Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1881-04-21
Guano, Corn and Cotton !.

Guano, Corn and Cotton. s..
Msssr.. Eaiso,s:--Ths question, ..Doss Il pay
to ase guano, and TO raise cotton 10 the srciu-
sion Of other farm PRODUCTS" has been dts
oassed for a long Time, aud no dehuite oonclu-
sion has been reached. do NOS propose 10 40
into detail and dscuss the above fully, for Il
would taks up too rnuoh Of your spaoe.. win
only give you few genera, relnnrks oi, tx {
Our farmers from year to yeat arc using
moro and more gusno. snd rais,ug more cotton
and loss corn, wheat &e., makius Il appear
that gusno docs pay, but I, am by no. tueans
convinced Of this fact More cotton, II tho
seasons are good, will be made this year than
has ever been made .bsfore Every laborsr aud
every horse is busy aud there Is o demaud for
more. Our farmers seem to be Of the opinion,
that guano is manufactured solely for cotton.
and they use Il, at least very little Of 1t under
anything else.
Col. r. 4. Mason, our boss guauo agent, In.
forms us that he has sold At Westminster, up
TO the ! lth instant, one hundred and seventy
hve tous Of gnano, and that the other agents
there have sold at least two hundred aud thirty
tons Seneca City sells moro guano by several
hundred tons than Westminster. Tahng ihe
above as basis, do not thinh, that mako an
over estimate, whom state that two thousand
and fve hundred tons will be sold In Ooouee for
Sl. II will require two thousand add, FIVE
hundred bales Of cotton. averaging four hun
dfed and fifty pounds, o. ten cents per pound.
10 settle that little guauo account, which foots
up the nice little sum OF ono hundred and
twelve thousand Ave hundred dollars. This
amount Of indebtedness resls upon the shoul-
ders OF our farmers before they put their seed
into the ground. They begin each years jour.
ney loaded down with heavy debt, aud it is
increased aL every turn.
Raising corn and wheat for sale, or even
homo consumption. is numbered with The things
OF the past. Naturally, we have to buy all OF
our supplies. Our corn and wheat come from
the West and Northwest. and so does our bacon.
our plows, hoes, and in fact everything that VIC
use hove TO be imported.
In the fall our guano money goes to Charles
ton, Richmond, and other places, and the rest
OF our money falls glimmering TO the face Of
the earth, 10 pey for oE other wants Like
the ghost In Hamlet; ."Tis here"-"'Ts here"
-"Tis gone," and We find ourselves aett high,
aud dry, ready to go into debt for Tho same
commodities and 10 come out OF the end of the
following year still worse off. Corn, wheat,
oats, and part Of our bacon, II not oil, must
be raised at home, If we desire to make farm.
ing profitable. There is no man under the sun
that can make money by farming and pny the
heavy percentage consequent upon the pnr-
chasing Of his supplies. The corn that we buy
comes from the West and Northwest where It is
worth about twenty 6ve cents per bushel, first
cost, and to day, in Oconee the same corn is
secured here and sold for from one dollar ten
to one dollar and twenty Ave cents per bushe
making profit on first cost Of about four hun
hred per cent. The merchant. too, must have
his turn price, md to save himself from loss
must add on 10 his regular oash price, about
thirty per cent, II not moro and such is the
case with everything that we have to buy on
time.
Will. cotton at nine or ten cents, and in the
face Of the above, do not see how we can
contend that IL pays to use guano; to raisc cot.
ton exclusively; that we may pay from seventy
five to two hundred per cent on all NO pur-
chase. Some farmers tell me that they ore in
debt and that they are compelled tc raise cotton
in order that they may pay their debts and
meet their current expenses. Just ,ct them
look back over the past four years. md they
will find that they have been going oil tho tine
from bad 10 worse. Farmers in this ion
cannot Immediately mako radical change AMI
go back to The old profitable way Of farm
ing but they will have to do so by degrees, anl
the sooner they begin to inaugurat. reform,
the better. They have become 80 much in.
vol'ed that an immediate change would ruin
them financially.
There IL no two ways about It, VIC are com
PEELED TO manure our lands. but oan NO not do
IL In a cheaper aud moTe durable aay than bv
the Wholesale use Of fertilizer that ACTS upon
the soil like whiskey on the human system.
CuaDo stimulates and exotes, MS Il were, the
nervous system of the earth, and when its effects
die out, leaves the soil debiiitated. Cow lot.
stable and other manures of tho farm last for
years and keep the soil In healthy condition
by supplying those elements that Il actually
needs. The same amount invested In this way
is equal 10 three or four times the amount in.
vested In guanos.
II we canuot raise corn and wheat for mar
ket 1t certainly would pay most handsomely to
raise enough to supply the homo demand.
look around and what men do find making
money on their farmsf Why. those men that
raise their supplies principally q! home. A
few years post We shipped corn from this county
now We import it by the car load after car
load. Enough wheat, at the same timo was
raised for home consumption, now Itfs shipped
to us in quantities. Only short time since,
for merchant Of this place to sell either corn
or -four, more than they had taken in, in the
way of barter was unknown; now speculation