| Show pine lands of the mouths experts maintain they can be made fertile and profitable if properly cultivated good news for mississippi and louisiana in the early days of california when its mineral wealth had turned the eye of the whole world in that direction an enterprising american planted a small patch of ground near san fran cisco in fruit and grain he was the subject of much ridicule among the pioneers says the new orleans times democrat and one of the men most prominent in mining circles smiled derisively at the man who was trying to get money out of the earth with a spade instead of a pickax I 1 t give for all the crops that the pacific coast will ever grow are the memorable words he said and in this he only echoed pub lie ile sentiment the sandy semiarid semi arid soil of california was regarded as uy up fit for cultivation the country it was predicted would never be any thing but a mining camp agriculture waa wa out of the question the soil was poor and rainfall deficient but the prophet like most others has proved totally wrong the mining in teresta of california have shrunk to small proportions agriculture now contributes most of the wealth and the state is one ot of the richest in the union in its farms producing in the census year crops valued at of the most varied character in an address before the tion convention prof B R ferris as distant director of the branch expert ment station at mcneill misa miss point ed out how the same mistake had been made in regard to the pine lands of the southwest mcneill Is fifty seven miles from new orleans on the new orleans northeastern and in the heart of the pine belt that belt has been viewed with disfavor by the farmers it was good for lumbering they said but scarcely suitable for agricultural purposes and most of the farmers have passed by and moved on to the rich river bottoms it would be a great misfortune tor for the south were this so for its pine lands take up a large portion of its area nearly half hall of api and louisiana but prof ferns ferris shows very clearly that it is not so and that the pine lands like the sandy lands of california can be made most productive if it be gone about in the right way this Is good news as the pine lands are occupied mainly by whites while the river hot bot toms and alluvial lands are given over to the negroes whatever white im migration therefore comes to this section is likely to settle in the pine hills and it is well to know that we have so much land there open to set that will be profitable to the state |
