The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1882-08-10
Agriculture and National Prosperity.

!" tho 5loWlnS crops than at the
present time. The supply of cereals in
INC country is small, meat of all kinds is
scarce and high, and almost for the first
time has there been necessity for i'm
porting potatoes, roots, and garden
vegetables. The coming harvest will
ind ample room in the now eniptv bins,
GRIPS, warehouses;, olevators, and cellars.
IL mas been remarked that the world is
ordinarily within less than year of
starvation, and that hunger can not wait.
we are nearer the realization Of this
Startlng statement than we have been
ior many years. We have more peoplo
10 iced than we ever had before, and
the number is constantly increasing.
ordinarily some articles OK food aro
plentiful and cheap, but at present cv
erythinB Is dear. Even corn meal, salt
pork, potatoes, and cured fish are hirh,
| PERSONS can not live cheaply if thcv de-
;; sire to. Every article that will help
| support life in man or the inferior ami
mails commands d good price, At pres
enG every one takes an interest in the
| reports of condition of crops and is de-
sirous of obtaining the latest informa-
! ton respecting them. There is anxiety
on every hand in respect to the weather
and the extent of the dauiago by storms
and by the attacks of insects. Dealers
, IN other articles than grain and provi-
, sions arc deeply Interested III the pro-
uuction Of these articles. they arc
careful to gain the fullest Information
possible about the prospect for crops in
every section OF the country before they
sell large bills of goods On credit. The
value of every day of Sunshine is care
fully estimated in a thousand counting
rooms. Inc damage inflicted by II severe
and long protractcd storm is calculated
in the same way. The worth of sun and
heat is fully appreciated,
A Larger proportion OF The inhabitants
OF this country are directly engaged in
agriculture than can be found in almost
any country in the world. In the
great markets where the commerce of
NIL nations center we exchange grain,
meat, cotton, and tobacco for manufac-
tured articles. If wo do not produce
them in abundance we have nothing with
which we can carry on foreign trade.
Our tariff laws, designed 10 build up do
mestlc manufacturers to supply local
consumption, have an injurious effect
on the manufacture Of articles for ex-
port. The prosperity Of nearly all our
manufactures depends on the pruduc-
tion of raw materials that can b6 work.
ed up. We make cotton cloth from lint
| produced from our own fields. Our ci-
| cars are from bome-g grown
tobacco. The whisky, alcohol, glucose,
ana starch we make for home corr
sumption and export arc prottuGGd from
corn. A shortage in the corn crop re-
| suits In the decline of the amount Of ar
ticles produced from it. We never i'm
port corn, and it is difficult to find q
| substitute for it in the articles wo aro
in the habit of manufacturing from it,
| The prosperity of our manufacturers
depends indirectly, as well as directly,
on the prosperity Of Our agriculture. A
largo proportion of our people depend
on the crops they raise for the means to
purchase manufactured goods of every
kind. They must restrict their con-
sumption to their ability 10 buy
and make payment with the
product of their fields. If crops
are SMALL only manufactured
ARTICLES OF necessity can DC purchased
by people living in tho country. If
they arc large, they can indulge in ar.
ticlcs that conduco to comfort or minis
ter to luxury. People In the country
adapt themselves TO their incomes bet.
ter than people who live in cities. Thcv
are moro secluded, and on that account
can get along better with poor furniture
and articles of clothing.
The prosperity of oil Our great trans
portation companies depends on our ac-
rioultnral prosperity. The largest pro-
| portion of our freight cars are built for
carrying grain, live stock, and dairF
| products. Many of our leading railroads
were constructed for the Transportation
OF farm products. Several of them
could not pay the ordinary running
expenses if they relied on passengef
traffic and the carrying Of Manufactured
goods for support. When crops are
| good the trains run Oh them are many
ana long. When crops arc poor the
reverse in both particulars is true.
What Is true of railroad TRANSPORTATION
is also true of steamboat and vessel
transportation. The latter, no less
than the former, were built for the most
part for carrying farm products and
farm supplies. AS the country becomes
older Its prosperity depends moro and
moro on agriculture. At one time q
large portion of our people were en-.
gagged in marketing the natural produc.
tlons OF the country. They killed wild
ANIMALS and sent their skins TO market.
They cut down forests that were not
I'''St " VI IIlitI HCy
washed surface gold out of gulohos, and
became rich chiefly through the opera
tions of nature. Many lived on the
product of the chase. They ate the flesh
OF wild animals and birds, and sold the
skins of the former. In many parts OF
the country civilized men produced the
articles they ate and wore in the same
way that savages did. Tho natural
products of the country supplied many
of the articles that in most parts of
the world are obtained only by continu-
Gus and persistent toll. On this account
many supported life by hunting and
fishing: At present it is necessary to
| plant in order to reap, to breed and
| feed cattle in order to have meat, to till
| the ground in order to have crops
| Times are prosperous or the reverse
according to the production of cultivat-
ed crops.-Chtc0go Times.
A bad ncghbOrhOod-~ Trar slated