11G4 
THE RURAL MiLW-A OKLCER 
December 17, 
Hope Farm Notes 
Home Notes. —Jt was (a strenuous 
week for the Hope Farmers. Just at 
the point of the last packing for Flor¬ 
ida, there came a telegram announcing 
the sudden death of a relative in Ala¬ 
bama. There was nothing for me to do 
but get South at once. Mother started 
with her big brood while “storm warn¬ 
ings” were flying up the coast. I made 
arrangements to take three more little 
children across the country for the 
Florida trip. To show what wonderful 
things can be done now, I give our ex¬ 
perience. I telegraphed from a town in 
Alabama to the steamer at Charleston, 
for Mother to call up a private resi¬ 
dence on the long distance ’phone. The 
steamer crawled into Charleston at 9 
o’clock at night, but the ’phone connec¬ 
tion was made and the message talked 
over 500 miles away and arrangements 
made for meeting in Jacksonville. So 
I started with two more little red-heads 
and one. yellow-head. I don’t think I 
ever passed as a grandfather before. 
The boat toiled into Jacksonville nearly 
a day behind. I had just about time 
to deliver my precious packages and 
hop aboard a north-bound train, while 
the crowd went South. There was a 
glittering frost all over northern Flor¬ 
ida that morning. The orange trees 
may be killed for all I know, but there is 
no frost on the child crop at least. We 
shall see how they come out. 
The South. —It is not fair to judge 
any section from a car window. The 
railroads seldom run through the best 
part of a country. From North Caro¬ 
lina down through Alabama are thous¬ 
ands of acres more truly “unoccupied” 
than what we hear so much about in 
New England. Some of it is appar¬ 
ently light, while more of it is red and 
apparently strong. Here and there were 
fields of light cotton and poor corn. For 
the most part, the land stretched away 
bare and dull. In a ride of 50 miles I 
did not see a dozen fields of Crimson 
clover or any other clover crop. Yet 
here, if anywhere, would seem to be the 
ideal place for such things. The mild 
Winters would permit clover or vetch 
to make a wonderful growth during 
Fall and Winter. There must be a fear¬ 
ful loss of nitrates from this bare and 
open soil. The cover crops would not 
only prevent this, but actually add more 
nitrogen per acre than is found in a ton 
of such fertilizer as they seem to use. 
I saw cotton crops unpicked, with the 
soil bare. Crimson clover might have 
been growing there to fit the soil for 
another crop. Of course, I know that 
I can go to Vermont or Maine and find 
bare and neglected soil, but we should 
have to dig away the snow to find it, 
and the frost prevents loss from the soil. 
The climate of this southern country 
gives opportunity to get rid of 80 per 
cent, of the fertilizer bill. 
Improvement.— Some of the Southern 
farmers realize the situation and rise 
to it. Alabama is encouraging corn con¬ 
tests with good results. One yield is 
reported of 142J^ bushels of corn on an 
acre. I understand this means ears, not 
crib-dry shelled corn, like that grown by 
Mr. Davis of Massachusetts. Further, 
to indicate how things are working, I 
find the following in ? Birmingham 
paper: »>— ' 
In a ..closely contested debate the high 
school boys of Cuba have decided that the 
J oil weevil is a blessing in disguise. The 
farmers of Sumter County who heard the 
arguments and the affirmative decision of 
the judges returned to their homes with a 
great deal more respect for the alleged cot¬ 
ton pest. The boll weevil, though he has 
yet done no material damage in Alabama, 
has already been a great blessing to the 
State. The promise alone that he intends 
to pay Alabama a visit in the near future 
has resulted in the almost doubling of the 
corn production. And this is just the be¬ 
ginning of “showers of blessings.” 
I wish I could have heard that debate. 
Is it not a singular thing that both New 
England and the South expect to in¬ 
crease their agricultural power by im¬ 
proved corn growing? As for advising 
a Northern man of middle years to come 
and settle on this flat, red soil, I should 
hesitate to do so. I think the land is a 
great bargain, and with the degree of 
LL. D. (lime, legumes and drainage), 
it could be made very productive. I 
think, however, it would be a homesick 
place for Northern settlers unless they 
come in groups. Coming up through 
Florida, I saw a dismal-looking place 
with stumps and swamp, marked off for a 
city. Weatherbeaten signs marked 
“Broadway,” “10th street,” “Forest 
Boulevard,” etc., stuck up in the wind. 
It was almost the most forsaken place 
I have seen lately, and yet I have no 
doubt some poor dupes have paid their 
sweat-stained money for lots in this 
“city.” 
