Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-11-06

mics of truth and just judgment to imperl
our future by blackening our record.
But let US examine little. Let US instl
tute brief comparison with some Others, and
see where and how we stand. And tirst
something as to our soil. 1t is demonstrable
1 think-although l have not time nor abili
ty to fully illustrate it-that an acre OF your
soil, selected almost anywhere in Chester
county, with proper. and judicious culture
can, in the course of reasonable time, be
made to produce as much in one year-and
crops as diversifed-as any other acre in any
other county in the United States-yes, in the
whole United States. I make this sweeping
assertion with full knowledge of its scope
and character. l except none According
to the early annals of the country, the hill;
and valleys where we now are, were, IN their
virgin, native state, unsurpassed in fertility
by any other portion of this vast continent
They literally teemed with the richness o1
their natural productions and productiveness
A bad and faulty system of culture, and reck'
less abuse of great natural blessings, by those
who have gone before US, has run them down
to their present impoverished appearance.
But the same constituent elements are still IN
the SOIL The same atmospheric influences are
regulated by the same laws, save such changes
as have been wrought by cutting down the
virgiH forests; the descendants of the same
race of people control events after having
been tried, and, trust, purified in the fire OF
adversely. And the present and future gen.
erations must restore this gifted land to its
original fertility. Can we-will we-do it
Indeed, by the experience of the past fourteen
years, think there can be no doubt that we
are already about it-making wonderful pro.
gress in that direction. discover conclusive
evidence Of it on all sides. ' '.
One of the greatest difficulties in the way
of our entering at once upon career of pro-
gressive agriculture, is to be found in the tact
that whilst our entire system Of agricultural
labor was changed by the emancipation OF the
freedmen, our plantation system and arrange
ments and ideas of agriculture remained the
same. You cannot conduct, profitably, a
plantation arranged for slave labor with the
same labor emsncipated. The two are wholly
inconsistent. ..... = ..1...,. b..
Not only has this trouble been in our way,
but the emancipation of our labor left all the
evils of the plantation system, with none OF
it's advantages 1t left our lands in large. un-
IF ;ft tracts-in itself great obstacle in
the way of agricultural development: Butt
am rejoiced to say that in the two preceding
decades, wonderful change has taken place,
in this regard, in our State. In 1850, there
we're 29,967 farms, or plantations, in South
Carolina, each averaging SAL acres. In 1860
there were 33,l71, averaging 4Ss acres-an
increase in the number, of 4,204, with de-
crease in the acreage of 53 acres. In 1870,
the number had increased to 81 ,8S9-nearly
doubled in the preceding twenty years-with
an acreage of only 233 acres And l have
no doubt the present decade will show'a still
greater increase in number, with proportion
ate diminution in the average of acres.
South Carolina, with an area of $4,000
square miles, and population of 705,6O6,
had, in 1870, as 1 have said, 81 1889 farms or
plantations, and of these there were but 1oS
under three acres in size 1926 of three
and under ten acres 9.146 Of ten and under
twenty acres; l6,4l5 Of twenty and under
fifty acres; S,l4S Of fifty and under one hum
dred acres 7,ll2 Of one hundred and under
FIVE hundred acres 465 of five hundred and
under one thousand acres; and as have
said, 81 Of one thousand acres and over.
There is but one other county in South Caro-
lima that approaches yours, and which is
that? Barnwell, which had twenty-four
farms of 1000 acres and over, and the others
range from ten acres down to one. Able
Vile, Greenville, Laurens and Newberry have
but one each of one thousand acres and over.
So that your county had larger number OF
large farms than any of her sister counties.
Let us see how Indiana stands, with pop
ulatiou of 1,6S0,000 and an area of $4,000
square miles, She had, in 1870, l6l ,2o9
FARMS against 81 ,SS9 in South Carolina, with
about the same area and half the population.
Of these 161, ,289 farms in Indiana, but seven
ty six were of one thousand acres and over !;
1865 were under three acres 1870 of three
and under ten acres; 1896 of ten and i'm.
der twenty acres; 55,S21 of twenty and un-
der fifty acres, and so on.
In all countries and in all ages, those States
have prospered and developed a material
wealth more abundautly, whose lands have
been sub-divided into small parcels. France
owes her wonderful recuperative powers-un-
surpassed by anything in American or modern
history-and her marvellous wealth and pros
perity to this one fact more than any
other England is no exception to the rule,
for whilst her lands are owned by few, they
are sub divided into small farms and leased to
tenants for almost indefinite periods, the land
lord receiving rent and retaining the fee sim.
pie title only Rome, in her palmiest and
most prosperous days, allowed an allotment
of but six acres to her agricultural citizen:
Ohio, one Of the most prosperous and
wealthy States in the Union, with an area of
but $4,000 square miles. $4,000 only more
than we have) has 1885, 1858 farms-only SO Of
one thousand acres and over; 55,2S6 of TWEEN.
ty acres and under fifty. She has 2,665,000
Of population, and sixty-six persons to the
square mile. Indiana has foSty.nine persons
to the square mile, and South Carolina has
but twenty. . 49,
I call attention to these facts to show the
importance of subdividing our lands into
smaller parcels for the purpose of diversifying
our industries farming rather than plant
ing-and for the additional purpose Of at
tracing to our midst desirable population.
But to recur to the acre of land. Let us
enquire what this acre of lands where we now
stand, can be made to produce. 1t may not
be inappropriate to this occasion, and may
be instructive, as we'll as suggestive, and in
support of my previous statement in that re-
gard shall keep my estimates below what
has been ascertained, by actual experiment, in
other but not remote localities.
First-It can be made to yield 100 bushels
of corn. OR. Parker, near Columbia, and
DR.. Norwood, near Cokesbury, are said to
have gathered over two hundred bushels from
one acre of highly improved and cultivated