Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-01-22
Corn and Cotton---Cur Danger.

We append from the Charleston
Ne'os very excc!lcnt article which
urges uro;., the planters the necessity
or" cul .ivating plenty of provisions
h.:st, and then moderate crop Of
Cotton" Its suggestions our planters
, would do we'll to heed and ponder,
and then reduce to practice. The
effect Of tho policy recommended is
to furnish us with full supply of
breadstuffs, ut the same time that it
does not diminish the income from
cotton. How hard it is to realize
that "the half is sometimes greater
than the whcle;" that tho market
value of an article depends upon its
scarcity; that not the "books of the
sybil" merely, but all things else
increase in price rs they diminish in
number; that cotton is not exempt
from the law which governs all com
modities. Read the article ,ceckly and
practice its suggestions daily:
The cotton crop Of 1868 has been q
God-scnd to the South. Wo have
money in abundance. our credit is
rapidly improving, the chains arc
broken which bound us, our future is
bright with hope. And yet all this
will be an evil, rather than a good, il
we do not preserve in that wise agri-
cultural policy whose first fruits we
now enjoy.
Our danger is that the planters may
be tempted by high prices-thc result
of moderate crop, growing trade and
reckless spoculation-to pitch huge
crops Of cotton. Each man who sold
npland cotton at Is or q or 20 cents
a pound, doubtless wished that he had
twenty bales instead Of ten, or hun,
dred in place of fifty. This feeling,
however natural, we must conquer or
be undone.
We have made money by the cotton
crop of 1868, because cotton was not
our first and principal care. There
had been two seasons Of anxiety, dis
appointment and loss, which forced
) the planter to acknowledge that his
only safety lay in securing, at any
! cost, what bread and meat he required
Tho du!lest and most wrong-headod
could 500 this necessity, and, as con,
sequence, tho South produced all the
breadstuffs she needed, the corn croE
of South Carolina alone being 1000,
600 bushels more than it was in 1867
Cotton was secondary consideration
with the planter; but the two. and-a
half million Of bales which from tho
crop Of the year have still brought us
more money than four million bales
would have done at the prices before
tho war. Had the whole strength o.
the South been directed to the culture
OF cotton, the crop would have been
three million bales or more, and ther
> our fortunes would have been staked
upon one cast Of the die,' prices would
have fallen and the purchase Of West
ern grain would have swallowed ur
the greater part Of tho net proceeds
Of our cotton. AS it is, we have beer
independent of outside hoIp. We
have not eaten into the morrow, we
have not been obliged to. throw on,
cotton upon tho market, and we ap-
proach another season with distended
purses and tho fairest prospects o1
success.
But the lessons of this year and Of
the years which have preceded it will
), be worse than thrown away, if high
prices induce our planters to make
cotton their king and not their slave.
The first labor, the first thought, the
first pains, shonld be given to wheat,
corn and provisions and then, and
not before, might the reign of cotton
begin. We should have tho best seed,
80 as to improve the staple fertilizers
should be used freely, so as to Increase
the yield per acre 40 moro land
should be PLANTED than can be cnlti-
waited regularly and we'll And. q
4 cotton crop made in this manner will
i repeat the lesson of 1868, and realize
FtoE us far more money than q larger
Xleld At lower pricos With millions Of
aoilassto pay away in bpying our daily
4 ,as' ~, 1a.i.iA ,-,o.p...... 3,
+, 1aere is, we repeat, but, one safe
4 psan: Plenty Of lsprosisions s,frs. and ,,ss.
Il ie''naaerots erop ,ef, eottos.r. If. our;paant-
bfers VIII stick to this ,poliey, they, will
.agroH ,riah,i IL thsysdo, not, .they,yill
's4issssredly rue sthe,d day whepshedosipe
,,fto become suddenly wealthys.causet,
;3fhetp 70 fsrsaka the plain psshs q,
,lprudencs and common ssspss. .t,<,o,,
.4sas bsaA-a.-..i- 49, a-4-.-..ag-y& y&'. /,
b RAI1o1ops .szns1cxa.-Dpprfpaes,, DUH "a iii; !;
snt aud 'prsoedibg; E 1wsaks 81 ths
Insg year . series Of very interesti nj E
.lrfiIei eions Sss siui9sa havg MAI a has,a ;n