G. H. Alford, one of the agents of the government representing the
agricultural department, talked to business men and planters at the
Vicksburg Cotton Exchange last week and said some good things, among them
the following:
"The planters who keep their laborers and force them to grow plenty of
corn, rice, potatoes, molasses, hogs and poultry for home use and to
cultivate say six or seven acres of cotton, according to government
instructions, will grow more prosperous every year. They will not grow as
much cotton, but it will not be necessary for them to send two-thirds of
the money obtained for cotton to other sections of the country to pay for
farm products. Boll weevil or no weevil, prosperity will be the rule in
Warren county when all of her people live on the products of the farms and
grow cotton as a surplus crop. I meet planters every day who are anxious
to sell their plantations. They tell me they are in debt and will never be
able to raise the mortgage. They say that the boll weevil is here to
destroy cotton--their money crop. They are mistaken on two counts.
Profitable crops of cotton can be grown in spite of the boll weevil and
cotton is not now a surplus money crop. They will grow profitable crops of
cotton as a surplus crop in a year or so. They will then all live at home
and grow say two-thirds as much cotton. The cotton money will then raise
the mortgages instead of paying for corn, bacon, lard, mules, hay, etc.
The boll weevil means diversified farming and stock raising. This means
fertile soil and good farming. Fertile soil and good farming means high
priced land. The boll weevil will probably keep the price of land down for
two or three years, but diversified agriculture and the raising of good
hogs, cattle, mules, horses and other stock will force the price up and up
until it will sell for four or five times its present market value. Let
every planter hold a tight grip on his land. There is no excuse for the
blues. The northern farmers are getting rich. They cannot grow cotton.
They cannot grow sugar cane, rice and many other crops that can be grown
in Warren. Any crop will grow here that the northerners can grow.
Diversified farming and stock raising and the growing of cotton as a
surplus crop will put Warren county on the high road to genuine
prosperity.
[Illustration: Pigs idea of heaven]