The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-02
Wednesday, April 2, 1884.
Men who hare Succeedcd-J. A. BIS
Theory and Practice.

Wednesday, April 2, 1884.
Men who hare Succeeded. A. b.
Theory and Practice.
The ex ,mpIe given in the last issue O
the Press and Banner vas an isolated
one, forcibly illustrating the necessity o
= careful comparison of the results of diff
ferent operations OH the farm under an,
given system, with reference to expense
and profit. 1t was a method Of success
consisting Of 4 wise discrimination il
adopting that line Of operating and class
of products, which would most surely
secure u return greater than the expense
or outlay, and hence involving the lea>'
possible risk. IF little was made, little
had been expended. Economy was the
principle on which success was assured,
md it very forcibly illustrates the fact
that no product Of the farm. known tc
the world, which requires hircd tabor to
bc engaged and employed about it from
the beginning to the end of the year vii
pay tho expense of its production rs g
staple crop ct normal prices. This is
sweeping statement, but the facts justify
It.
We give now an instance illustrating a
different method altogether, but one nc
less SUCCESS than the first. This was all
instance of great energy and persever'
ance, assisted by ample ineaus, and the
operations of the farm were conducted
under the personal supervision of one OF
the most experienced and attentive men
in the country. The lands were fertile
and we'll adapted to cotton, to which they
were mainly devoted. Cotton was the
crop. Stimulated By the high price ut
which it had been selling, additional
lands adjoining were rented, and q force
of thirty hands employed. Some money
had been made by the operations of pre-
vious wears, and now it was intended to
double the result ! the crop Of the year
amounted to one hundred and fifteen
bales of cotton, but unfortunately for the
proprietor the price declined to 81 cents
per pound, and it required me hundred
and twenty-five bales to pay the expense
of the years operations. This effort was
enough: the experiment WAS not repeat
cd. During the same year the proprietor
conducted a small farm, with a single
horse and one laborer under his own su-
pervision, the results of which were en-
tirely satisfactory. Following up the idea
suggested by this latter operation, he sold
O. rented his plantation, which was too
remote for his personal supervision, n
bought a small area OF about ninety acres,
as he said, just where he wanted it. His
theory was that he would rather have
land where he wanted it. without refer
ence to its quality, than to have the best
land in the State where he did not want
it, for in the former case he could make it
what he desired as to quality =; according
" the quality of that which he bought
gave him the best opportunities to exer-
else his skill. 1t was a thin, sandy, bar
rem soil, devoid of vegetable mould,
cleared and cultivated by the first settles
of this section, about the beginning of
the century. 1t was inst that quality OF
land on which we when a boy, liked to
hoe, where the cotton grew eight or ten
inches high with n bloom or two on the
top; too poor to produce grass, but here
and ther a maypop vine. W. could soon
finish our Saturdays task as we'll in pick-
ing as hoeing. The ex Experience Of tho
previous years operations with The large
plantation, and the one horse farm, re-
versed his method of procedure from the
extensive to the intensive. It was found
that labor like every other thingo Of value,
could he wasted, or used to no profit,
however actively employed; that 1t was
not the amount Of work done so much as
its quality, which yielded the proportion
ate result; not the number ofacres planted,
but the yield per acre. 1t WAS safer
to extend the area downward, rather than
horizontally. With such = purpose he
began operations on his contracted area,
deepening the preparation of every acre
Of land and fertilizing at a corresponding
rate. A judicious system Of rotation was
adopted, alternating between hoed or cul-
tivated crops and seeding down to grain.
The Improvement soon became manifest.
Land which before would not return the
grain soon upon it. and that produced of
far inferior quality, gradually improved
till 1t produced twenty-five bushels Of
wheat Of the first quality per acre, and
from sixty to ninety bushels of oats.
Under the same system the yield Of cot
ton, which had not relaxed its grasp on
the affections and tastes OF the proprietor,
was raised to a bale per acre, and an
equally satisfactory result from corn. A
system Of mixed h%usbandry.
The principle underlying the opera.
tons of this farm, though applied in a
different way from that of the first exam
pie given, is the same-the principle Of
economy. 1t is the principle which I'M
derlies all legitimate success. Nature
herself observes and enforces it. Her
treasures are yielded up only in conform
ity with this law her gold is powdered
Into invisibly small particles and min
gled with the dust, so that every dollar Of
1t yielded must exact its equivolent-a
dollars worth Of labor. Her coal depos-
its are placed edgewise and not broadside
to be shoveled up and wasted without al
equivalent in return: TIE products Of
her soil spring up to gladden. the heart Of
the ~husbandman only as a reward of his
diligence and honest labor; no fraud
can be practiced here no obtaining some
thing for nothing, nor can halfway meas
nres suffice. Crops are not grown profit
ably%y the mere planting, it is a provis-
ion OF nature in conformity with the Di-
vine decree that man shall eat his bread
by the sweat Of his brow. Applying this
same principle to the operations of the
farm, it is known that the product per
acre depends upon the conditions to which
the growing crop is subjected: 1t fol-
lows, therefore, that no greater area shonla
be embraced, thar that for which all the
conditions required for the development
OF the crop, can he secured.
According to the following practice. a
farmer having a giving amount Of re-
sources ut his command endeavors to see
how far he can spread them, and the re-
suit Is usually as thin rs the a of con-
centration in their application. a cart of
manure is amply sufi cient for a given
area, but II instead Of restricting it to the
proper area. it is applied to ten acres, it
had better been sold both it and the Ia
Dor Of application Is wasted.