FERTILITY IN THE SOUTH. 137 



Restoring Fertility in the South. 



In the Southern states the productive capacity of the farm 

 lands has been materially reduced because of the continued drain 

 upon their native fertility without adequate replacement. This 

 loss is recognized by practically all agricultural observers. A 

 parallel fact is that up to 1900 the production of live stock in the 

 south also showed a steady decrease. Statistics from the Federal 

 census show that with the opening up of the great cattle ranges 

 of the West and the consequent cheap beef, the southern pro- 

 ducer could not compete on his relatively high priced land. Dur- 

 ing the 50 years preceding 1900, Texas cattle for instance in- 

 creased from 330,114 to 7,279,935 while Tennessee cattle decreased 

 in the same period from 750,762 to 676,183. Since 1900, the great 

 Texas ranges have been largely broken up and occupied by a 

 farming population with the result that in 1910 the Texas cat'tle 

 supply showed a 15% decrease since 1900, whereas the Tennes- 

 see cattle showed a 23% increase. This condition obtained gen- 

 erally in the South as compared with the West. 



Now because the Southern producer could not compete with 

 the Western ranges, he was forced into the growing of cotton, 

 grain, hay and such other crops as he could readily dispose of on 

 the market at the greatest profit a system that naturally re- 

 sulted in taking from the soil a great deal of fertility and putting 

 little or nothing back into the soil in return. The fact that the 

 future beef supply of this nation . must come from the general 

 farm, introduces "the most potent reasons why the Southern 

 farmer should make immediate preparation to engage more ex- 

 tensively in the production of beef to meet the strong demand 

 that is now being made and that will continue to be made upon 

 the farms of the country. The silo is the logical source of cheap 

 food, supply on the high priced lands of the South, and is quali- 

 fied as well to meet the crippled feeding situation, occasioned in 

 many communities by careless methods of cultivation, and on 

 such lands of poorer quality as will not justify the application of 

 sufficient fertilizers to produce paying crops. The silo increases 

 the stock carrying capacity of the pasture, and with its common 

 adoption and use by the farmers of the South will come more live 

 stock on the Southern farm, and in that respect no modern 

 farm institution promises to become a more important and help- 



