The Osceola times., 1882-11-25
Hard TiHics.

We clip the following for the BEN
eft of our farmer friends of this
county, to whom it applies with
equal force. II is from a corrcspon-
dent of The Baiesyille Pilot, who dis
cusses the subject of Hard Times
in the following manner;
How much longer are we to hear
the croakiug of our people, and es-
pecially the farmers! Hard times,
hard times has become a stereo-
typed phrase. Let us inquire Cor
moment if it is true, If this everlast-
ing croaking is justified by the actu-
al facts in the ease, and if true, who
is to blame for the condition Of af-
fairs. We boast, and Justly, Of hav-
ing the best agricultural and horti-
cultural soil and climate in the Uni
ON. y greater variety reproductions
can he grown here than in any state
in the government, and the same can
be produced with as little labor as
any where else. A ready market is
here found for any and everything
tina, is grown, and fair price is al
ways paid for all kinds Of produce.
Why is it then that we continually
hear the cry of hard times" We are
told that the corn crop this year is
excellent, and yet we are paying 60
cents a bushel for corn meal, and it
is scarce at that. Every pound Of
cotton seed finds ready market at
a big price, and potatoes are worth
- cents TO a dollar a bushel. Chick
ems and eggs scarcer than gold. Flour
and bacon comes from st. Louis, and
still we cry hard timesy'
One thing is evident; it is not the
fault of the country, the climate, the
soil or the seasons. The fault must
be in the people themselves. In the
first place the farmers of this country
don't manage; if they worked as
hard and stuck as close to business
as the mechanics, merchants and
those in the other professions have
to do, they would raise more than
they would know what to do with.
In the second place the farmers don't
take care of what they do raise, and
have. How many farmers in this
country have barns in which to stow
away their wheat straw, hay, fodder
and other provender, and to furnish
warm comfortable shelter for stock
during the winter? How many of
them have even dry. comfortable
shelter under which their wives and
daughters can milk the cows? You
will more likely see them pour the
cotton seed on the ground, and their
women folks wading around in the
mud and filth to do the milking.
How many loads of manure do YOU
suppose are hauled out and applied
to the crops at planting? Or we
might with more propriety ask how
many farmers build their lots and
stables with view to saving manure
and making fertilizers for their lands
You will more likely find them in
some hollow, or ON hill side, where
the only cleaning up they ever get is
when a big rain falls and washes the
manure all away. How many farm
ers at the end Of the season careful
ly gather up all their farming tools,
machinery ETC., and after cleaning,
oiling etc, stow them away in a dry
place, ready for use the next spring
One acre of land we'll manured
will produce as much as three poor
ones, besides the saving of labor in
cultivation. One ton of straw or hay
carefully housed, salted and fed to
stock in a sheltered place, will do as
: much good as three tons thrown out
in the rain and the snow and tramp
ed under foot. One COW kept warm
and clean and kindly treated will
produce as much milk and butter, as
two or three do when treated in the
ordinary way. One agricultural I'M
plement when kept in the dry and
taken care of will last twice as long
as one left in the field all winter.
"a penny saved is two pence clear" "
Wake up farmers! Save what you
make, and stop this everlasting cry
of hard times.'r