Richland beacon., 1875-02-20
FARM GARDEN ANN HOUSEHOLD
Diversified Farming.

"oihS OuL DeSt OIL
paper.-"Every one" says that all th
successful planters and farmers h,
ever knew made their own supplies
30 that all experience is that way. and
yet one can figure out more on cottor
than in any other way. This dis
:cfepancy puzzles many minds. W.
think it can be mace plain on paper
There is nothing mysterious about it
out all the conditions aud facts are
open to our senses and observation.
There is nothing more deceptive
than figures" says Sidney Smith,
except facts" This however is
because our problems have not been
stated right. l. The principal reason
explanatory is, that be who cultivates
cotton exclusively must actually waste
much time and labor.
A farm, to make maximum results
must, like any other investment, be
worked up to its capacity. Now there
are parts of the year much buster
than others, and parts in which the
cotton requires no attention; but the
land, the bands, and the mules, are
nevertheless all on hand, and the two
latter on expenses, the hands also
drawing wages. In pitching the cot.
ton crop. the limit of possible produc
liOn is found in the picking capacity
Vt the hands engaged in its produc-
,ion. and of the extra hands who can
he hired. These extra Hands consist
mainly OF the nOn-workcrs (wOmen
and children) on the farm, of drones
about the town, and of some who quit
household work and 60 to cotton
picking to the great discomfort of
house'keepers. Certainly the two
latter classes are not to be encouraged.
Another pinch in cotton making, is
in the time of hoeing, when the same
classes are brought into rcquisirion.
We have here no great reservoir of
laborers, usually engaged in other
pursuits, from which to draw at these
seasons, as they have in other coun-
tries. The hOeins season is to some
extent embarrassed by other crops, but
by good management, even with the
drawbacks these occasion, q farm can
be made to produce as much as the
available labor can pick.
2. A second reason il found in the
comparison of money made per acre.
AS the land constitutes but one of q
number of necessary elements of pro-
duction, mere acreage is not a test.
In the view heretofore given, We sup
posed as many acres of cotton as the
hands, inclnding extra hands, could
gather. There was, therefore, no loss
Of cotton, or little loss, in making the
other crops and attending TO other
work The numper Of days work
needed upon an acre of cotton, from
the first to the last, is greater than
upon any other crop, and the other
expenses bestowed upon it greater.
The hanC-. over, horsepower, fertil-
izing, ginning, hauling, freight, mar
keting, are all elements of COST
Probably in estimating the cost of
cotton there are more uncOmputcd |
items than in any other crop-because
they are more numerous. Its share
of the general expenses, and the ueces-
ssry conditions it imposes at seasons
when labor is high, are not set high
eLouyh 10 cur calculations.
The relative exhaustion of land is
another element unconsidcred, but
which the old red bills If Georgia
attest, and with their SCARED and
quilted faces, utter q mute protest to
heaven and to man. For while cot
ton takes less into itself than other
crops, clean culture cOnsigns our soil
{ the river-bottonn and the sea.
3. A third reason is found in the
imaginative income it bestows greater
than the real. There is sone intoxi-
cation in banding more money,
though it has to be paid out again.
1t is apt to enlarge the scale of ex.
penses, unless due consideration is
given 10 the difference between gross
and net results. The farmer feels
richer than he really Is, and it is hard
to anticipate all the items of outgo-
just as In building q house, it is safe,
after computing all you can think Of,
to add 20 per cent for what yon have
forgotten. In accordance with this
view an oEssrvan.> old commission
once told me that all his
customers who did no. make their own
supplies would, about March or earlier,
come to town to see their factors,
remarking that they wished to make
some arrangements" which always
meant to borrow money.
Three millions of bales at 90 cents,
would yield the same gross sum as
four million would at Is, or as Eve
millions at l2 cents. Would not the
crop 0f three millions sell ut 20 cents
and over? Would q crop Of i've
millions pr6bably bring an average of
IL cents? The gross sales Of the
cotton crop amount 10 tolerably
uniform sum. Mankind gives as
much or more for small crop rs for
. large, without the smallest reference
to what it costs US. This is fact of
huge significance. the full importance
Of which it is difficult to realize. That
it is q fact is demonstrated, however,
by experience. anI the reasons are
not absIruse. Were five mi!l;ons of
bales made the present year. 1874, We
10 not believe it would brina an
average Of IL cents. For the iuwel
IInalilics there would be scarcely any
demand. Probably the gr .sS sales of