Cheraw gazette and Pee Dee farmer. [volume] (Cheraw S.C.) 1838-1839, 1839-07-26

of the middle country planters culliVae79
eleven or twelve acres of cotton, make pro.
visions, and in the corresponding reg 'onan
Georgia, fifteen acres ofcotten, besides corn
is not extraordinary. If there is any one
who cannot cultivate ten acres OF co'son
and raise an ample supply ofprov's'o0s, NC
does not understand his business or GOES
not give it his attention, without whlci, no
business can prosper, and he should change
his occupation or his habits, or-enlgra1e.
will assume that each acre will produces
1875 lbs. of ginned cotton. If it will not 90
this, under the system Of resting, | shall res
commend and base my calculstions on'
il IL not worth cultivating, and while there -
as much lard 10 this State, in almost every
section of it, to be had on such moderate
terms, which will produce this much, he has
no excuse for cultivating it. say g1n-
ned cotton, because the moment you begin
to estimate the product in cotton in the ssed'
you are in the skies. As our cotton is usu'
ally weighed wet and dry, basket and trash,
by overseers and drivers, with all sorts OF
steelyards, no planter can tell what amount
he is to sell, even if he keeps a statement OF
bis pickings, much less can he form any
iden from seeing the cotton in the field. l
always inquire how much ginned cotton an
acre will produce ?-how much ginned cot.
ton a hand will make? 1t would be nearly
as satisfactory to know how many piles OF
rails he can split, as how many bags he
makes. According to this estimate full
task hand will bring into the market 1880
lbs. of cotton. He is not, however, first
rate planter who does not make 1900 lbs.
on land that will produce l25 lbs. per acre.
l know many planters in this State who
make more-and he who does not make at
least 1850 lbs. may be sure that there is
something radically wrong about his ousl.
ness, which, If he cannot correct, he is not
suited to the occupation. T1plass' howev.
er, with success, aud make this product
moderate as it is, perfectly sure, every one
planting in light and thin lands should have
twice ss much open land, as ne can cult.
vate, go that he can rest every oher year,
or plant two and rest two, which perhaps
is preferable. He should therefore have
thirly.six acres of open land for every hand,
to which will add, say fourteen acres Of
woodland, which will be amply sufficient
for every purpose, and will make the aggre.
gate quantity of land per hand, fifty acres.
No planter should have moro. Know ina!
many do, no, only here bu, at The West and
every where else. One wants an outlet here
or there-ano,her is avaricious Of all the
privileges Of his Observation-Disclosures
think " land is safe property" and others
again are ambitious of owning large landed
estates. This is bad economy, and paying
a heavy tribute to pride. There is nothing
So expensive as dead rea! estate, and num-
bers Who debur themselves Of many OF the
comforts of life, seem never 10 reflect on
the thousands which they annually lose in
in,eres, on idle lands. Itis vain for US mere
to purchase and hold lands, expecting their
value to appreciate. The spirit of that sot,
of peculatlon has long since flown over, u.s.
never to return. Local causes may pro.
duce rises. and / believe there has been
steady, though slow one on pine lands Tor
some years-bu, taking the aggregate va
lue of the real estate Of the whole State
doubt If it is so great a, present as It was
forty years ago, inflated as prices are just
now. At this moment. however, land such
as will produce l25 lbs. Of cotton cannot
be estimated higher than SIS per acre. II