The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1869-05-01
NUMBER il.
Whit ia.n Aero Worthi

When the Southern farmer, be hs
large or small one, will rightly compute
the value of an acre, and set the proper
worth by it, wemay then expect that ma
terial and real wealth to the State that is
only now imaginative. We call ourselves
an agricultural people, and admit that
the wealth Of 5ar State lies in its pro.
ductions. TO great extent, we MAY
say altogether, that as people we ars
dependent upon our cotton, rice, tobacco
crops for what money we make. As to
our corn crop, we hardly feel like count
ing 1t in, if Vie judges from the thousands
of bushels that are bought supply the
demands Of our people, and the thou
sands of dollars we send out of the State
for that article alone; not counting the
millions of pounds of bacon that we buy
also from the West. Every man that
cultivates few acres Of land, imagines
that he must put half OF two thirds in
cotton as the only thing that will bring
ready money. We could not have q
word to say about planting cotton, If
each acre planted brought bag: but
whsh Vie know that it takes from three
to fotif aErss of our worn lands to make
bag. we feel that it is labor and money
thrown away, and that the farmer has
never for moment sat down and calcu-
lated the worth of an acre well manured
and we'll worked.
An acre of land we'll manfred, we'll
taken care of, is worth from $50 to $50.
An acre that will bring twenty-five
bushels of wheat and thirty bushels 5f
corn the same year, is worth 500 and
any pains taking farmer can make an
acre produce that. The manure drop
ped in stables or yards by horses, COWS,
hogs, sheep, &c, will manure one acre
well. We speak of the small farmer,
the man with but little stock Care and
economy ute all that is needed to save
manure; but so long as we drive along.
in our slip-shod way of making and saw
ing manure, VIC may expect but poor
rettrns from the soil. IF tl,c small e,r.
ncr could be induced to takg half the
pains the New England farmer does OH
his place, there $odla hot be farm in
Baldwin county that would not be worth
at least $50 to the acre.
| But what we desire to call the espes-
ial attedtibh of our farmers to is tile I'm:
portance of mandftng at least 5Hg acre
we'll and planting it in something that
will bring him 800 clear. 1t can be
done, and done easily, but there must
be system about it. Let the small far
mer who reads this look at the nearest
city or town TO whicH he trades, and see
what article of provisions sells readily
Take, for instance, sweet potatoes every
body eats them, and they have ready
sale; they keep well and can be sold by
the wagon load or bushel at from fifty
cents to one dollar
A farmer knows how many bushels an
acre will bring, and he knows that he
can get hundred dollars an acre, even
at fifty cents bushel. Take the ground
pea it will sell readily ahd bring good
price; take onions, take Irish potatoes;
take peas. Put She acre in anything
but cotton, aid it will bring more money
than cotton would. Much manure is
sometimes saved and wasted BY trying
to manure ten or twenty acres, when i.
should have been put on one OF i've
Farmers get discouraged and say IL
won't pay to save manure, because they
have tried it, and their crops were a
fsilure, and failed because they tiled "a
do too much with too little, just as o
foolish housewife would try to make one
blanket cover three bcds.-.SoWhern Re.
corier