The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-09-08
sMisfeMaMy.
Small Farms in Mississippi.

.--->--------~-----~--~-
Small Farms in Mississippi.
We have frequently and earnestly
advocated the adoption of the sys-
TEN of small farms in this State and
in this section of the South. We
are convinced that small farms
would do more towards influencing
immigration in this direction and
in advancing our prosperity than all
other means at present employed
or that could be employed. The
New York Herald published an ar
ticle on this subject few days ago
which shows what small farms are
doing for Mississippi. The Herald
says:
Twenty years ago the State of
Mississippi, always famous for it's
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 planta-
tions have been injured by broken
levees, and yet the cotton crop is
about as large as it was in the good
old times. No better proof could be
wanted to establish the desirability
of decreasing the size of farms aud
increasing 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 Is trying to handle "quar-
ter section"-one hundred and six
ty acres-with only enough capital
and working force to properly till a
quarter as much soil. A farmer
with two poor horses, two bad plows,
boy or two or q hired man, can
get no more money out of a hun
dred and sixty acres of land than
from forty, but year after year he
will try to do it and succeed only in
getting poorer"
From the above it appears that
in Mississippi twice as much cotton
is produced now as there was twen-
ty years ago, although there are not
as many acres under cultivation.
There are, however, twice as many
farms now as there was then, which
justifies the conclusion that a small
farm we'll cultivated will produce
twice as much, in proportion to its
size, as a large one that is well cul-
tivated. In this and the adjoining
States thousands of acres are plant
ed in cotton, sugar, corn, and other
products. which do not Yield enough
to pay the expenses of planting,
cultivation and harvesting. At the
end of the season the farmers dis
cover that they have made nothing.
They do not try to discover the
cause of their failure to make pay
ing crops, but continue the same
plan year after year. BY the hard
est kind of work they are barely
able TO make both ends meet. The
truth is, they have not the capital
and labor to cultivate their land as
it ought to be cultivated. They un.
dertake too much with their limited
means, and the result is they ac-
complish little or nothing. They
would be a great deal better off and
would get ahead in the world much
more rapidly if they would sell all
the land they have which they can
not properly care for. They cannot,
however reconcile themselves to
the idea of parting with any part of
their line. They do not seem to re-
alize that if they have only capital
enough to work one hundred acres
they can make more money by cul-
tivating that number of acres than
by attempting to cultivate two hun
dred. They forget, also, that by
selling portion of their land, and
in that way encouraging the settling
up of the country, they increase the
value of the portion they retain be
vond 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 will work hard and 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 so rich, and yet it will not yield
abundantly if it 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 lesson from what is taking
place in Mississippi. Unless they
10, they may expect to be always
forced to mortgage their growing
crops at ruinous rate Of interest.
N. 0. Times. ->F