The Trouble with Farming; C. Carson

ClarenceB. Carson THE TROUBLE WITH FARMING THIS past December, I traveled with my family through north central Mississippi and across the river northwestward into south central Arkansas. The portion of the trip that made the deepest impression on me was that which took us through what is called the Mississippi Delta. The Delta stretches for the better part of 100 miles inland on either side of the Mississippi river in this area, though somewhat wider on the Mississippi than the Arkansas side. The land is table flat, and the road we were on was arrow straight, bending only so much as was neces sary to put it through the next town. Dr. Carson has written and taught extensively, spe cializing in American intellectual history. He is the author of several books and is working at present on A Basic History of the United States to be published by Western Goals, Inc. 286 The road was raised three or four feet above the surrounding country side, which was fortunate for us. The countryside was flooded by unusu ally heavy winter rains, and the flooding was enhanced by a blinding rain squall as we drove through one of the more remote regions. When the ground is too full to soak up the water, there is no place handy for it to go.