Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1957-08-17

chop two acres Tor every bale OF
cotton they harvested, they now
get from bale to a bale and a
half off one acre.
Where some used to be salts
fled with Is or 20 bushels of corn
per acre, they now average 30 to
so and sometimes get nearly 100.
Actually, the increased produc-
ton of feed crops is the basic fact
behind their rapid shift from cot
ton to livestock as one of their
main methods of adjustment. In
stead of fighting grass they way
they used to do, most farmers are
now pampering it in an effort to
develop more and more acres of
improved pastures for their cattle
and hogs. And instead of being
contented with a few runty pigs
that root most of their food out
of the earth beside empty corn
cribs, farmers now grow acres and
acres of hybrid corn for their grade
and purebred swine to hog off (or
eat off the stalk in the field in
a feeding practice which is paying
off in earlier marketings of meat
Ter hogs.
For example, Mr.. and Mrs. Dol
plus Jones of Caldwell, Texas, who
had one one hog and no cows few
years ago, sold 1858 worth of hogs
and $4,1OO worth of beef cattle
last year. Their hogs ate six acres
of corn in the field.
In Uniontown, Ala, Mr.. and Mrs.
Arthur Swain are getting almost
as much cotton off five acres as
they used to get off 10. In addi-
ton, they now have small dairy
herd of Is grazing in excellent
pastures of Dallis grass, White
Dutch clover and lespedeza. The
three Jerseys and five Guernseys
now being MIXED are producing
more than 80 gallons of milk a
day which brings the SWANS a
semi-monthly milk plant check of
more than 500.
Down in Quincy, Fla, Mr.. and
Mrs. Willie Porcher are not wor-
ried about their tobacco allotment
Of little over an acre, because
they are making a good living off
smoked sausage. They butcher
from three to 10 hogs every week
and grind them into sausage which
they put into castings and smoke.
Nineteen stores in town handle
their pro iuct.
Mr.. and Mrs. Johnnie Simmons
of Dixie, Ga, put their eight-acre
cotton allotment into the Soil Bank
this year and turned their full
attention to truck crops. Mr.. SIM
mons carries a small truckload of
vegetables to Townsville or Val
dosta twice week and comes home
with from $50 to $3.50 in his pocket.
Near Newberry, S. c., Mr.. and
Mrs. Eugene Graham are now sup
plementing their cotton income by
growing a few acres of Turkish
tobacco that brings them up to
$1.25 per pound.
Back of this transformation,
which is bringing a better day to
farmers making the adjustment,
are 900 Woodworking Negro Ex-
tension Service agents and super
visors. They are putting in long
hours to get important research
information from the U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture, the Land
Grant Colleges, and the experiment
stations onto the farms and into
the homes of farm families.
One of the most impressive
pieces of extension work l saw was
at the home of Mr.. and Mrs. Mil
ton Jackson and their IL children
near Opelousas, La. Shortly after
we drove up, Irwin, their 17-year-
old son, led his purebred Guernsey
cow out for us to see. This was
his All project. But that wasn't
all, it was the first COW this share
cropper family had ever owned, and
will mean a dependable milk sup
ply at last for the children who
ranged in age from 8 upward.
County Agent Leon Robinson
had helped Irwin obtain this cow
through credit aid from the Louis
lana Junior Livestock Loan Pro-
gram.
Another equally outstanding
piece of work was observed in
Mississippi where the agents are
helping families obtain low-priced
used screen wire from a Masonite
plant to screen their homes.
County Agent R. M. Mackey and
Home Agent Flora Parrish, now
retired, have helped more than
400 families get enough of this
wire to screen their homes during
the past few years. / saw some
of the homes. The used wire,
painted with aluminium paint,
sparkled in the sun.
Visiting farm families from
year to year, one looks at the mar
row peaks and broad valleys in
the pattern of progress, and feels
that the pace is little slow. But
as one talks with the people, he
begins to realize that although the
pace seems slow, the people are
moving ahead rapidly in their