Southern Live Stock. —A Northern 
man who has just located in a Southern 
town asks these questions: 
1 find the greatest trouble here is that 
the soil is humus-robbed and that the main 
factor in rejuvenating the land will be to 
return the humus and at the same time, of 
course proper fertilizing. One thing that 
I cannot understand is this, why the 
farmers do not feed cotton-seed meal and 
then return the manure to the land instead 
of applying cotton-seed meal direct. Am 
I correct when I state that cotton-seed 
meal loses no fertilizing value when ap¬ 
plied to the land in the shape of manure 
after it has been fed? If that is the case, 
the flesh that the steers of course would 
take on would be practically clear gain. 
Can you tell me why no stock is kept here, 
especially in the dairy line? Milk here 
retails for 10 cents a quart, and if you ask 
the milkman for cream, he will tell you 
that he will try to save a half cup for you 
week after next. I think the possibilities 
here for agricultural development are 
greater than any place I know of. 
That is right about the humus. Cover 
crops would do it. As for the live stock, 
I have asked a number of Southern 
farmers about it. Here is a synopsis of 
what they say: 
1. Negro labor is generally brutal and 
harsh with stock. Many of them would 
ruin a herd of fine cows unless they 
were constantly watched. This is 
largely why mules rather than horses 
are provided for field hands. The cattle 
tick is death to fine imported cattle and 
can only be fought by community ac¬ 
tion. 
2. The cost of sanitary stables is con¬ 
siderable and at present the cost of feed 
is high, though the South is an ideal 
place for growing it. If the manure 
from feeding cotton-seed meal were well 
saved about three-quarters the plant food 
would be recovered, but it is seldom 
properly handled. 
3. Cotton is a cash crop which far¬ 
mers and field hands all understand. 
Under the prevailing system of farm¬ 
ing in the South, cash must be the basis 
of settlement, therefore, cotton is like 
currency. 
4. The railroads naturally favor cotton 
growing, which gives them outgoing 
freight in cotton and incoming business 
in hauling fertilizers, hay, meat and 
other things which the South ought to 
produce and would produce with more 
live stock and diversified farming. 
5. The colleges and experiment sta¬ 
tions have never made a campaign for 
stock farming or green manuring as the 
very things which the South needs most. 
They teach the use of more fertilizers 
when the soil of the South needs lime 
and humus. Some of these institutions 
are partly supported by the money re¬ 
ceived from State sales of fertilizer 
tags. 
There you have the chief reasons 
given me for the neglect of live stock 
and green manuring, except by a few 
strong men. Habit and education com¬ 
bine with transportation to keep the 
Southern farmer out of independence. 
What a noble chance some Southern 
man would have to fight this like they 
fight for parcels post, and put in the 
licks just where they would be felt! 
Let some institution take strips of land 
along these railroads and develop them 
with Alfalfa, clover, cow peas and Soy 
beans. In a few years they would be 
wonders, as compared with the present 
barren land. Then put up big painted 
signs telling the story in large letters. 
Such signs might well take the place of 
pills or corsets or face powders. The 
thousands who pass through on the 
trains would see and be interested at 
once. Who is the Moses to touch this 
red soil and let the people pass out of 
bondage? H. w. c. 
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1296 
DO NOT DELAY! Order Your Potash Now 
Every spring there is less potash in your local market than the farmer needs 
and wants to buy. 1 here is a reason for this. You expect to order potash with 
the other fertilizers, forgetting that potash must come some four thousand' 
miles. This takes time. 
Those who want to insure arrival in time, place their orders as early as 
October to permit shipment before the German rivers are frozen. Late orders are 
subject to more risks and delays. 
Arrange for your dealer to place his order now so as to be sure of a 
supply. If he does not handle it write us for prices direct from the mines to you. 
Do not forget that the longer you have used phosphate the greater is the 
present potash need and profit. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, Continental Bldg., Baltimore, Md. 
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Higher Cost of Living 
Does not Include Fence 
Ten years ago it 
took 2 bushels of corn 
to buy 1 rod of fence. To¬ 
day 1 bushel of corn will buy 2 
rods of better fence. 
Price Low—Quality Better Than Ever 
Within ten years farm prod¬ 
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market value while the price of 
woven wire fence has been re¬ 
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Newer and improved methods 
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American Steel & Wire Company 
Chicago New York Denver San Francisco 
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showing how fence may be employed to enhance the earning power of a farm. Furnished free upon application. 
