The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-02-23
Thoughts for the Month.
TBy ". l.. JoneS.]

10y ". "a SOucS.l
Tn CIR last we s,rged a curtailment Of
money crops, especially cotton, because
it called for too much labor. 1t is plain
lily our policy to cultivate those crops
which require the least labor. not such
:as demand the most. Under existing
circumstances the vast amount Of labor
involved is the weak point, the great
defect Of cotton crop. The mere pick
ing Of a bale of cotton costs at least a
sixth Of what the bale will bring at
present prices. The cotton crop is one
of all others least adapted to the extern
>sise system Of farming: under the op.
positc and intensive system, where the
yield becomes large rs compared with
the labor Of production, there is some
margin of profit; under the former,
where labor reaches it's maximum and
the yield it's minimum, there is scarcely
possibility Of profits.
The matter might as we'll be looked
squareiy in the face !; u great many Of
our people are going down swiftly to
financial ruin, and it is time to call a
halt. There must be u change in our
farm economy \ Mind man can see the
necessity. If q merchant has a mort
gage OH your farm and refuses to give
further credit anless you plant cotton,
let him take the farm +; it is only a qucs-
tion Of time he will get it in the end
any way. Better start to farm again, with
no burden to carry. a one-horse farm
can be rented very cheaply, and an in
dustrious, thrifty, saving man can very
soon make enough to buy such Il farm.
If not so badly involved in debt as to
require a giving up Of all your land,
sell n part, reduce stock, start out on
the intensive plan and resolve to live at
home and buy as little as possible.
This is no new thing we arc urging.
Before the war this vas the prevailing
practice Of the country. Provisions
were raised at home, and farmers
grew rich every year. The South was
wealthy then, but the war reduced us to
poverty and we made the mistake of
OF trying to get rich again too fast. We
became practically spectators. risking
everything on the venture Of large cot
ton crops and, like other spectators,
while a few have made money, the
great majority have lost it. The war
left most farmers with their lands I'M
encountered how many are free from,
mortgages to-day? Mercantile centres
have b, lit up and grown
rich {: how is it with the farms? Guano
factories. and oil mills, and railroads
have sprung up on every hand :; som.-
body makes money in supplying farm
ers with what they buy and in trans.
porting what they consume. Somebody
manages TO gobble up about all they
make, aud without equivalent returns
Tor the gobblers have gotten rich and
the farmers, to say the least, have KEEP,
poor.
Now, d" not let US stop with thi.
WV eSpcDu our wrath uUOI
the gobblers. The fault is at the far
n'er's owa door. lie has placed him.
self at the morcy Of the sobblcrs. by
pursuing wrong methods and practicine
u poor farm economy. He gave the
middlemen the advantage and they took
't-had he been in their pl,ce he would
probably have done the lam What is
more, they will continue to take the
advantage just as long as he continues
TO give them the chance. The way Of
escape is simple and easy. Contract
the scale Of business raise and make
at home what you need rs far as
practicable buy very little keep out OF
debt. If you have not money to buv q
thing, 10 without it; despisc not the
day Of small things, and ever remember
that everything Of real value grows
slowly and steadily-the mushroom
springs up in a night-the oak REQUIRES
centuries.