THE ALABAMA OPI'ORTUN ITY. 127 



thousands and thousands of head of stock in Alabama pastures 

 that never get a feed from year's end to year's' end, and they 

 remain strong and hearty throughout the winter. And the 

 best stock, the stock the owner wants to take the best care of, 

 he never has to feed them more than two or three months, if 

 that long, in the winter. And, then, the stock raiser does not 

 have to build any big and costly sheds and barns for the 

 housing of his cattle. All this goes to show that I am right 

 when I say that stock and cattle can be raised cheaper right 

 here than anywhere else. 



"As for the hay, no better hay is grown anywhere. It does 

 not make any difference whether a man wants to grow Alfalfa 

 or Johnson grass, he can not do any better anywhere than 

 right here. There is an unwarranted prejudice in some sec- 

 tions against Johnson grass. Now, you take the bulletins from 

 any experiment station, from any agricultural college, and 

 they will tell you that Johnson grass is more nutritious ; that 

 it has more elements of fat in it than any other hay. You 

 hear some people say, 'Well, if Johnson grass once gets in, 

 vou can never get rid of it.' Who wants to get rid of it? 

 What does anybody want to get rid of it for? There is more 

 nionev in raising Johnson grass than there is in raising cotton. 

 If there was not money in Johnson grass hay, do you suppose 

 farmers like W. D. Peck. Hunter Vaughan and Frank Holt 

 would be devoting their time, their farms and their money 

 to it ? 



THREE CUTTINGS OF HAY. 



"You see, it is possible to get three cuttings of hay a year 

 off a Johnson grass hay field in Montgomery County. It has 

 been frequently done. These men that are raising hay always 

 get two crops off the land. And both crops are not always 

 hav crops. More frequently the first crop is an oat crop. We 

 have passed a number of hay fields which have been harrowed 

 and sowed in oats. But even if the oats are planted later, 

 they are cut in June and the field is allowed to grow up in John- 

 son grass, and it never fails to make a fine crop. But if it is 

 allowed to remain in Johnson grass, one crop of hay is cut in 

 the early summer and a second crop is cut in August or Sep- 

 tember." 



