The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1881-08-26
Small Farms in Mississippi.


We have frequently and earnest
IN advocated the adoption of the
system of small farms in this State
aud in this section of the South.
We are convinced that small farms
would do more toward influencing
immigration in this direction and
in advancing our prosperity. than
all other means at present employ
ed or that could be employed. The
New York Herald published an ar
tfcIe on this subject a few days age
which shows what sinai farms are
doing ter Mississippi. The Herald
says:
"Tweuty years ago the State OF
Mississippi, always famous for its
cotton yield, contained about forty
thousand plantations, averaging
three hundred and seventy acres
each; now she has nearly twice as
many, but the average size is only
half that OF 1860. The number OF
acres under cultivation is less than
in 1860, for scarcely any rough
land has been cleared and some
plantations have been injured by
broken levees, and yet the cotton
crop is about twice as large as it
was in the good old times. No bet
ter proof could be. wanted to es'
tablish the desirability of decreas-
ing the size of farms and increas.
Ing the number OF owners; but the
lesson should be learned elsewhere
as well as in the South. Whole
counties in the United States are
wretchedly poor because every
farmer il trying to handle a quar-
ter seetion'-one hundred aud sixty
acres-with only enough capital
and working force to properly till
quarter as much soil. A farmer
with two poor horses, two bad
plows, a boy or two or a hired
man, can get no more money out
of a hundred and sixty acres of
land than from forty, but year al
ter year he will try to do it aud
succeed only in getting poorer"
From the above it appears that
in Mississippi twice as much cot
ton is produced now as there was
twenty years ago, although there
are not as many acres under cul-
tivation. There are, however, twice
as many farms now as there was
then, which justifies the conclusion
that a small farm well cultivated
will produce twice as much, III pro
portion to its size, as large one
that isnot well cultivated. In this
and the adjoining States thousands
of acres are planted in cotton,
sugar, corn, aud other products,
which do not yield enough to pay
the expenses of planting, cultiva-
tion and harvesting. At the end
of the season the farmers discover
that they have made nothing. They
do not try TO discover the cause OF
their failure to make paying crops,
but continue the same plan year
after year. BY the hardest kind
of work they are barely able to
make both ends meet. The truth
is, they have not the capital aud
labor to cultivate their land as it
ought to be cultivated. They uu.
dertake too much with their limited
means, and the result is they ac-
complish little or nothing. They
would be great deal better off and
would get ahead in the world much
more rapidly ii they would sell all
the land they have which they eau
not properly care for. They can
not, however, reconcile themselves
to the idea of parting with any part
of their land. They do not seem
to realize that il they have only
capital enough to work one hun.
dred acres they can make more
money by cultivatlng that number
of acres than by attempting to cul-
tivate two hundred. They forget,
also, that by selling a portion of
their land, and in that way encour-
aging the settling up OF the conn
try, they increase the value OF the
portion they retain beyond what
their whole tract is now worth. As
long as they pursue their present
course they will never be able to
improve their circumstances. They
win work hard aud remain poor to
the end of their days. 1t is simply
waste of labor and money to half
farm land. The soil may be ever
80. rich, and yet 1t will not yield
abundantly If 1t is not properly
treated. 1t seems that the farmers
of Mississippi: are beginning to see
their mistake and to correct it.
We hope the planters and farmers
of this and other Southern States
will learn a lesson from what Is
taking place in Mississippi. Unless
they do, they may expect to be al
WAYS forced to mortgage their
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