Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1912 — WRITES ABOUT BLACK PRAIRIE BELT IN SOUTH. [ARTICLE]

WRITES ABOUT BLACK PRAIRIE BELT IN SOUTH.

M. B. Halstead Answers Request es Friends and Tells es Land Where . 7 ”• He Has Luvested. For the benefit of those that have expressed a desire for some information! regarding the conditions in theBlack Prairie belt of Mississippi and Alabama I will say that this belt of land extends from Qkalona, Miss., to a few miles southeast of Montgomery; v Ala,, and is from 10 to, 25 miles In width. The soil i-'. “black waxy” interspersed with traces <>f soil of a red color. The soil is Houston clay and contains an abundance of lime and phosphorus but much of It is deficient in humus. Much of this land has produced a crop of cotton every year for the past 50 or 60 years and some of It 70 years, with no fertilizer being used, and it is still producing profitable crops. One field that has been in eorn every year for 35 years without and fertilizer being returned to the soil produced 35 bushels per acre the 35th year. At the present time it is not a corn country in the sense that Indiana and Illinois are corn countries but cornJs a profitable crop and whenjmproved methods become adopted it will be a very profitable crop. One man in our county produced over 80 bushels per acre last year. More leguminous plants thrive to perfection in the Black Belt than In any other county that I have ever visited. Alfalfa, the peer of all profitable leguminous crops, thrives here in all its glory, producing from 3 to 4 tons per. acre in four cuttings on ordinary prairie land. As first class alfalfa hay is usually worth sls and up to $lB per ton, F. O. B. cars at our nearest station, which is four miles distant from my place, it is one of the most profitable crops of the country. S3O per acre is often netted on alfalfa and in rare cases the profits reach a much higher figure. An Illinois man who owns a farm just across the road from mine rented his alfalfa land for one half of the hay baled in the field. His half netted him $23 per acre on fifty acres. The alfalfa lands of this prairie region are the cheapest natural alfalfa lands in the United States. Lespedeza or Japan clover, red clover, cow peas, soy beans, peanuts, white clover, vetch and crimson clover thrive to perfection. -

Burr clover and white clover mixed with* Bermuda grass furnishes the best of pasture for almost 10 months in the year. Two crops of silage corn can be raised on the same land in one year. The Black Belt Is destined to become a great stock raising country and the cattle tick Is already retreating before the government man and the dipping yah Good pure water is easily obtained by making deep wellß and flowing wells are not rape. The rainfall In this region is all that could be desired, and then some, 54 inches being the annual rainfall. The Black Prairie Belt can also make a good showing in the line of disagreeable feature or “drawbacks.” More energetic hustling white farmers are badly, needed to develop the country. The social conditions in the country are most Ideal. The telephone and rural delivery are there but the gravel and stone roads are not and during rainy spells in the winter the roads become almost impassable at times. To make a long drive over the country roads there when mud is deep is a severe strain on the team and frequently proves to be a thorough test of the driver’s vocabulary. When It comes to malaria the Black Belt can make a respectable showing but in my opinion can not equal the record of Jasper couhty In her early days.

I have lived in Noxubee county, Miss. 15 miles southeast of Macon in that* portion of the Black Belt known t as Fox Trap Prairie the past year. I worked about 15 families of niggers and raised over 400 acres of cotton, about 70 acres of corn, 40 acres of alfalfa and some oats, cowpeas, etc. Am pleased with the results and will return In a few days to try it again. Tits real estate liar is not so much In evidence there as in some other sections of the U. S. but he frequently gets In some of his work. These lands are selling at from S2O to $46 per acre and rent for cash at from $2,50 to $4 per acre. Land set in alfalfa usually rents for $8 to $lO per acre. Northern settlers are slowly coming in and prices of land are advancing steadily. The happy and contented man should stay where he Is; the restless, energetic, ambitious, land hungry, homeseeking hustler will do well to visit the Black Prairie Belt when the crops are growing and study the conditions thoroughly before investing there or elsewhere. >; ;; : . ’V' -' W' My address is McLoed. Miss., R. D. No. 1. The latch string it;. *)t hanging out. We don’t use the latch string. Southerners use the chain and padlock. My fchaln is lost had* the. padjo** ls.no good and the door is open to homeseekers from the north and JMffk are always welcome^