Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-01-21
as this. Every back strap of my har-

/ the leather to protect the mule 5 back
Thread wouldn't do for that sort o
sewing, az it would rot. Iron wire
wouldn't, for it would rust. So eve.
ry pad IS Eowed with copper wire.
never had scald bac!; or a piece O.
hroEen skin on mule siuce I've teer
farming.
Next to personal supervision Is
economy Nothing is wasted on my
farm. have l20 tons Of homemade
manure composied now, and one ton
OF contested manure is worth three
tons Of suano. Net q blade of grass
fs burned Oh my place. That, with
tbs refuse OF my sugar cane even, +,
turned under And enri:hes the ground.
II is small things that make or ruin
the i<rmer. Ny neighbors use two or
three sets Of plow lines year, mine
lasts ine two OF three years. Every
night ell every wagon on my place.
using cotton oil Every month have
every axle cleaned and the old oil rub
bed off. This saves my wagons. Ny
stock and crops are all protected TIE
same way. The poorest honse on my
place is the house / live in.
How about your labor"
Better than slavss. ] pay them
50 month, half in cash every Satur.
day night, one ration, and allow each
hand half acre .or potatoes and an
acre for corn, and give them every
Saturday afternoon. They work be-
cause they know | know it when thev
shirk. They began stealing from me.
| slept on the ground every night for
three weeks. | bagged three of the
thieves, and now am safe. When
they are well | make them work, and
when they are sick give them medi-
cine from my own hand. In short,
they know l watch them and they
work"
You find the life happy one
The freest, happiest, most indie
pendent life in the world. Ihave not
been sick day in eleven years. When
lie down | sleep. I ask no man any
odds. My broad acres are there and
they are exhaustless. The best bank
farmer can have is his land. Eve
ry dollar he puts there is safe and will
pay him interest and principal. Many
farmers sell their cotton seed. That
is robbing their land. I buy cotton
seed, for with acid phosphate and sta
bic manure it makes the best fertili-
zer. The farmer is the one indepen-
dent man"
Il cannot understand" Mr.. Rood
went on to say, why a young fellow
will stay in the city and clerk at a
small salary, with no future, when a
farmers life is open TO him. No man
could have had a much worse start
than l did. Now, in spite OF mark
els, weather, or anything else. 7 can
live a freemans life, with health.
open air exercise, and at the end OF
each year put from $500 to 5000
IN bank. This is not chance. 1t is
certainty. And there is nothing in
me except hard work, attention and
little common sense. II fifty young
clerks were to SO to Stewart county
to-day and farm just as do, each
one would reach the same result. It
is no experiment. 1t is the most GER
tain Of certain things"
And away the young farmer went
with gang Of friends who had called
for him. Why may net he prove to
De a type Why may not there fol-
low in his footsteps race Of young
farmers, sturdy and self,reliaut, with
smooth brows, clear eyes, and strong
arms Why may they not come to
the rescue OF our section from the
domination OF Western smokehouse
and cribs, and win for the South amid
their corn row q fuller and better ex-
perience than their fathers fought for
twenty-five years ago. There is plen,
" Of land and more to come. Mr..
Rood started with 1900 acres, which
he has already cut down to 200. He
contracts his arrabls land once every
year. Intensive farming" SAYS he.
is the policy OF the future. There Is
one war cry under which the South
can command the situation. That is
a bale to the acre, o. full co.ncribs. a
Dig compost heap ard home on the
farm ! Frankly. now. i,asn't this
broad-shouldered young farmer, with
his s:eel-like sinews. his uut-oub!ed
sleep, come nearer TO solving the pro-
oism than those OF Ia who, aiming al
ghttsring heights, are lighting and
stumbling along the uneven way
atlanta lGd.) ConstItt.tion