July 10, 1017 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



4 — Boll weevil, which have already greatly reduced the produc- 

 tiveness of cotton in the lower part of the Mississippi valley but 

 which have proven something of a blessing in disguise in that they 

 have led to crop diversification over important areas of these 

 .alluvial lands. He pointed out that cotton is the international crop 

 and that it is a prime necessity. and suggested that it would prob- 

 ably be wise for those owning lands in the northern half of the 

 alluvial land region to continue, at least for the next few j'ears, to 

 'raise cotton on a large scale. 



5 — Cattle tick, which must be eradicated before live stock raising 

 'can make much headway. He urged that fencing be done and that 

 . the owners of alluvial lands confer with the state and national 

 authorities regarding the best methods of tick eradication. He 

 urged cattle raising as a means of providing human food but he 

 also advocated it as a means of maintaining soil fertility. 



6 — Experiment stations which are necessary in determining adap- 

 tability of crops. Dr. Morgan did not regard it as feasible that 

 there should be contiguous experiment stations because of the vast 

 area to be covered but he suggested that the members of the asso- 

 ciation take up with the state and national authorities the placing 

 of men in the delta region to make tests which shall be available 

 to every man who is engaged in cultivating these lands. These 

 tests, he said, would not only show the prospective farmer what 

 could be raised but would put courage in his breast and thus greatly 

 facilitate the work of land development. 



L. L. Hidinger, vice-president of the Morgan Engineering Com- 

 : panics, Memphis, declared that drainage was the first step in the 

 development of these alluvial lands and that it had to be done be- 

 I fore other improvements could be made. He said the cost would be 

 pretty full, greater in proportion than seemed reasonable, but that 

 the increased productiveness of the soil and the other advantages 

 that would follow gave it greater importance than the proportional 

 cost suggested. He told of the drainage plans that were being 

 ' worked out in the upper St. Francis basin and gave a general out- 

 I line of what would be necessary to provide adequate drainage fac- 

 ilities in the alluvial land regions. He is a drainage expert and his 

 ■ paper was closely followed. What appealed most, however, to mem- 

 bers of the association was the fact that drainage is possible and 

 ] that the benefits following it are so great that cost is soon absorbed 

 by increased productiveness and increased land value, in many. ' 

 instances in as short a period as two years. He gave figures show- 

 ing that lands in the upper St. Francis basin, selling- only a few 

 years ago in their undrained state for a few dollars per acre, are 

 selling today, as drained, at from $100 to $150'per acre. He also 

 quoted government statistics showing that in a single delta count.v, 

 Bolivar, drainage has increased the value of cleared land 66 per 

 , cent, of uncleared land 69 per cent and the rental value of cleared 

 land by .56 per cent. He asserted that the lands in the alluvial laud 

 region were richer than the soil in the Middle West corn belt and 

 that, whereas the former were selling at $50 to $100 per acre, they 

 were commanding rent returns of $8 to $12 per acre while the latter, 

 worth from $200 to $300 per acre, commanded rent values of only 

 $6 to .$8 per acre. He believed that the delta lands of the Missis- 

 sippi were as rich as those in any other delta country in the world 

 and thafthe time would come, with proper drainage and other im- 

 provements, when they would be worth from $300 to $.500 per acre. 

 Prof. Turner Wright, marketing and live stock expert. State 

 College of Louisiana, urged removal of the cattle tick, enforcement 

 of more adequate and moje just live stock laws and the betterment 

 of marketing conditions and facilities. He declared that the asso- 

 ciation should get squarely behind the movement for the introduc- " 

 tion of purebred cattle and for making conditions both safe and 

 - profitable for the investor. He recounted a sheep raising experi- 

 ment in Louisiana which had resulted in the cleaning up of the 

 brush and undergrowth on cut over lands and the ultimate sale of 

 the sheep at 30 cents per pound ou the St. Louis market. He also 

 declared than more than 3,000 head of pure-bred cattle had been 

 introduced into four parishes in Louisiana during the past two 

 years, with exceedingly profitable results. 



