The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-11-08
SMALL FARMS VS.. LARGE ONES.


The Southern people cultivate too
much land. Until they learn to draw
in their large fields and cultivate less
acreage, they can't hope even to be very
prosperous. Farmers cultivate hun
dreds of acres of poor worn out lands
in cotton and corn, when if they
would cultivate half the amount, and
work it more thoroughly, and manure
heavily, they could raise from one to
two bales of cotton per acre, where
they raise few hundred pounds now,
and gather three or four times much
corn per acre as they do under the old
9eginae.
The old system of farming which was
in vogue before the war WON'T do now.
They could clear lands then, had their
own corn and meat, and their laborers
worked six days i'll the week, while
they only halfway labor during five
days now. Cultivate less land, ma
nure more, raise your own provisions
Nv DOulc' lCttuy CCOIoiAlSJ tuu U1JS
whole country would be reviviljed.
The farmers would be able to buy
everything at cash prices, and be able
to control their own cotton crops,
which are now controlled by gang
of spectators, who reap the benefits
oftheir hard labor, while they liveRQv-
erty-stricken at home. We heard a
capitalist say the other day that twas
The man who bought the farmers cot
ton and specialized in futures who be-
came rich, while the farmer eEod out
a bare subsistence.
By adopting the plan Of cultivating
less land, he would be more likely to
raise everything at homeland by di-
viding his lands up into small tracts,
they would become more saleable and
invite purchasers.
A writer on this subject says: of
the owner of fifty acres draws out one
hundred loads of manure yearly, the
owner of twice that amount will hard
ly make more than one hundred and
fifty loads. Straw, and even hay, will
be sold instead of being fed on the
farm. Unless the large farmer resorts
to other .eXpedients, his lands will not
be as productive per acre as the man
who cultivates small area. The
whole tendency of American farming
is the cultivation of large areas"
There is no country in the world
that so rapidly recuperates after a
financial disaster or a series of wars /
as France. 1t has been the wonder l
of the world, how she could rise from t
adversely to prosperity-from poverty
to opulence in the shortest period of c
time. 1t can be traced, to some ex- a
tent, to the subdivision Of their lands O
very often a French farmer cultivat- C
ing less than one acre of land. France, o
with territory not much larger than a
the State of Texas, supports nearly n
40, 600, 900 of people-almost as large o
population as the whole United States.
She produces even enough beet sugar n
or her own consumption, while n
The sends large quantities of wine Al
md oil and other valuable products ;,
broad. We can say the same thing
bout Germany and some of our own
Eastern States-where they think 40 N
ores large quantity. Speaking IL
bout their prosperity, Mr.. w. J. Fow- W
er says: "Their prosperity has been X
he basis of much of the wealth of the
ountry, and in large degree has re- CT
ulted from the subdivision of the II,
oil"
Let the Southern people adopt the
anne policy-and with our splendid sd
Iimatic advantages, and superior fer vi
lily of soil, the South would expand III
nd grow to such vast proportions VI
lat the whole world would be envi-
us Of her mighty wealth and pros "
Gritty, ca