Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-02-03
AgrieuKnral department.
PRODUCE YOUR OWN SUPPLIES.

The Southern section of the United States
is, bv nature, admirably adapted to agricul-
tural pursuits. The soil and the climate are
such as to make the South emphatically a
farming country. The former is either rich
and productive, or capable of being made so.
The latter is favorable to the maturing Of all
fruits and cereals usually found in the tenn
perate zones, and many of those found in the
torrid zones. Clover, and an almost endless
variety of grasses, suited both for pasturage
and long-forage, grow and flourish in most
sections of the South. Wheat, rye, barley,
oats, peas, beans and Indian corn do we'll !;
and in the same region, cotton, hemp, flax,
tobacco and indigo, yield abundant crops.
With regard to fruits, the South can boast Of
apples, peaches, figs, plums, cherries, straw
berries, raspberries and grapes. No country
in the world is better adapted to the produc-
ton of sweet potatoes than the South, and the
Irish potato yields, with little culture, enor-
NOUS crops.
Were these unvarnished facts stated to one
who had never benin the Southern country,
and were he told in addition to these things
that the South abounds in magnificent rivers
and beautiful lakes, he would conclude that
the Southern section of the United States is
the best portion Of the globe. He would con-
clude that the people were surrounded by all
the comforts of life and enjoyed all the lux
uries of the world. He would imagine that
the cribs of Southern farmers were filled with
corn, their granaries we'll stored with wheat
rye, barley and oats; that their barns were
filled with the choicest hay, and that their
stables were filled with the finest horses and
mules, and their fields with the finest cattle.
He would imagine that to every farm there
was attached an orchard filled with vast
variety of the choicest fruit. He would also
conclude that the table of Southern farmer
was loaded, daily, not only with the necessi-
ties of life, but was covered with the choicest
luxuries. He would imagine that upon it
were placed dishes of the richest butter and
bowls of the purest milk, and fruits Of the
most delicious flavor and the sweetest taste.
Were such one to visit the South, he
would find things very different from what
he expected. On many farms he would find
no rye, no oats, no wheat, no hay, no corn, no
bacon, no butter, no milk, no orchard and no
meadow. He would find few lean mules
and horses, and possibly poor COW; but not
hog nor sheep. Ifin what is called the cot
ton belt of the South, he would see cotton
gin and few bales of cotton. This and moth
ing more. In this region he would see the
farmers working from January to January,
with cotton; and he would hear them COM
planning Of bad crops, the low price of cotton,
the unreliableness Of labor, the high taxes,
the high price of corn and bacon, and hard
times generally. Notwithstanding all that
has been said in books and newspapers about
the excellency Of the South as farming coun-
try, he would conclude that the South, in fact
judging from the practice of the farmers, was
we'll adapted to the cultivation of but very
few things. He would conclude that where
cotton will grow nothing else will grow. Such
conclusion would be readily reached by a
=t.ergnr from tho fact tho+ in the region
where he saw cotton growing, he saw nothing
else cultivated. If he were told that the
country is we'll adapted to many other things,
he would be prompted, by instinct, to ask why
then are these things not cultivated
This would be sensible question and one
which every farmer should ask himself. If
the South can raise corn, why does she have
it sent to her from other sections OF the coun-
try? If the South can produce her own sup
plies, why does she not do so?
1t is readily admitted that, as money crop
for the South, there is nothing equal to cot
ton but the country needs something else be-
sides money. 1t may be that the cotton that
can be produced on an acre Of land will buy
more corn than could be produced upon that
acre. This may be true, and still it may be
true that all cotton and no corn is, a bad
motto.
A diversity of crops on the same farm has
many advantages. The very sameness which
is presented constantly to the mind Of the
farmer, who cultivates but one kind of crop,
produces weariness. He becomes dispirited.
The human mind is so constituted that it ab-
solutely requires variety. This variety is
seen in hill, mountain and dale. A variety
of crops infuses energy into the laborer. A
farmer can make his OWE supplies, and nearly
as much cotton or any other money crop, as
he can when he makes no effort to produce
any supplies at all. This may be thought
extravagant but if any one will take the
trouble to look into the facts in the case, he
will conclude that the statement is correct.
Again diversity Of crops enables the
farmer to save his land. It matters not what
crop it is, if it be planted year after year on
the same land, the soil will become exhausted.
To keep it up will require much labor and
great expense in the way of manure. By a
diversity of crops, the farmer is able to rule
the market and not be ruled by the market.
1t is matter of universal observation that
those farmers who devote their whole atten
ton to money crop, and make no effort to
produce their own supplies, are wholly under
the control of circumstances which they might
control, if they saw fit so to do. The theory
of Southern farmers with respect to cotton is
absolutely correct, but their practice is abso-
lutely wrong. They all admit that there is
too much attention paid to the cultivation Of
cotton and not enough to the producing Of
sunnlies If thew know what is rirht and