University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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An Attrariiue Hnratinn---Zlilurirultnre BEULAH KOCH. ISSISSIPPI is an ideal place to grow flowers for commercial purposes, as has been proved by floral companies scattered over the State. Illustrations from three of four widely separated points will give some idea of the possibilities of the industry. At Columbus, a firm has three acres under glass and works from twenty to thirty hands daily. Lilies and other bulbs are sold in car load lots, and roses and carnations are cut in quantities. Roses sell for 31.00, and callas for 33.00. Net profits between 325,000 and 350,000 are made each year. Columbus and the surrounding towns buy many flowers, and orders are taken from Memphis and Birmingham. In the Delta there is a farm known as Roseacres, which has the largest acreage in roses of any place in the United States. There are 300 acres in roses, shrubs, evergreens, peonies, and cannas, and plants are shipped wholesale only in car lots to large Wholesale nurseries in New York and other cities in the North and West. At Crystal Springs, special attention has been paid to chrysanthemums and the town has become famous for this flower. They are perfect balls of white, yellow, pink, and mixed colors, and are from four to eight inches in diameter. Chrysanthemum shows are held at Crystal Springs and wonderful Howers exhibited at the state fairs. The people from various sections order chrysanthemums from here. At Hattiesburg sweet peas, carnations, and chrysanthemums are specialized in and are shipped to Kansas, Texas, New York City, Mis- souri, Minnesota, and all over Mississippi besides being sold by large retail firms in the town of Hattiesburg. In South Mississippi cape jasmines are carefully picked while in bud, packed in Spanish moss, and sent to the northern markets. These nurserymen have demonstrated to us that Mississippi soil and climate are ideal for the growing of flowersg that Mississippians appreciate and buy beautiful flowersg and that it is cheaper and easier to grow them here than elsewhere for a paying commercial business. Our long summers and short winters fa- vor the development of the floral industry in Mississippi. Such flowers as roses, car- nations, geraniums, heliotrope, lilies, cannas, gladiolas, snapdragons, sweet peas, cape jas- mine, chrysanthemums, bedding plants, pot plants and all kinds of bulbous stock can be grown in Mississippi just as successfully as anywhere else in the world. An eminent horti- culturist when asked if the growing of flowers could be made a paying business in Mississip- pi, replied that it depended entirely on the growersthere was nothing the matter with the flowers, climate, and soil. Mississippi's vast profusion of wild flowers proves this statement, for in the north- ern part of the state wild hydrangea, spring beauty, phlox, Woodbine, mountain laurel, aza- lea, trailing arbutus, wistaria, Virginia creeper, primroses, wild rose, all kinds of ferns, smi- lax, orchids, trumpet creepers, bloom all spring, summer, fall, and far into the winter. In the southern part of the state wild flowers bloom almost the year round. Magnolias, sweet bays, pond or water lilies fpurple, yellow, whitel, dogwood, buttercups, honey suckle, Cyel- low, red, white and pinkl asters, dasies, voilets fblue and whitel, mountain laurel, black eyed susans, yellow jasmine Cthis flower has been in bloom on Christmas Dayl, and golden- rod-all these bloom early in the spring or in the fall and on until November or December. Evergreen trees and vines. holly and mistletoe, from South Mississippi are shipped all over the United States for Christmas trees and other festive decorations. 27

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A Flrin nf Natures iiauurasziurfarv, Emil, nnh Gllimatr MARION CHAFEE ISSISSIPPI belongs to the Gulf Coastal Plain, hence has no mountains and no con- siderable elevations, the greatest altitude being less than 1000 feet. According to Dr. Lowe of the Geological Survey, Mississippi is considered in nine physical divisions, as shown on page 11. The oldest ge :logical formation in the state is found in the rocks of the Tennessee H ills. The onlv other portion that has the appearance of the foot hill formation is Pontotoc Ridge. Around Blue Mountain the hills rise so abruptly above the surrounding country that the highest point seems to be a mountain. Owing to the heavy rainfall, these two sections have been deeply eroded. However, the hillsides are pro- ductive when properly terraced and cultivated, and the valleys are good farming lands. Between these two ridges lies one of the most fertile farming regions of the South, the Black Prairie Belt, over 100 miles long and 20 to 30 miles wide. The soil consists of a rich clay loam, resting on a layer of rotten limestone. The substratum of lime rock serves a double purpose in making this soil productive. It acts as a reservoir for holding the moisture so necessary for summer cropsg and sweetens the clay, making it possible to grow luxuriant crops, especially legumes. The