Thursday, February 4, 2010

Hurry, Hurry, Get Your Kudzu Here!



I've been getting a kick out of reading about kudzu in Itawamba County's early newspapers. There are a lot of articles about the best way to plant kudzu, how to nurture it and get the best yields. Who knew that it would become known as the "vine that ate the south"! Look at this 1942 article in the Fulton News Beacon:

Limited Amount of Kudzu Crowns Can Be Obtained by Farmers


There is a limited number of kudzu crowns available at $7.50 per thousand, plus freight from Meridian, Mississippi, provided you place your order at the County Agent's office by March 7 at 3:00 o'clock. If you are interested in securing kudzu crowns for planting on your permanent vegetative cover you should place your order immediately.


Out of kindness, I left off the County Agent's name.

Nowadays, it seems that our county agents are doing all they can to get rid of the vine.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anyone who traveled U.S 82 many years ago from the Greenville area to Columubus, surely has vivid memories of how the kudzu camouflaged the terrain on the south side of the highway. When the vine "rode" the telephone wires across the huge ravines just at roadway height gave a false appearance of that side of the road! The northside of the highway was some steep hills. . . . When I got out our latest Road Atlas, it looks like U.S. 82 is now at least 4 lanes, so can someone advise me about this? I never thought this road could be widened! I can't recall if there was ever a spot in this road for legal passing. All my memories recall seeing was "Do Not Pass for the next # of feet"! bsw

Mona Robinson Mills said...

Bettye, your comments bring back memories of a similar road back in the 60s when we would make the drive from our home in Greenville back to visit relatives in Itawamba County. We would take Hwy 82 part of the way, out of Greenville, but the road I'm referring to is State Hwy 7 or 8 between Grenada and Calhoun City. Steep hills, up and down, with kudzu vines on either side of the road, covering nearly everything in sight.