The Van Buren press., 1874-11-03
Diversified Industry Our Only Hope.

Constant dripping will wear away astone."
One Of the daily wonders Of orr peo-,
Lle is, why we E,y up 50 little at the close
of the years labors? ne coun. up
crop worth hundreds OF millions--make
a grand show upon paper--our wonder.
full resources are blaz med before the
world; "The South recuperatod aud
prosperous is written upon our banner,
and yet when our balance sheet is made
out at the end Of the year, we have not
dollar, and must give liens or mortgages
to raise money. to run the machine an.
other year. For seven long years the
Southern planter has devoted his whole
energy to making cotton, and this very
day he is a poorer man than he vas Id
1866
His fences are all gone. his houses in
a dilapidated condition--hi farm stock
dead or IN bad condition-less order or
system. worse agricultivat,on. No hog
and hominy OF his own raising, and de-.
pendent upon others for everything but
cotton. There may be exceptions, but
no one can deny that this is the general
condition Of the country. And worse
than all this, there is lack ofconfdence
in mans integrity. No man can trust
his neighbour" his word is as good ~
his bond" is myth. Doubtless bad
Legislation and bad association have had
much to do with our Generalization, but
we. are responsible for no little Of it.
,Xp have not. and it seems as II We
NO al. realize the Importance Of d..
versilE fling our industry. 1t is the bur-
den Of every agricultural address--it 10
admitted by all, still year after year w
follow in the old route ~ doggedly -
ever. II seems impossible for US to 70
alizc the importance Of anything smaller
than cotton bale. 1cN N
We send millions Of dollars annually,
to Nurserymen and Secdmen for things
we could easily grow at home, Of better
quality. Every city, village and cross
road store In the country has it's North.
ern garden seeds for sale and supplies ito
surroundings with everything from .
:" Roastin ear TO turnip seed.
Will any one deny that with little
pains taking, we could raise Just AZ good
seed at home2 1t Is q small matter,
have heard some one say. Yes that Is
the trouble; We will not recognise tho,
value Of small matters.
We passed farmer, few hours ago,
ploughng. His plough was made In
Pennsylvania; his bride somewhere
North; his hames Of Northern leather;
his backband cost him seventy five cents
when yard of Graniteville drill would
have made three much better ones---but
this was ready. and looked nice,
everything but his shuck collar was for
eign.
We will not learn the importance Of
economy in small matters. We cannot
realize the fact that planting on the old
scale has been numbered among things
that were. Nothing like genuine, uni.
form prosperity can be looked for until
we stop the leaks on the farm and sur.
round ourselves with all the home indus.
tries which 60 toward making US lndc-
pendent.
Patronize your own mechanics-en-a
courage every new enterprise which adds
to the capital, population, or the pros,
perity Of the country. Let cotton or to-
bacco be your staple crop, but dovetail
every other species of industry in that.
you can. These may be hard lessons to
learn, but the sooner we begin i lhs bat
time, down South.