The Dawson journal., 1886-01-07
A STEW Art COUNTY FAR
NTER
Who Finds the Earth Gold Mine
His Experience.

farmer. Thin-browned, all fiber,
slow but easy of motion, self-re-
liant and independent-he Is a
fine type of the young southern
farmer.
"The earth is a gold mine," he
says, "to any man that works il
diligently"
1t has certainly proved to be
one to Mr.. Rood. In seven years
he has made over $4,000 in farm.
ing not by speculatiug =for he
has lost $4,000 by that method
But by the patient tilling of the
earth, and the slow trans hitting
of sunshine, rain and sweat into
corn and cotton. The story Of
his work is significant, and it may
be improving, SO here it is in par
agraphs, coaxed from his own
lips.
"N1y father said to me, about
seven yeals ago, My son, I'm
going to die, and | leave $4,000 in
honest debts that you must pay
In six weeks he was dead, and !
took the plantation in Stewart
county on the Chattahoochee
river. | mortgaged the place for
$4,000 and went to work. The
first lesson I learned was econo-
my. l darned my own socks and
patched my clothes as they wore
out. When | went to Eufaula 7
put a biscuit in my pocket, and
when | got to town tied my horse
% rack, and saved hotel bill. /
ran a plough myself, leading the
way for my hands. AT night I lit
up the forge and did my own
blacksmithing, learaing as I went.
1 never left my farm a day, and
slept only six honrs a night"
"That must have brought sue
cess p
eof course il did, as it would
have brought it in any other busi-
ness. In two years | had paid
my debt and had money in bank.
l have made in actual money over
$4,000. This is my poorest year,
and yet will clear over $500.
I would not give any man FIVE
dollars to guarantee me $1,000 a
year on my ten mule farm for the
next ten years. Farming is the
safest business q man can engage
in, if he goes at it right
"What are the rules by which
you work p
"First, I raise my own provis-
ions. / now have 1000 bushels
of corn, 1000 bushels of oats, 800
bushels of peas and 400 gallons Of
syrup now for sale. l raise much
of my own meat and would raise
it all except that my climate is too
warm to cure it in. I never saw
a man who did not raise his own
corn that made money on cotton.
/ never saw a corn raiser that
wasn't a prosperous farmer. You
can often figure out that you can
buy corn cheaper than you can
raise it-but that is only on paper.
Corn-raisers prosper-the others
fail. My cotton crop is always a
cash surplus. | maks my other
crops carry the farm"
"Next to raising my own corn,
/ court personal attention to my
business. / SOW every bushel Of
oats myself, because I never found
hand thet -.ould do it RIGHT,
This fall | worked eleven hours q
day with a three peck basket or
my arm and sowed oats ahead OF
twelve plows, till the ends OF my
fingers were bleeding. In mak.
ing syrup [ got along with -four
hours Of sleep in twenty-four, and
the result is perfect syrup.
superintend every detail of my
farming. Every back stFar
of my harness has bag ol
moss sewed under the leather tc
protect the mules back. Thread
wouldn't do for tlat sort of sew.
ing, as it would rot. Iron wire
wouldn't, for it would rust. Sc
every pad is sewed with coppel
wire. I never had scald back OF
a piece Of broken skin ON muIt
since I've been farming.
Nat l., ,,o,.eo,,ol o,,,,,,,,,;,; :,