The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1886-05-14
Extravaganza of Farmers.


"lt is fashionable to Talk Of the extravaganza
among the farmers of this State. We imagine
1t would be difficult TO point out where the ex-
travagance is IL any people in the world live
close and hard the farmers do. Very few peo-
pie in other occupations would be satisfied with
the food, lodging and general living of the aver
age farmer, or with the amount of cash he han
dies during the year..
The above we extract from an editorial in the
Greenvile Daily Ners. 1t has very plausible
sound, and will, no doubt tickle the fancy of n
certain class of farmers who never apply the
&C onomical truth that "a penny saved is pen
ny earned, in their farm operations. But we
have no desire to tickle the fancy Of any one,
preferring to tell the plain uuvarnished truth to
our farmers; and while we do not presume to
tell them hoW TO farm we are not so blind rs to
be unable TO see, almost daily, wherein they are
extravagant In the first place, we see their
extravaganza in the large quantitica of hay and
fertilizers they haul from the stores for which
they pay high prices in cash, or its equivalent
when they could produce the same articles on
their farms, if they would, and put the money
they cost into their pockets, to buy other neces-
saries, which they purchase on liens at extrava-
ksnt lien prices. That is one reason why farmers
in this region have to ''livc close ind hard
The last sentence in the above extract is easily
explained. Every other occupation but the
farmers demands ten hours good faithful work
for six days in the week, every week
in the year. Do farmers give that amount
of time in labor on their farms Ask any
farmer if he does, and he will tell you
that not one farmer in fifty gives over eight
months actual labor to his farm in year; many
of them not that. Would not every man of
every other occupation have to olive hard and
close and with poor food and lodging, and
handle but little cash, ifthey closed their stores
| or other places of busines and stopped work
four months in the year? What would become
| of the Grcenville Ne,rs if its able editor and his
printers only issued paper eight months in the
year? At the end Of the year, VIC think, our
respected friend and his employees would be as
| bare of cash and be living as "hard aud close
as the poor farmers he speaks Of.
Instead of making out imaginary cases and
comparisons, calculated TO create discomfort and
| envy among the farmers, we prefer telling them
Of their faults, rs they appear, and encouraging
| them to be equally as economical and constant in
compelled to be; fully assured that only in that
way will they ever be able to live easier and
better than they now do, and 'handle' more
actual cash during the year See resolutions
passed by tho Farmers Convention.
Not long ago we met farmer in to wn loading
his wagon with hay, and seeing another of his
wagons standing near, loaded with fertilizers, we
foo ;hariy Of vl,; ,rl,, l.,
his own hay and make most of his manure, to
which he gave us the laconic answer. I'm too
id lazy to do either. / wouldn't sow oats if
l could help it; it is so hard TO get any ono TO
cut them at n fair price; and the niggers are
like myself, too lazy to do anything but work
few weeks in the cotton field. After that crop
is made we all go fishing till cotton picking
time, and then we put the women aud children
to work" He has since confessed to us that
Zoe ~'ast os u nem u~ys iseortu cut und c0fu IL,
there was enough grass laying dead aud wasted
on his farm to feed his ten head of stock whole
year, if it had been saved; and he believed he
could make two hundred good two-horse loads
of frst-class compost manure, if he would en-
ploy the time and trouble to do il, "but," said
he, in language more forcible than Sunday-school
talk, "you can't get the niggers to work
this year for next years crop, and 1 can get
more manure out of one load of bought fertilizers
and one days hauling than l could out of a
months work in saving and gathering trash for
| O compost heap" That was his logic and idea
of economy. That mans manure and hay costs
him about $500 year, and he could save one
half of it-allowing literally for fertilizers to
put with his compost-by working one month
after the crops were laid by, or at odd times
when he could not work in the crops; but, as
he acknowledges, he sis too id lazy" and
| that's the reason why farmers don't handle more
cash than they do.s
| We are now getting to be an old man, and
have worked honestly for living since we were
thirteen years of age, but we have never found
the man who could idle away one-third of the
year and make q respectable support for him.
self and family. Such men are always poor
| and in debt.