The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1886-02-03
A Georgia Farmer.

|
9 independent-he is a fine type Of th
: young Southern farmer.
!, The earth is a gold mine" b
/, says, Ito any man that works it dill
f igently."
f 1t has certainly proved to be on
/, to Mr.. Rood. In seven years he ha
made over $4,000 in farming-no
= by speculating-for he has lost SO,
f 600 by that method. But by the pa
, tient tilling Of the earth, and the
. slow transmitting Of sunshine, rair
5 and sweat into corn and cotton. The
, story of his work is significant, anC
it may be improving, so here it is in
paragraphs coaxed from his OWL
lips.
My father said to me about seven
years ago, My son, I'm going to die,
and I leave $4,000 in honest debts
that you must pay In six weeks
he was dead and l took the planta.
ton in Stewart County on the Chatta-
hoochie River. I mortgaged the
place for $4,000 and went to work.
I darned my own socks and patched
my own clothes as they wore out.
When 1 went to Eufaula I put q bis
cult in my pocket, and when got to
town tied my horse to arack and
saved hotel bill. 1 ran plough
myself, leading the way for my
hands. At night I lit up the forge
and did my own blacksmithing, learns
ing as I went. l never left my farm
day and slept only six hours a
night
That must have brought sue
cess ?"
"Ofeazrse it did, as it would have
brought it in any other business.
In two years l 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 I will clear
over $500. 1 would not give any
man S. to guarantee me $4,000 a
year on my ten mule farm for the
next ten years. Farming is the
safest business a man can engage in
if he goes at it right 4
What are the rules by which yon
work ?"
''First, l raise my own provisions.
now have 1000 bushels of corn,
l,1O0 bushels of oats, 800 bushels of
peas and 400 gallons of syrup now
for sale. I raise much of my own
meat and would raise it all except
that my climate is too warm to cure
it. I never saw man who did not
raise his own corn that made money
or cotton. I never saw 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 cash ,ur-
plus. make my other crops carry
the farm.
Next to raising my own corn, l
count personal attention to business.
I SOW every bushel of oats myself,
because I never found hand that
could do it right. This fall worked
eleven hours day with three peck
basket on my arm and sowed oats
ahead of twelve plows until the ends
Of my fingers were bleeding. In
making syrup l got along with four
hours sleep in twenty-four, and the
result is perfect syrup. I superin-
tend every detail Of my farming as
this. Every back strap of my har-
ness has bag of moss sowed under
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 or piece of
broken skin on q mule since I've
been farming.
Next to personal supervision is
economy. Nothing is wasted on my
farm. l have 120 tons Of home
made 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 turned under and en-
riches the ground. 1t is small things
that make or ruin the farmer. My !
neighbors use two or three sets of
olowlines year-mine last me two !
Or three years. Every night I oil
every wagon on my place using cot
ON seed oil. Once a month / have f
every axle cleaned and the old oil l
.ubbed of: This saves my wagons.
Ny stock and crops are all protected {
he same way. The poorest house on t
ny place is the house l live in"
How about your labor ?' 7