The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-12-20


From The Southern Ctatitator and Dire F,,
- hoThy Masfer and Gentlemen of N,
urdm3e 1t Is to me matter of nv nv
small qualification to meet, in connsnl al
tue organized farmers of Wush;ng,or
county. 1t would be we'll | am sure IL !,
such organized associations as v,n n' h.r1 :.
Jhs' Jh 9eatd e described existed throughout
.he state, that our co operation po)icy
might encourage the best plans for sue
Cess upon the farm.
Why should not farmers meet 10 oo,.
Ter! Doctors meet to consult, lawvers
nave their bar associations, and ali on,
churches, looking to the success of the
principles they advocate, have their con.
lefences, synods, presbyteries, associations
ana conventions. And yet, strange n
say, the idea is somehow abroad thai far.
mers must not take the time, nor indeed
are they entitled to the privilege of such
Indulgence, nor the profits arising from
such an interchange of views. 1t is said
that Their cramped circumstances will
not justify their attendance upon arricul.
tural fairs and agricultural conyentions
Instituted, 1t may be, not simply for in.
struction and for profit. 1t is fact of
recent date that the farmers Of this State
were held up to public contempt by
prominent public journals, as tramps,
going about to devour the sustenance of
better men, and all forsooth because they
had appointed conference to be held at
the city of Albany looking only to the
development of the northumberland
of the State.
Popular opinion seems to demand that
the life of farmer shall be hard one.
Aside from all denial OF all indulgence
IN personal pleasure, it is expected that
the man who farms shall rise while il is
yet Dark, hurriedly eat his scanty meal,
and lie himself away to his fields as soon
as he can see 10 drive q furrow: bear
without complaint the burning sun and
the binding rain return Mt night. too
worn by the fatigue of the day to do
otherwise than seek his lowly cot, until
duty, stern duty, calls to the same hard
life again. Is it always to be 80? Shall
we stand still and see :ie intelligence,
the capability and the worth of the coun.
try drift away into the trades and into
the professions, and the farmers be for.
ever hewers of wood and drawers of wa
ter for other men? 4 life without attrac-
ton, without pleasures and without
profit, to end at last in defeat. Looking
back over the failures of the past, and
earnestly out into the prospect ahead of
US, would ask the farmers of Wash.
lngton this question, and without re-
sponse l would linger until the inquiry
had gone far out into the future, that I
might know if it is always to be 80.
Why in farming should there be more of
hardships, more of misfortunes and more
of defeat than in other professions?
am not here to taunt any man with
his failures: Having borne With you
the heat and burden of the day, am in
the fullest sympathy with all the failures
of the past. But am here to say that
the fault is not in our stars but in our.
selves that we are underlings.
shall not attempt to entertain you
to-day with finished address, to be
and adorned by the charming
graces of oratoty anu OF eioqucnee, but
plain farmer as am shall talk to you
in very plain way about the practical
things Of every dag home life.
That we have failed l presume no man
will attempt to deny; that we may sue
ceed shall to-day attempt to establish.
Here, I am sure, large number of far.
mers, resting upon the accumulated evil
dence Of the past, will take issue with me
having attempted task impossible in
he very nature OF our circumstances. I
I'm aware that failures have not come TO
my one man, single and alone, nor, in
Iced, 10 any one section at time. I
Know that they have been we'll nigh uni.
orm and almost universal. Landlords
1ave been made tenants upon their own
ields, the rich have become poor under
'ur system of farming, and hands that
never knew toll have hardened to labor
and blistered in the sun. Standing as |
10 in the presence of all this defeat, l
lhall undertake to say that success, splen.
lid success, is possible upon the farm,
and further, that the man who fails un.
Ter ordinary circumstances has nobody
to blame but himself.
Did you ever think about i,7 Farm
ing at the South since the war is aptly
illustrated by the efforts of the old free.
man, who bought all his corn and meal
and meat and manure in town, and at
the end of the year, surrendered all the
proceeds of his labor to pay his debts.
Humiliated and mortified at the result Of
his enterprise, he determined to make for
himself calculation about results.
After long effort at marking and count
ing was heard to say -"Naught is q
naught and nine is n figger, cotton for
the joanner man aud the seed for the
'nigger.'
Now where is the trouble2 Our prom.
inent cause Of failure is we make our
calculations after the expenditures of
our resources, instead of before. Every
farmer should keep an accurate, itemized
account of the expenses of each individ-
ual crop ne cultivatcs. Where this is
done it is the easiest possible matter to
determine what crops will pay and what
crops will not pay. To illustrate I will
submit to you the result of this practice
upon my own farm. 1 charged each crop
l made with the ront of the land and
every hours work it received. These
several amounts were charged as soon as
the work was done. DIy corn cost me
l6 cents per bushel, this | kept upon my
farm. Oats cost me 81 cents, sold them
for IS. Wheat cost me 81 cents, sold
it for $l.25. Cotton cost me o.. sold it
on an average for 81. Here learned a
valuable lesson-that there was no mon
ey for me in 8 large cotton crop. Since
then cotton has not been king upon my
farm, and it will not be restored to it's for.
mer prominence until We find more econ.
omical methods for its culture. Figures
accurately kept have demonstrated to me
that can do better with peas, corn,
wheat aud oats. I now cultivate only
enough cotton to ill in the time not oc'