The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-02-27
GA" and "B, as Farmers.

Many people attribute success or its
opposite, to good luck or bad luck; but,
after watching and scanning closely the
actions Of people, we have come to tho
conclusion that, in general, people are
the authors of their luck. Take, for in.
stance, two farmers, whom we will call
A and B. After A has gathered all his
crop he begins preparation for another.
he clears his ground of sprouts and
bushes, fixes his fences and water-gaps,
and if he breaks his land before Christ
mas, it is work that will be well reward
ed. After B has gathered his crop,
which is very easily done, he sees moth
ing at all to do. II seems to him long
time before he need do any more work.
He goes to every public place within his
reach, generally without any business at
all. He will ride eight or ten miles to a
cash sale, as though he designed to buy
at least thousand dollars worth, when
at the same time he has not q cent. He
does no work of any sort until after
Christmas. He cuts few brush and
throws them on some of the lowest pan
nels of his fence; half breaks his land,
and gets ready (?) to plant. A begins to
plant calmly and carefully; sees that his
rows are laid off right, and the seed de-
posted at the right distance, and is very
careful to have the seed well covered.
B commences planting in hurry. All
is hustle aud hurry; he little cares
whether his rows are laid off uniformly
and of the right width or not; he would
as soon lay them up and down the hill
as on the level. He cares but little how
his seed are dropped, and fully as little
how they are covered. A generally re-
ports to his neighbors that he has very
good stand Of corn, cotton and every
thing lie plants. B never was known, by
the Oldest, To have good stand of any
thing. Sometimes his corn comes up as
thickly as bis cotton ought to, and his
cotton so thick that he does not get it
thinned till dog-days; but this is not a
good stand. As soon as AS seed are
we'll up, he begins work in real earnest
losing as little time as possible. B is
afraid to work his young corn and cotton
too soon, as it may make late frost kill
them, or else it may injure the tender
roots. So he hunts, fishes, and frolicks
about till his fields look like bolt of
green silk from center to circumference
A begins working over the second time
while his crop is yet clean, aud works as
diligently as he did the first time. B is
now in great hurry to get over the first
time. He always says it is the worst
spring to tend crop he ever saw. He
gets over; but he has just about thinned
the grass and weeds enough to make them
grow and do we'll. A keeps on and loses
no time. If the ground is dry, he
ploughs on if it is too wet, he spends
his time in pulling weeds, bushes, grass,
or anything else that is doing an injury.
The ground soon becomes too dry and
hard for B to plough. He says it will
kill corn and cotton to plough them when
the ground is SO dry and hot. So he
takes his gun or fishing pole, or both,
and sometimes spends almost week
sauntering and idling about. When it
rains, B thinks the ground will be too
wet for several days, and goes out fishing
or hunting again. When ne begins to
plough the grass chokes him up. He
says it outgrows any grass he ever saw.
A works at his ease and keeps his farm
clean. B throws away several acres
which he had planted, laying all the
blame on the difficult season to till the
ground. A lays by clean and nice, and
in the meantime keeps sharp lookout
around his fences. B lays by very
grassy; says the grass will keep the corn
ceol, and that when the cotton opens
there ought to be grass to keep the rain
from beating the dirt on the cotton for
fear the sample might be injured. He
pays NO attention to his fences, but idles
about till stock gets into his fields and
almost eat up what little he has, made.
A gathers, as general thing, a tolerably
good crop, whether the season is wet or
dry. B never gathers a good crop, no
matter what the season may have been.
-HartaceN Sun.