The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-03-10
A GEORGIA FARMER.

St VI mOlIOU, SSll iClie,AlV ain A--N>NfoN
dent he is fine type of the young
southern farmer.
s'rhe earth is gold mine" he says,
''to any man that works it diligently.
1t has certainly proved to be one
to AIr. Rood. In seven years he has
made over $40, ,0G0 in farming-not by
speculating-for he has lost $4,000
by that method. But by the patient
tilling of the earth, and the slow trans
mittiug 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 paragraphs,
coaxed from his own lips.
'sMy father said to me, about seven
years. ago, My son, I'm going to die,
and leave you $4,000 in honest debts
that YOU must pay" In six weeks he
was dead, and I took the plantation
in Stewart County on the Chattahoo-
chez river / mortgaged the place for
$4,000 and went to work. The first
lesson l learned was economy. l
darned my OWL socks and patched my
own clothes as they wore out When
I went to Eufaula put a biscuit in
my pocket, and when I got to town, t.
ed my horse to rack, and saved hotel
bill. ran plough myself, leading
the way for my hands. At night I lit
up the forge and did my own black
smithing, learning as I went. I never
left my farm day, and slept only SIX
hours & night
"That must have brought success?'
"Of course it did, as it would have
brought in ary other business In
two years I had paid my debt and had
money in bank. I have made in act
ual money over $4,000 This is my
poorest year, and yeti will clear over
$500. I would not give any man
FIVE dollars to guarantee NE $4,000 a
year on my ten mule farm for the next
ten years. Farming is the safest bus
mess man can engage in, if he goes
at it right.
"What are the rules by which you
work9?'
First, raise my own provision. 1
now have 1000 bushels of corn, LOO
bushels of oats, 800 bushels of peas
aud 400 gallons OF syrup now for sale.
! raise much of my own meat and
would raise it all except that my eli
mate is too warm to cure it. I never
saw man who did not raise his own
corn that made money on cotton. l
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 ralsers
prospcr-the others fail. Ny cotton
crop is always a cash surplus. l
make NY other crops carry the farm"
''Next to raising my own corn, l
count personal attention to my bust
ness. SOW every bushel of oats my
self, because I never found a band
that could do it right. This fall I
worked eleven hours day with three
peck basket on my arm and sowed
oats ahead OF twelve plows till the
ends of my fingers were bleeding. In
making syrup got along with four
hours of sleep in twenty-four, and the
result is perfect syrup. Isuperintend
every detail of my farming as this.
Every back strap of my harness has a
bag of moss sewed under the leather
to protect the mules back. Thread
wouldn't do for that sort of sewing, as
it would rot. Iron wire wouldn't for
it would rust. So every pad is sewed
with copper wire. I never had scald
back OF a piece Of broken skin on
mule since I've been farming.
"Next to personal supervision is
economy. Nothing is wasted on my
farm. I have 120 tons of homemade
manure composted now, and one ton
of composted manure is worth three
tons OF guano Not a blade of grass
is burned on my place. That with the
refuse of my sugar-cane even is turn
ed under and enriches the ground. It
is small things that make or ruin the
faraer. Ny neighbors use two or
three SETS of plow lines year-mine
last me two OF three years. Every
night I oil every wagon on my place,
using cotton oil. Once a month I
have every axle cleaned and the old
oil rubbed off This saves my wag-
ons. My stock and crops are all pro-
tected the same way. The poorest
house on my place is the house I live
in"
Glow about your labor?"
ssBetter than slaves I pay them 50
month, half in cash every Saturday
night, one ration and allow each hand
a half acre for potatoes and an acre
for corn and allow them every Satur-
day afternoon. They work because
they know I know it when they shirk.
They began stealing from me. slept
on the ground every night for three
weeks, bagged three of the thieves
and now I am safe. When they are