The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-05-02

State. for less than twelve or four
teen cents. Even If a man has the
cash to pay for labor and supplies,
we do not see how he can make'cot-
ton for less than twelve cents
We, for one. are glad cotton Is
down, and We hope it will fall still
lower. We shall thank God If II
is brought so low that our people
can't grow it all, for 1t does seem
that in no other way can they be
cured of the fatal delusion which
has seized them since the close Of
the war.
No greater curse, save that OF
drinking and drunkenness, has be-
fallen North Carolina. than this
most unreasonable and e~ngrossing
preference for the production of
cotton. And. as the preachers say
sometimes, this brings us to an
other thing We wanted TO say, which
is that no class of our people need
"a liberal education more than our
farmers. Many an old farmer viii
think we are a fool for making the
declaration, but We say it deliber-
ately, that more than the mechanic
and the merchant, equally with the
doctor, the lawyer. the statesman
and the preacher, the farmer needs
to be well educated. The Hon. j.
{. Scarborough showed last fall IN
a speech at Apex, before the Raj
eigh Association, that no man could
do asuccessful business on borrowed
money, for which he paid twelve
per cent. interest, and yet that the
farmers of Wake county had paid,
every year since the war, as much
as sixty per cent. for fertilizers and
supplies to the merchants, and IN
most cases had mortgaged their
crops, and IN many their lands, for
the payment of principal and this
eXorbltant interest; and, he ADDED
with tremendous force, that it was
their ignorance had made them do
it, for no intelligent class Of men
would conduct business on such
ruinous principles.
We hope we shall not be regarded
as disrespectful to a class Of men
whom we greatly honor, if we say
that it seems to us that it is a want
of knowledge, of wise intelligence,
which keeps our farmers planting
so much cotton, which does not
make them demand in all their pri-
mary political meetings, four things
of the politicians-frst, a fence law;
second, a dog law; third, special
efforts on the part of the State to
promote immigration; and fourth,
a more liberal provision for the gen
eral education of III people. The
farmers have but to speak, and the
and the politicians will hear and
give them what they demand.
One of the best farmers we know
IN the State, is Mr.. p. II. Mangum,
Of Wake Forest township. He as
sured us not long since that he was
making more money, and with less
worry to himself, than before the
war, and that his land was improv-
ing every year. He made last sea-
son on one acre of ground $50 BUSH
els OF shelled oats. In the same
nelghborhood DR.. w. T. Walters
lived, and through the influence Of
these good farmers, with that of
Rev. A. F. Purefoy and f. NJ.
Purefoy, all four being graduates
of Wake Forest College, land in
that neighborhood has risen from
from ten to twenty-five dollars per
acre.
Away with the idea that any,
body can be a farmer-that the
bright boys must be educated to
become lawyers, doctors, &C., and
that the dull fellows will do for
the farm. No calling is more
honorable than hat of the farmer.
and he, Of all men, should most
highly appreciate It's dignity and
Importance, and prepare himself
and his children for the proper dis
charge OF It's duties, by learning
all he can himself and giving them
the advantages Of a good education.
The last remark We have to make
is, that we do not know a man in
North Carolina who is doing more
for the best interests of the State
than Col. L. L. Polk. We will
not except eve the Governor him
self. His position is one of great
responsibility and great officially,
but from all we can see and hear.
be Is doing his work admirably
well. He has intelligence, indus
try, energy, tact and enthusiasm:
he writes well and speaks better.
and IN u humble judgment is
doing a great work for the State.