Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-05-09
The tfattt and fiteside.
THE COST OF COTTON CULTURE.

and months for the corn. Putting th'
wages of this hand at So per month, $500
with rations say 81 lbs. of bacon per week ant
one peck of meal, say 500, feed of the mule tt
plough at $40 and the smith bill at So, woule
make the whole cost of cultivating IL acres
in cotton $153. If these II acres would
yield only 400 pounds of seed cotton pei
acre, then the amount made would be 4,SO(
in seed, or 1000 in lint. So the expense O
making 1900 of lint will be Sl53, which, a.
$94 per hundred pounds, would simply cove
the cost. But if the land should make 1000
pounds per acre, then the whole yield woulo
be 10000 lbs. in seed or 1000 pounds in lint
but as the one hand could not pick over hal
the crop, the cost of picking the balance, 6,OO(
pounds, would be about S27, making the cost
$3.50, which, at a! per hundred, will cover
the amount, $3.50. So it is evident expenses
of making 100 pounds cannot be uniform a.
to the cost. The richer the lands the greater
will be the reduction of the expense, and ths
reverse, for if only 200 pounds had been made
per acre, then the expenses would have ru1
up to $40, and if the yield had been 1900
pounds the cost would have been $3.50 pei
100 pounds the cost of the hired hand ane
the feed of the mule being the same in bott
eases. This plan of estimating the cost vii
hold in making corn, thong less than tina
of cotton, as the time of working and gather
ing the crop need not be over months, In
stead of II.
From this view of the subject, it is eviden
there are but few pursuits yielding such hea
w profits on the capital invested as well
managed farm on productive lands. In tht
one case the cotton at So! just covers its pro
ductive cost, leaving nothing to the owner
while in the other, the 1000 pounds at 81 viii
bring $3.50, leaving a clear profit of S2OO
which is sixteen dollars and half per acre
Hence, the answer as to the cost cannot be
correctly made, without taking into consd
Grafton the productiveness of the soil, as vel
as the price of the hired labor. The expense
of production is rarely ever looked to by
| planters.
When farmer, at the end of the year, set
ties his store account, pays his smith bill
with that of his teacher, doctor and preacher
which tax is generally in the rear, and if any
thing is left from the amount realized from
the sale of his produce, that amount is called
the profit but if it falls short, then he has
made nothing. That is not correct estimate
of results, for the bills have no connection
with the cost of planting, except the smith
bill. A merchant doing business on a capl'
tai of $4,000, wanting to ascertain the result
of the years operation, takes an inventory OF
the unsold stock, the amount of available &C,
counts, with the money on hand, after paying
his store rent, his clerk hire, interest paid on
borrowed money, and other expenses incident
to his business, but does not include the ex-
pense of supporting his family, which might,
if extravagant, absorb all the profits, though
it might be 80 or 40 per cent. on the capital.
There are large number of farmers, whose
real estate with all the working stock and
farming implements, cannot be valued at
more than $4,000, yet by their profits realized
have raised clothed and educated from 5 to
10 children, which, to do this, must make a
profit of 80 or so per cent on the capital.
Yet many will say we are making nothing
sell out, move to town or some country depot
and play the merchant, to their regret and
ruin proving the truth of the satiricsl saying
of Horace, that every man praises the occupa'
ton of others more than his own, because he
realizes the troubles of his own, but is ignor.
ant of the other.-R. I. Mcdowell, in South
ern Home.
THE SWEET POTATO..T0 MAKE AND KEEP.
EDITOR SOUTHERN CULrIvAToR.-In your
editorial for the April number of the Cuhiua.
tor, you use very strong language with refer
ence to the sweet potato, that it should be
the "great crop of the South" Now the
above assertion by one of your experience and
position, should put the cotton worshippers
to thinking. What The sweet potato the
great crop of the South-treason to king cot
ton! So says the Editor of the Culivator,
and so say I, and, Of course, the matter is set
tied beyond all controversy.
But in nothing is the proverb that "there
is more in saving than making" more forci
biy illustrated than in saving the potato.
There are almost as many plans suggested as
there are remedies for hog cholera, and all
do we'll when the potatoes don't rot. In order
to succeed in keeping them, it is best to dig
in dry time, and not before the potatoes
are ripe. But these two conditions secured,
viz. dry weather and ripe potatoes, there is
no need waiting for frost.
All farmers who read the Cultiuator, know
what kind of land suits the potato. The phos-
pilates, or cotton seed and ashes, with thor
ough preparation and the proper cultivation,
will bring the potatoes.
Now for the keeping. Put them in per-
fectly dry house, with ground floor little
raised, to protect them from rising moisture.
A meat house where salt has been kept, will
not dot is too damp. A few small cracks
for air to pass through are all the better.
Have your house ready by summer, and in
the driest time you can get, haul enough sand
to cover we'll all the potatoes you hope to
make Place two or three inches of sand for
floor. Then put down basket of potatoes
and enough sand on them to cover them
then potatoes and sand enough to fill the
cracks, until the potatoes are all covered.
Then, lastly, put on sand, until the whole hill
is covered two or three inches with sand. Be
sure to have enough dry sand ready-it will
not do to put on that which is damp. Now
turn your hogs in to root the patch. When
we'll rooted, put on few cotton seed and
make your best wheat where the potatoes grew.
Then cut wheat, break we'll, plant in potatoes,
on ad Hbitum. I knew lady who kept po-
tatoes in hogshead in dry sand for two years.
Sand is the home of the potato.
OCCASIONAL.
Oxford Ga, April 4, 1878.
. >---.-
KEEPING POULTRY IN ORCHARDs.-This
is matter that should be practiced when pos
sible We believe that if farmers and fruit
raisers knew the benefit arising from such
management, they would at once adopt it.
Last fall we visited an orchard in which
fowls were kept, the owner of which told us
that before the fowls were confined in it, the