Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-02-14
CHE fart1 aud fireside.
THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH.

THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH.
In our last, we began discussion of "Farn
Economy" and promised continuance of it
No subject at present demands more earnes
attention from Southern farmers. 1t is no
the gross income, but the net profits, that de
eide the question of success or failure. a
merchant may sell large amount of goods
but if he buys at high prices, sells at small
profits, makes bad debts, pays high rents an'
clerk hire, he is pretty sure to fail. And 81
farmer may make very large crops and ye
clear no money, because they may cost mere
than they sell for. Few of our farmers keeE
regular accounts of receipts and expenditures
and those who do not fail to see clearly al
the end of the year the matter of loss or gain
but nearly every one in series of years finds
out whether he is any nearer getting out o.
debt, or whether he is increasing his proper
ty or not We are compelled to believe that
US general rule, cur farmers have cleared
little money since the war. Even the appa
rently large crops they have made, as in
ferred from the size of the cotton crop, com
pared with ante. bellum times, is deceptive
because whilst more cotton has been made
that is more than Offset by the fact that &C
much less corn, wheat and other food crops
have been produced. Almost our entire
farming energy has been expended upon cot
ton-hence the apparent large crops.
The South has not prospered since the war
Why SOP Is it because of exclusive cotton
farming? Is it because her smoke-houses and
corn-cribs have been in the West? New Eng
land and Old England have had their gran
aries very largely away from home, and YET
have thrven. What is the secret of our fail
ure? We apprehend they are more than
one.
1st Speculative farming, Immediately after
the war-spending money lavishly on extend
ed cotton crops, blindly expecting large yields
and high prices, which were seldom realized
The inability to obtain credit of late years.
has pretty we'll stopped this, but the debts in-
Cured by it, still hang like an incubus about
Southern farmers necks. Could these debts
be discharged, we believe the road to pros.
perity would now be open.
I'd. Connected with the first, and greatly
increased by it, is the fact of the steady, and
of late sudden, shrinkage of values-a thing
which always proves disastrous to people in
debt. However much property may depre
ciate, debt never shrinks with interest added
on, year after year, it grows and grows with
accelerated velocity.
Sd. The prejudcal effects upon sound
farm economy of almost exclusive cotton
culture. These are: lst. Employment of too
much labor. 3D. Subjecting the laborer to the
high rates exacted by the merchant for sup
plies, and thus rendering labor dearer. 81.
An almost complete abandonment Of proper
rotation of crops.
lst. Employment of too much labor. Cot
ton is pre-eminently labor. requiring crop
not only continuous labor throughout the
whole year, but much more to the area cult
waited than most other crops-from two to
three times the amount required for corn, and
very many times that demanded by small grain
and grasses. With extended cotton culture
the demand for labor was great, wages went
up, and independence on the part Of the la
borer ran high, but efficiency went down.
The laborer, instead of the land-holder, be-.
came master Of the situation. Hence, ex-
travagant rates were paid for labor, and with
large amount employed on cotton crop,
the loss was correspondingy increased. Our
first point then is, that the cotton crop should
be reduced to the smallest proportions COM
patible with its legitimate function, as money
or of surplus crop.
2d Failure tn raiae provisions sufficient for
the farm and the laborers on it, threw the
latter into the clutches of the merchant, who
exacted from him exhorbitant rates. Dear
living drove the laborer to high wages, or
rendered him dissatisfied with low-in other
words, demoralized the laborer. The true
policy of the farmer is to take charge of the
negro, who is incapable of taking care of
himself, and reduce the cost of his living to
the lowest rate. He will thereby undoubted-
ly secure cheap labor. If preferred, let it
take the shape Of his hands working a pro-
vision crop sufficient for themselves outside of
his own crop, but under the same regulations,
and charge them reasonable rent of land,
teams, and tools. In no other way can they
be so cheaply supplied with provisions.
Sd. In no country is there so marked an
absence of systematic rotation of crops as in
the Cotton States. And nowhere could its
absence produce more disastrous results, be-
cause clean and protracted summer culture
not only destroys the stock of humus in the
soil, but renders it so terribly susceptive to
washing away by rain. These two disadvan'
tages are, 80 to speak, peculiar to the cotton
crop, and are superadded to those which in
all countries are found to attach to the con.
tinuous cultivation of the same crop year af-
ter year on the same land. We simply call
attention to, but do not propose to discuss
now, this great subject Of rotation of crops.
Suffice it to say, that in all countries where
advanced husbandry prevails, it is regarded
as matter of the very first Importance.
Reverting now to the questions asked in our
last: What to raise I? what to sell what to
buy? We answer, raise all the provisions
needed by the family, the servants and the
stock, and in this way reduce to a minimum
what has to be bought. The particular pro-
vision crops which each should cultivate must
he determined by soil and climate. The more
varied they are, the less likelihood of failure.
Sell the surplus of the provision crops, as
much as practicable, after it has been con-
verted into meat, butter, or live stock. By
so doing, nearly all the fertilizing elements
abstracted from the soil by the crops may be
retained in the manure pile. Sell fruits and
vegetables wherever there is demand for
them. Cease to regard cotton as the only
source of income. Valuable as it is, the peo-
pie of the North live without cultivating it;
so do those of Great Britain and of Cont.
mental Europe. So did your own ancestors,
in these Southern States at one time.
What to buy. Just as little of everything
needed as you possibly can. Economy should
be our motto for years to come. We are toe
poor to buy much of anything. Iron, salt, a
few implements, and perhaps coffee, pretty
we'll make up the list. Tea, we can make al
home-sugar, also in large portion of the
cotton States-svrun in abundance. every.