Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-04-17

Certificates of Deposit, Letter Headings,
Certificates of Stock, Memorandum Billheads
Checks, Note Circulars,
Deposit Tickets Note Headings,
Drafts and Notes, Programmes,
Envelopes, Policies, Fire& Life ms,
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Festival Tickets, wedding Cards,
will receive prompt attention, and satisfaction
as to quality of work, guaranteed in every
instance. Particular attention given to fine
work in colors.
LARGE FARMS.
The experience of the last six years has de-
monstrated that large farms, in the sense that
the word was once used, cannot, at present, be
cultivated successfully in the South. The
farm laborers of the Southern States are prin-
cipally negroes. These were once slaves, and
in condition of slavery, their labor could be
controlled as it cannot be controlled now. The
negro, to all intents and purposes is free, and
the sooner the landholders Of the South fully
realize this fact and practice accordingly, the
better it will be for the whole country. This
is free country. Every man, it matters not
what is his color or what may have been his
former condition, feels that he is laboring for
himself He expects to enjoy, to the full, the
results of his labor. All that the landholder
can reasonable expect, is a profit on the capi-
tai invested. Farming, at present, is a joint
stock business The laborer invests his labor,
and the landholder invests his land. The
profits must be divided in proportion to the
capital invested. 1t is to the interest Of the
laborer to be diligent and faithful, and it is
the interest of the landholder to haveas much
Of his land as possible cultivated, and as many
permanent improvements as possible made
upon his lands. Any lands which are not in
cultivation are so much capital uninvested,
and any damages which are done to his lands
are so many injuries done to his capital, which
tend either directly, or indirectly, to lessen his
annual income.
Suppose man owns one hundred acres of
land and only cultivates ten. Suppose that
these ten acres make, annually, ten bales Of
cotton. This, certainly, would be regarded a
fine yield for the ten acres; but when it is
remembered that it is the product of the
whole hundred acres, it would be very poor
yield. The tax and interest on the money in
vested in the whole hundred acres would have
to be deducted from the product of the ten
acres. The tax and interest on the money
invested in the hundred acres, would con-
sumo fully one tenth of the gross product of
the ten acres.
On an average, the lands of the upper and
middle sections of the State of South Carroll
ma are capable of yielding one bale of cotton
to every four acres; but when the uncultiva-
ted lands are taken into consideration, there
is perhaps not more than one bale of cotton
made to every twenty-five acres of land
This simple statement, which we feel conf
dent is in no particular exaggerated, shows
why farming in the South is not more gener-
ally profitable than it is. There is no coun-
try in the world in which farming is SO re-
munerative as in ours, if all the land possess
ed is put into cultivation. There is not
an old field in the State, if properly cultiva-
ted, that will not pay for the labor of cutiva-
ting it, and pay for itself and ten per cent. on
the purchase money in one year. The diff
Guilty is to get small parcel of land. To
buy field, a large plantation must be pur-
chased.
The interest ofthe whole country demands
that change be brought about. Those who
own large tracts Of land which they are una
BILE to cultivate, must either cut them up into
small tracts and sell them to those who can
cultivate them, or they must inaugurate a
system Of tenantry. There is no income, pri-
vate or public, in uncultivated lands They
are simply so much uninvested capital upon
which the individual owner is required to pay
an annual tax. Unless some change is made,
the lands of the State will never increase in
value, either real or marketable On the con-
trary, their value will decrease from the simple
fact that the lands, under the present system
of cultivation, cannot be improved; but will
wear out in a. few years. 1t should be remem-
bered that the bulk of property which the
people ofSouth Carolina, or any of the South
ern States possess, is the soil. The income
from the soil must be estimated, not upon what
is cultivated, but upon all that is owned and
upon which taxes are paid. Suppose man
pays thousand dollars for one hundred acres
of land, but only cultivates ten acres. The in
come is only as if he had invested one hun
dred dollars. Nine hundred dollars have
been so invested that it yields no income. If
there was prospect that the marketable val
ue of the land would increase very rapidly,
the investment would be safe and profitable
one but nothing can be safely calculated in
this direction. The marketable value of any
commodity depends upon the demand and the
supply. Under the present system, the sup
ply will always be abundant, and the demand
small. On an average, there is not more
than one tenth of the tillable lands of South
Carolina in cultivation, and until some new
system is inaugurated this state of things will,
in all human probability, remain. There are
many men in the State who do not make, an
nually, one bale of cotton to every hundred
acres of land which they own. They are en-
no rod in nothinr o1co IVo 1,now rbot ,yo