   Mississippi Adventure - August 16, 2000 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County My job is usually a lot of hard work and long hours, but every once in a while I get to travel to far away places to learn more about agriculture and horticulture. This week, I am writing my column from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting in Jackson, Mississippi. This annual meeting includes lectures, tours and workshops relevant to my work: agriculture and horticulture. Since arriving, I have also taken time to learn about the rich cultural history and visit the various native plant communities. Believe me, it is a world apart from central Arizona. What follows are a few of my learning experiences. First thing: it takes some time to translate the local dialect(s). My first conversations were somewhat one-sided. In other words, I sat there nodding and smiling having no idea what was being said or asked of me. After this happened a couple of times, I decided to admit my ignorance. People were nice enough to accommodate my linguistic handicap until I got up to speed. In Mississippi, geological events and the world's largest river system interacted to create highly productive agricultural lands and an easy way to transport agricultural crops to domestic foreign markets. French, Spanish and English immigrants came to explore, establish plantations, and trade goods starting in the1700's. As we all know, this agricultural economy grew. Cotton was king and was supported by slave labor. Then, along came the Civil War, which destroyed many buildings in towns and on plantations. Many of the oldest buildings were spared in towns such as Port Gibson and Natchez. Today, these historic buildings and plantation homes are preserved and restored. The pace of life in Mississippi is relatively slow and the historic character is valued highly. This struck me as being in stark contrast to the west where we often rush to develop and increase commerce. In doing so, we often do so without considering the values that drew people to area in the first place. This is only my observation, but I thought it was worth sharing here. In 1959, Mississippi had 18,600,000 acres of farmland. Today, this has decreased to 10,600,000 acres. This is partially attributable to urbanization. Agriculture in Mississippi is still strong despite losses of the agricultural land base. Cotton, corn, and soybeans are widely planted. However, this year these crops are struggling due to drought. On the surface, a drought looks different in Mississippi than it does in Arizona. It is still very green, but in driving by non-irrigated cornfields, the cornstalks had not matured and looked as if they had been sprayed with herbicides. Beef, timber, and pasture are also major crops in Mississippi. Eighty percent of the farm-raised catfish in the United States is produced in Mississippi. Other minor crops grown here are sorghum, sugarcane, blueberries, pecans, and ornamental plants. While on a commercial/retail horticulture tour, we learned that most of the Mississippi growers are small, family-style operations. It appeared to me that they depended on low labor costs for profitability rather than highly efficient production systems. In Mississippi, the forest reclaims any land not being managed intensively for another crop. On the hills (which are low in relief by western standards), the tree species are pine (Loblolly and slash), birch, cherry, sweet gum (Liquidambar), and several oaks (red, white, water, and several others). Not having been on a forestry tour, I apologize for my omission of scientific names. I don't know most of them without my tree books. The swamps are filled with bald cypress and tupelo gum. Both species are highly swollen at their base and very successful at survival with their roots in standing water. Bald cypress is a conifer (cone bearing plant) that loses its leaves in the winter and has "knees" (knobs of woody root tissue) that extend above the water's surface. It is unclear exactly what function these knees serve. For years, people have said they help oxygen get to the roots. More recently, it is thought they are primarily for stability. Bald cypress wood is also highly rot resistant. Overall, I really like it here in Mississippi. Not enough to move, but a lot more than I thought I would. The people are very courteous and like to visit with people they don't know. That southern hospitality stuff is really true. Next week, I'll be back home in Yavapai County. Meanwhile, if you have topics or suggestions for this column, mail them to the address below and I will try to incorporate them. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has produced the 2000 Farm Fresh brochure. To get one, send a request along with a 9" by 4 ½" self-addressed, stamped envelope to Cooperative Extension, P.O. Box 388, Prescott, AZ 86305. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 or E-mail us at mgardener@kachina.net and be sure to include your address and phone number. The Yavapai County Cooperative Extension web site is http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/. |