Dr. J. 0. Eobert, Mississippi A. & M. College, Starkville, Miss., 



said, as giving some idea of the possibilities for land development 

 in the alluvial regions of the South, that there are 800,000 acres of 

 these lands in Tennessee that would be available for profitable cul- 

 tivation if reclaimed from inundation, 5,670,000 in Arkansas, 6,173,- 

 000 in Mississippi and 9,600,000 in Louisiana. He further declared 

 tliat, if the government is justified in spending millions of dollars 

 irrigating desert lands in the West, it would certainly be justified 

 in spending millions of dollars in reclaiming the fertile lands of 

 the lower Mississippi valley from overflow. 



The meeting was called to order by John W. McClure, president of 

 the association, who delivered an address of welcome, who re- 

 viewed the accomplishments of the association during the past six 

 months and who gave a brief outline of the work it is undertaking. 

 The thought the most favorable happening since the association 

 was formally launched was the passage of the flood control bill 

 which, in his opinion "has removed the last barrier to the rapid 

 development of these rich natural resources," since "it is a prac- 

 tical insurance against floods along the lower Mississippi and re- 

 moves the element of fear which has prevented the progressive 

 farmers from the higher lands from moving to these alluvial lands 

 — now become the farmers' paradise." He showed that conditions 

 were rapidly changing and that surface drainage, pure artesian 

 water and a better knowledge of sanitation, resulting in screened 

 liouses and better living conditions, had made this section as healthy 

 as any in the county and declared that "Nowhere do you find 

 healthier people, more rapid improvement in the smaller town, or 

 more rapid increase in bank deposits or more general improvements 

 indicating the growing wealth and prosperity of the people." 



He thought the entrance of the United States into the world wide 

 war and the necessity of increased food stuff production for the 

 people of this country and of the allies would turn the attention 

 of farmers in other parts of the country to the rich alluvial re- 

 gions of the Mississippi valley and thus greatly stimulate their 

 development. He declared that there were no other lands obtain- 

 able at such a price capable of paying for themselves with one 

 year's production and intimated that the time was close at hand 

 when the price would so advance that even the productivity of the 

 soil could not compass the cost of these properties in a single year. 



The principal objects of the association, which does not deal in 

 lands and which does not operate for profit, are set forth as follows 

 by Mr. MeClure: 



1. To advertise the alUivial lands bordering the Southern Missis- 

 sippi river : 



2. To' place upon these lands desirable farmers and settlers ; 



3. To co-operate in every proper way with these settlers in solving 

 their financial, agricultural and business problems ; 



4. To co-operate in every .proper way with othef organizations and 

 other forces which are working to build up communities and improve 

 conditions in this territory ; and 



o. To furnish such information to members as will assist tbem in 

 settlinix and developing their lands. 



The report of Secretary F. E. Stonebraker showed that there was 

 a total membership of 37, including two received at this meeting, 

 compared with a charter enrollment in January of 17, an increase 

 of more than 100 per cent. 



Mr. Stonebraker reviewed at length the farming and live stock 

 raising progress and said that the amount of this was surprising 

 but that it only indicated that the owners were beginning to wake 

 up to the possibilities of their lands. He told of what the asso- 

 ciation was doing for its members and what it proposed to do and 

 handed a bouquet to the lumber trade papers for the stimulus which 

 had been afforded to demand through the publicity which they had 

 contributed. 



An impressive feature of this report was that the greater por- 

 tion of the land transactions were among farmers of the South who 

 knew the jiossibilities of these alluvial lauds and who had confidence 

 in their future. 



Secretary Stonebraker declared that the association was seeking 

 permanent settlers and he gave the following clear-cut reasons 

 for this course: 



1. They insure payment for the land they contract to buy. 



(Continued on ptii/e 33') 