Jackson Prairie Belt is a region similar in soil and surface. Just north of this is the Lignitic Plateau, so called from the underlying beds of lignite. This plateau has been cut by streams, but the entire region can be cultivated and made to yield profitable crops. Lying just east of this plateau is a section known as the Flatwoods, a narrow, level, wooded area, poorly drained, and sparsely settled: while to the west is the Mississippi Delta, a large area of rich alluvial land. The Delta extends from Vicksburg to Memphis and just above Greenville attains a width of 60 miles, having an area of 8600 square miles. Running the length of the state, the Bluj Hills drop abruptly off on the western side to the Delta and River. This vertical weathering is peculiar to the Loess formation, and the soil is very fertile. The Long Leaf Pine section . has an undulating surface and a sandy loam soil except near Pearl River. These soils together with the genial 1 climate cause this region to be es- pecially fitted for trucking and sub- tropical fruits. The temperature of South Mississippi rarely ever reaches freez- ing and the average date for the last 1 killing frost near the Coast is March 1, and for the earliest killing frost, . November 1. In the central and northern part of the state the winter temperature falls lower, while the summer temperature runs higher, but temperatures below zero or above 95 are rare- Courtesy of L. X. N. Railroad The rainfall is heaviest on In South Mississippi the Coast fpage 253, where it reaches 60 inches, diminishing northward to about 48 inches at the Tennessee line. March has the heaviest rainfall for North Mississippi, and July for the southern section of the state. Oc- tober has the least rainfall in both regions. 26

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An Ariatnrrat at Bums in illlliaaiaaippi Svnil---Alfalfa JENNYE LEONA ROBINSON HE name Alfalfa is from an Arabic word, Alfasafah, meaning the best fodder. The beginning of the plant seems to have been contemporary with that of man, and, as with man, its first habitat was Central Asia. It was brought to Mexico by Cortez in 1519, and from there reached the United States two hundred years later. It was grown in Mississippi fifty years ago, but only with the last decade has it been given serious consideration as a crop. The success which accompanied its cultivation in the neighborhood of West Point, Clay County, was noteworthy from the first. The season after its introduction Mr. B. H. Strong of Clay County carried off the gold medal at the St. Louis World's Fair. In 1904 Mr. Strong planted 130 acres in alfalfa, ten of which he put ' in hog pasture with profitable results. The field has yielded four or five tons to the f acre in a season with sometimes as many as s ' five cuttings, and a net proiit of about SQO. As a result of the experiment, today there are many thousands of acres in this legume in Clay, Lowndes, N oxubee, Oktibbeha, Monroe, Chickasaw, and other counties in East Mississippi, giving the owners of the land splendid returns. The Black Prairie Belt, Cpage 113, has been shown to be a natural alfalfa land and experts have characterized it as the 'most desirable alfabfa region in the United States. Alfalfa hay in that section finds a , Courtesy Of M- 'YL 0- Railroad ready market at from S15 to S20 a ton f. o. b. Alfalfa ln Clay County It is shipped from Okolona, Muldon, Aber- deen, West Point, Columbus, Macon, and a number of points in North Mississippi. Markets easily accessible to the alfalfa growers of Mississippi are: New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Mobile, to say nothing of the numerous smaller cities within the State. Almost the same success in growing alfalfa has been met with in the Delta section, though the industry has not been introduced there to such an extent. A planter who had thirty-five acres in alfalfa reported that in one season he secured five tons to the acre. The Blaj' Hills of West Mississippi, the Jackson Prairie Belt, and the Brown Loam section are also adapted to the production of alfalfa. The warm humid atmosphere of Mississippi is especially suited to its growth, since there can be two plantings, fall and spring. Also the level surface of the lime regions of the State permits the use of improved harvesting machinery and so makes it possible for large areas to be cultivated. In the year 1909, as given by the Bureau of Census. 841 reports were given in con- cerning alfalfa growing in Mississippi. From these reports we find that 9,245 acres were cultivated, 16,710 tons harvested, and the approximate value for the yearly output was 3269,- 670. Increases are reported in all except Coahoma County. Lowndes leads in acreage, while the greatest absolute gain is reported from Noxubee County. The successful growing of alfalfa has put the stock raising industry on a new basis in Mississippi. And besides paving great profits from the hay and the grazing of the stock, it is giving the land a new fertilitv, being one of nature's best machines for collecting the nitrogen of the air and storing it for the corn growers free of charge. ' 1 28