88 



The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 



Need of 



Experiment 



Work 



Two Methods 

 to Be Fol- 

 lowed 



ivhere the live stock is — the great black area in that northeastern 

 quarter of the United States. It is perfectly obvious that forage 

 and live stock go together. 



I said that these cut-over pine lands are not generally fertile, 

 but can be made to produce large crops. This is being done in 

 many areas throughout the Coastal Plains on soils essentially the 

 same as the sandy loam soils I am speaking about, but when 

 it comes to growring forage wrhich is cheap crop, any large use 

 of fertilizers is probably out of the question. The increased fer- 

 tility will in the main have to be brought about by indirect 

 methods. I want to state frankly that in the light of our present 

 knowledge it is out of the question for the Department of Agri- 

 culture, and I believe for any of the State Experiment Stations, 

 to recomm^end farmers to engage in the live stock industry on 

 these areas on these cut-over pine lands. The reason we cannot 

 conservatively recommend that is because the necessary data 

 do not exist. We have scattered amounts of data obtained 

 from small experiments; we have a small amount of experience 

 from practical stockmen — but a very small amount. In all 

 the area I am talking about there is not, to my knowledge, one 

 modern live stock farm where the possibility and practicability 

 of profitably producing cattle and sheep has been demonstrated. 

 Without that demonstration we have to be very cautious. While 

 I state this with all frankness, I want to add to it my own 

 opinion as to the po.ssibilities. I have no doubt that by the 

 judicious use of the knowledge we already possess, profitable 

 cattle and sheep raising can be carried on on these Coastal 

 Plains sandy loam soils. 



If we do not already have this demonstrated knowledge 

 that I have mentioned — and we do not have it — how are we to 

 get it? There are just two methods: One is to await the ex- 

 perience of men patriotic enough to go into the cattle or sheep 

 business. After the course of years, through their success or 

 failure, we will gradually learn the possibility of these lands 

 from the live stock point of view. A few enterprising men and 

 companies have already gone into such ventures; but this way 

 of obtaining knowledge is long and costly, and usually it is not 

 readily accessible to the public. 



The other method of obtaining the knowledge is by estab- 

 lishing properly equipped live stock and forage experiment sta- 

 tions, where in the course of a few years we ought to be able to 



