The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1885-12-23
N :. - -
QUESTIONS FOR FARMERS,
some inquiries Suggested by the Close OF
UN the Year.
Co,ytL o,,
(Southern Culttoator.)

(SoutherB CuitSyator.)
UP totbo present month the farmer
has been looking forward The con-
summation of his plans, the final out
come Of his labor and toll, in the shane
ofcouon, bales and other crops. have
Decn the objective points before him.
NOW, these oeasB TO be matters of ex-
pection aud become matters of fact.
Wo hope his Expectations have not
been too large and his crops too small {:
we trustthat,havins sown wisely, he
hasi'eaped bonntitully. But however,
wen nc has done, hc might have done
peter; farming has not reached per-
lection and retrospect NAV be very
=. useful. Let us go back together and
review the years work. Lookino ot
it now in the light of results, was Tonr
years work well planned? In tho
1lrst place was the work undertaken
proporlionate to your means: did Won
attempt to do more than YOU could
well manage; did you attempt to do
more than you could we'll MANAGE.
ana you have enough horse power to
work to best advantage: did you make
all thc substitution possible ofmachincs
ana horsepower in place of more
Costly human power; did you spread
out the manure you had over too
many acres; did YOU buy fertilizers
Jualciously and economically; did YOU
cultivate your land so as to save II
from washing, and is it in better condi-
tlon how than it was year ago: how
Is the balanccshcct between EXPENSE
and receipts?
Endcavor to answer these questions
in Il calm, candid spirit, lavinp aside
all concct and pride Of opinion. DO
not attribute to seasons what might
nave been prevented by foresight and
energy on your part. Ii is an old
tilck OF farmers to explain all failures
by laying them at the door Of bad
seasons. Difficulties occur in every
occupation; the successful man is he
who anticipates, provides for and over
comes them.
But TO our questions. Was your
work well planned: did you have
hxed plans or did you just work along
as weather and circumstances suggest
cd! To Illustrate: There are certain
Kinds OF work which can be done on
wet days and whcn the ground is too
wet to plow going to mill, hauling
manure, gathering litter, hauling wood
making composts, etc. Did YOU
always look ahead and arrange, SO
that any of these, which of necessity
must be done, were done and out of
the way when the time for blowing
came! When the period for planting
a crop drew nigh and preparation for
1t could not be deferred, did it find
you with composts in sacks o. barrels
already hauled out and distributed
l,E ola I,.,E En1,l L. 4
they were applied. or were Your teams
animal should have been hitchcd to q
plow? Had YOU studied out carefully
the best appliances and most expc-
dios method of putting out composts,
and was everything ready to do the
work rapidly and we'll? If your land
was rolling and the rows had to be run
on level, as they always should be,
had you established your lines of levels
or guides, or had the plownen some
times TO wait tor you to run one, and
If the hurry was very great, were the
rows run by guess and therefore i'm
perfectly; was the quantity of compost
to be applied to an acre decided on,
and were there ony arrangements to
guagc it? a most excellent plan is to
make II memorandum in advance of
all work to ,be,-done, adding thereto
anything THAT may be suggested by
daily Eobseryation aud experience.
Consillef'this Hist carefully and cstab-
lish the. ordec., in which tho. various
items are to be executed, and recast
the memorapdlm IaccoflinSlY. \ This
recasting should be done several times
in the course Of o year, as circum-
stances may unavoitlablv interfere and
ncccssitatc changes.
Was the work undertaken propor-
tionatc to your mcan3; did YOU haye
funds in hand (working capitaD suffi-
ccnt to pay for all the labor needed,
all the supplies, all the fertilizers, and
ali the implements which could bc
probably used, or did you have to
place Yourself at the mercy of mer-
chants and dealers and obligatc your
self to pay fifty to one hundred per
cent more for such things than they
could be had for cash? DO YOU think
you can make such large percentages
on money used in farming? 1t is
doubtful If there has been All average
of eight per cent. made by farmers
during the last ten years. Scarcely
any legitimate business pays more than
that If you did not have the necessa-
ry working capital 20 cultivate as much
as YOU did, it would have been safer,
1t would have been better to have
undertaken less. What profit and
pleasure is there In cultivating thirty
or forty or fifty more additional acres,
the whole yield of which, and more
too, must 90 to Mr.. Merchant2 AS
has been tersely and aptly said, you
simply make yourself the merchants
overseer over free Negroes, with a
guarantee that they shall make him so
many bales of cotton. Had you not
better save Yourself the worry and
vexation of spirit; had you not better
let your land rest and recupcrate! If
money can be borrowed at seven per
cent, with reasonable prospect Of
making ten per cent. on its use, one
might be justified in borrowing; but
how Is 1t when money is borrowed at
fifty per cent, with q very certain
prospect OF not making more than
eight or ten per cont with it? is 1t
not passing strange that year after