Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-03-10
The MIssissIppi Valley Crop.

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The New Orleans papers are seriously
discussing the probable effect OF the
present inundation in the Mississippi Val
ley upon the coming crops in that
region. and the mes-DsmOcrat is de-
cidedly Of the opinion that if cotton
alone is relied on for the recuperation Of
the planters they will be sadly dissp-
pointed. 1t has heard, it says, a tradi-
ton that after the food of 1874 the
farmers followed up the waters step by
step as they receded, planted cotton in
the mud and raised q tremendous crop.
It does not put any confidence in this
story, however, since experience has
shown that cotton may be made, under
such circumstances, but it cannot be
relied on as q crop, because. as g general
rule, the Southern staple cannot be sue
cessfullY cultivated on lands which have
been overlooked during February, March
and April, and present indications are
that this year the waters viii not recede
before April or Nav.
Under these circumstances our New
Orleans contemporary is firmly con-
WINGED that /. would be suicidal for the
farmers Of the Mississippi Valley to rely
on cotton to bring them out of their diff
fculties this year 1t thinks that for
them, st any time, to pin their faith to
cotton alone is very poor wisdom, but
that now It Is shown BY peculiarly bitter
experience that a diversity Of crops is
their only sure guarantee against disas-
ter and want. Sole reliance on this one
article Of production has brought them
now to the very threshold Of the year
without a weeks supply Of bread or
meat, and literally in danger Of starva-
ton if charity is not freely extended.
This lesson, severe as il is, is certainly
a warning and may yet prove a bless
ing; for it must open the eyes Of the
planter to the danger Of the all-cotton
policy and to the necessity Of providing
against dependence in time of future
calamites. As our New Orleans con
temporary says:
Had the food not come, we should
have gone on in the old, old way, Dor
rowing money upon an unmade crop,
mOrtgaging the labor Of a year for mere
food The factors would have come for
ward as usual, and the weary, disheart-
ening routine would have been per.
petuated.
Nothing could be clearer than that We
are pursuing q senseless and imprOvident
system. We are devOting ourselves ex-
clusively to a single crop; stalking our
whole fortune on the hazard Of a single
die. If our cotton fields fails US, We
lose all. We depend upon it not only
for our income. for the money we are to
expend in improvements, in clothing and
educating our families, and in conduct
ing our future operations, but we depend
upon it for the very food which keeps
rs alive. This terrible visitation has
brought US face 10 face with the ugly
fact. Il has shown that the breaking OF
4 levee can reduce Us from seeming ati1u
EALE ~ tut A4DSA dD-ELA " cAAN NAAcAN jill
methods are shallow and misguided, and
that our prosperity may be collapsed al
the merest touch.
Our contemporary insists upon it thai
the people of the valley should moi
neglect a warning which is as vivid as
the handwriting Oh the wall, and that
they should defend themselves hereafter
more surely against the vicissitudes OF
fate. 1t thinks that, at least. this years
crop in the valley should be corn and
grain-bread and meat-sO that what
ever happens the people may escape hun
ger and run no risk of being forced to
sit starving in their homes awaiting the
distribution of aims either from the State
or Federal Governments. And it thinks
that If the great overflow of 1882 teaches
the wisdom of hereafter diversifying
crops, the farmers of that valley will live
to bless as benefaction what they now
bewail as a calamity.
The lesson thus so bitterly brought
home to the people of the Valley should
not be allowed to pass unimproved IN
| other sections. 1t needs no overflow,
drought or famine to prove the folly OF
trusting everything to cotton to the
neglect of the production of home sup
plies. There are many agencies hostile
to cotton constantly at work in all sec
tons where the plant is grown, and any
year may see some of them successful il
materially shortening, if not destroying
tAe crop. Should such a disaster come
at any time and find the farmers Of
Georgia, or elsewhere in the cotton belt
in the condition in which those Of the
Mississippi valley new are, great would
be the suffering which would ensue. Will
barns full of corn and smoke houses
full of meat, however, Southern planters
would always enjoy true independence,
free from all serious apprehension
of want in the event Of the failure OF
their favorite crop, while, in good years
the increase in prices consequent upon
diminished supply Of that crop, would
most probably prove equally as remune
rative as though the production had beer
greater. Southern farmers everywhere
then, can proftably heed the valuable
lesson TO be taught by the visitation from
which their brethren in the OVERLOOKED
valley of the Mississippi are now so ter
ribly suffering.
The case of the Western Union Tele
graph Company vs. Blanchard, WilliamI
& q rrf,inh rrnr dncidnd hu the S1nreml