Louisiana capitolian., 1881-10-08
WHY PLANTING DOES NOT FAY.

not pay in the cotton States. lie say
before the war the cotton fields dur
ing picking time were clean of gras
and weeds, did not look like gras
~ pastures and hay fields; next whel
asked how many acres to the han,
we're cultivated, not planted, the an
swer would be from twenty to thirty
counting his hands women and chill.
dren not under fourteen years old
next you discover one half cotton
was planted, balance in corn, oats
and potatoes, peas in the corn, and
the corn field filed with peavines in
stead of weeds.
Compare now what the hand made
then with what is gathered at this
time, and what do we find Every
good farmer now living who planted
then, will tell you he made from five
to ten bales of cotton to the hand,
one hundred to two hundred bushels
of corn, and oats enough to feed all
the fall, saved not less than one thou
sand pounds offodder, ten bushels of
peas and over one hundred bushels
of potatoes, raised and killed five
hundred pounds of pork, besides
other necessaries for man and beast.
What do we find now9 Five to ten
acres planted to the hand none eul-
tivated) with but few exceptions,
one to one and q half bales of cotton,
five bushels of corn, five bushels OF
potatoes, and lots of grass to the
hand. In uncivilized, so-called, days
it was the custom to haul into the
horse and COW lots, and fill up pens
In wet times, with wood manure, and
trash; scrape up the lots in piles
commence to prepare land in Decem-
ter and January, generally plough
ing it twice before planting, manure
poor spots, and work from December
TO December, from sun up to sun
down, six days in the week; little
whisky drank come to town seldom;
went to church every Sunday, and
vas ready and rested for work Mon
day morning. Preachers were scarce,
good common sense sermons the rule, |
pure devotion and little sensational q
ism, no fanaticism, little suing, less s
crime, bat little litigation, plenty to '
eat and wear, stock well taken care q
'of, no mortgages, debts easily paid, 9
end money plenty at legal interest. C
The present method: No manure i,
raised. little stuff called fertilizer" j.
bought, which, like whisky, leaves ,
it's patient in worse tx after taking .,
than before, but little work from Oc-
tober until March, commences then to !,
plough with halffed stock, scrapes 6
over again, quits plowing in June, =,
curses the weather, stops work on s1
every Friday attwelve o'clock, comes =,
to town on every Saturday, drinks p
whisky, carouses until Monday morn l.
Ing, commences to work after din !:
ner and works until Friday noon. ,
The fieldsgrOw up in grass and weeds os
commences to pick cotton in August -,
mt OF the grass, finishes picking by e.
october by hiring help, corn eat up, he
few potatoes and plenty of grass 40
EFT: commences TO gather grass .,
'ut Of the cotton field in October,
lauls it to town to buy whisky and !,
little to eat, sells his cotton seed, :,
took nearly starved or dead, mort =.
ages close in the fall at one fourth :,
i cost, no meat, no corn, no money, :,
'ow is it not easy to see what is the
latter? Work is not commenced
oon enough and kept up constant ~
nougll, nomanure raised, five months ~
'st In commencement, land not put
order before planting, not cultiva-
ID after planting, only four days and ~, ~
half work done in one week, too o">
luch coming to town, too much ~,
'hisky drank, too much preaching, m -
20 little devotion, too much preach ~,
e, too littleness, too much waste
nd extravaganza.
The main evil is whisky; let ou7 Ifa'
tate stop the sale of it; landlords Ly'
I'll have to take greater control of ie"'
ielr farms. encouraging industry, "S
lltivate more land TO the hand, and 500
t the cultivation be better; raise JON
ore manure. sell no cotton saed oac