Why "The Lower Forty"?

When I was young and growing up in the South, I encountered one of my Grandmother's friends who supplied my Grandmother Annie's grocery store with corn meal. His name was Johnny Byrd and he lived in Logansville, Georgia. He invited us to visit his farm, which he referred to as his lower forty. What he meant was that he had a farm with some acreage. It turned out his lower forty was 500 acres of white corn and cattle. (The lower forty is a vintage expression about the lower forty acres that traditionally are the last to be planted.)

I was lucky enough to get to visit Mr. Byrd's farm when I was about eight. He had milk cows and we saw his automated milking system. I did not know at the time exactly how progressive Mr. Byrd's farm was in the late fifties.

We took home Fried Chicken that Mrs. Byrd cooked and we were told that the chickens were fed the wonderful white corn grown on the farm. That was truly the best chicken I ever tasted and I only hope my lower forty can be half as productive. The backyard now, and maybe some day some acreage.