The clarion., 1883-04-11
Stray Thoughts for the Farmer.

We are all working for money, and
the more we make, and the less work
required to secure it, the richer we be
come, and consequently the more plea,
sure and enjoyment there is in life.
An old adage tells us that "money
doesn't produce happiness" but
think the most of us can speak from
experience and say that the want of it
has frequently made US very misera-
bic. ! am not tiller of the soil, nor
the son of one, but | have a high re-
gard for man who handles the plow
and sows the grain, and if / can in any
way aid him in keeping his head
above water" or to save little some
thing for rainy day, it will give me
great pleasure to do so. My object in
writing this is to call your attention
to the fact that it is absolutely neces
sary for the farmers of this country to
turn their attention to raising some
thing else than cotton If they ever ex-
pect TO get out Of debt and make mon
ey' Every year you plant cotton and
expect to get a good price for it in the
fall and every year you are disappoin-
ted in getting it, and the better and
larger crop you make the lower the
price. You know this from experience
OF years, and what reason have you to
think it is going to be different this
year, or next, or the year after. 1t will
never change. You can rest assured Of
that, You say: "What shall | do; am
| to be slave the balance Of my liRe?"
No, sir ! Not by a good deal. The
richest men in the country commenced
life without five cents and have now
everything in the world they want,
aid are you any worse off than they
when they started out {? Not much !!
Then turn your attention to something
else besides cotton. Plant oats, plen-
ty otcorn, raise your hogs, your chick
ems, ducks, geese, sheep, cows; make
your milk and butter, drink it, its bet
ter than whiskey and more strength
ening than water, and you will have
better health and can do better days
work. Plant fruit trees. You can
sell all the fruit you raise and
don't have to get merchant to ad
vance you goods and take mort
gage on your peach crop to get along
while they are growing, and when you
bring them to sell, have him tell YOU
they are "onl y worth so much in st
Louis to-day, and we can't give but so
much" You can sell to whom you
please and when you please, and you
need not fear about selling them. If
you can't sell them at home you
can ship them to St. Louis and
Chicago in cars made especially for
that purrose and pass through Texar-
kama every day, and instead of them
laying over at different places on the
road they are carried through asquick
ly as though they were on passenger
train. Watermelons can be raised
here in immense numbers, and if sent
there early in the season will bring a
goodprice. But suppose you only get
five cents apiece for them; how many
can you raise on an acre? A thous-
and, at least, and that will be fifty
dollars. If you made a bale of cotton
to the acre (and you seldom do) YOU
can't get fifty dollars for that, and it
takes one year to grow it, while it only
requires few months for you to grow
melons, You need have no fears
about selling all the produce YOU can
raise, for there are 800, 900 people in
st. Louis alone to eat such things, and
there are men in Virginia who ship
thousands of dollars worth of vege-
tables and fruit te New York and
Philadelphia every year, and are max
ing fortunes at it, while you are work
ing for some merchant who holds d |
over your head and can sell
even the horse that ploughs in your
field if you fail to pay him in the fall. |
Don't sit down and wait for your
to commence raising onions,
CauoaSe, 1rish potatoes and such |
things to sell, but go at it right away. |
There is plenty of time for YOU to
make crop ofthem and sell them all
before your neighbors have begun to
get grass out of their cotton patch.
Think about these things. Think
about having the money in your pock-
cts for what you have raised in May.
June, July, August instead of fNovem.
ber, December, and January. You
can have it if you want to. Will ycuI
try, or will you go on as you have
done and have but little to eat and
wear, and no money only to pay your
merchant at the end Of the year? The
Commissioner of Agriculture. at
Washington, stated in one of his re.
ports on crops, that it was a question
Of but a few years for the sheriff to
sell out any farmer who would con.
tinue to plant nothing but staples.
You see merchants getting rich
every year. Why don't you You
don't see any one Of them growing rich
who does as you do, namely: Give