05-31
By I. W. Carson

a. w. #%T
By I. W. Carson
Communities wishing to take adj
vantage of the Smith, oxey class
ing of cotton may do so again this
year by making application before
August first. This classification can
be used when making application
for government loan provided the
sampler is bonded. His bond will
cost $1,000.
It has been announced that cot
ton will be classed at Greenwood
this year for farmers wishing to
place their cotton in the government
loan. This will save a great deal of
time for farmers in this area, since
last year samples had to be sent to
Memphis or Jackson.
One way a farmer can help his
government with the problem Of in
flation is to build up a financial re-
serve with his war time income.
This income will come in handy for
such things as repairing houses, re-
placing worn out machinery as a
,safeguard against crop failures, live
stock losses and for the education
of children
We continue to receive more and
more warnings that we had better
raise more pigs and chickens for
meat and eggs for the coming fall
and winter. The pig crop in Holmes
County is considerably short as COM
pared with the past years. Where
farmers are set up so as to take care
OF hogs on pasture, this certainly
looks like a profitable year for hog
raising, provided feed will be pro-
duced to fatten them with.
So many times farmers feed hogs
s7oss teagax psftods THIN necessary
trying to wait on the weather to
slaughter them. This is not neces-
sary. any more in our modern times,
since the hog a be slaughtered
and taken to the curing plant in
June as well as December, and the
meat can be cured just as s~atisfac-
tory. This is a medern convenience
that the farmer can use in saving
money and feed.
The farmers and agricultural
workers Of Holmes and adjoining
counties took part in a pasture tour
last Thursday, taking them through
the communities of Durant, Good
man and Pickens.
Throughout this tour, emphasis
was placed on pasture improvement
practices. but study was given to
dairy and beef cattle management,
as well as AAA regulations. Regu-
lations on stock ponds and other
practices on which AAA assistance
Is available in 1945 were also dis
cussed-
The first pasture visited on this
tour consisted Of IS acres owned by
n. ]. Montgomery of Durant. For
several years this pasture produced
carpet grass and little else for graz
ing but in 1913. at the suggestion OF
Mr.. r. J. Ross, Soil Conservationist
of Holmes County, Mr.. Montgomery
agreed to disk, harrow, fertilize and
seed IS acres of this pasture. An ap-
plication of $50 pounds Of superphos-
phate, 1000 pounds of limestone per
acre was applied and it.was seeded
with IL pounds of dallis grass and
8 pounds of common lespedeza seed
per acre.
More livestock was grazed on this
pasture than it could carry profit
ably until June 10, 1914 when every
animal was taken off and sold. When
this was done, dallas grass sprung
up over the improved part, and it
was harvested the second time be-
fore the end of the season.
The following Is the financial re-
suits Of this project: harvested, 1900
pounds of dallas grass seed, AID at
50 cents per pound, $4,000; Is tons
Of hay saved behind the combine at
$1,000 per ton, $4,000; AAA pay
ments, $134.00; Total $914.00, or $685.
90 per acre.
Four hundred pounds of carpet
grass seed was recovered when
cleaning the dallis grass seed. This
seed has not been sold. 1t should be
worth about $4,000.
In 1945 Mr.. Montgomery has ap-
piled ~ tons of agricultural ime
and SOS pounds of superphosphate
Der acre on this pasture.
A good crop of hop clover will be
ready for harvest in another weei
after which dallis grass seed harves'
will be carried on as in 1914.
At the second stop a study wa!
made of the dairy herd, pastures