The Louisiana Democrat., 1889-05-01
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
The Farmers of the South Must Re-
form.

sb0 ulVI ~ SJtS SOulNb NIuSS n0s
form.
What the farmers need is self-reli-
nnce. Since the war they have be-
come dependent on the farmers of the
West to feed them; the merchants to
run them; the money-lenders to sup
ply them with money; the fertilizer
factories to furnish them manures; tho
drovers to furnish them mules and
horses; and even Northern mechanics
to supply them with axe handles, in
short, every occupation supplies them
with all they have. How can the
farmers succeed and prosper under such
circumstances? The only wonder is
they have been able to retain their
farms and homes. This, most of them
have done, but what are their condi-
tions9 Merely hewers of wood and
drawers of water All such
must stop; a thorough reforma-
ton must take place, or serfdom is
their doom. How can reformation be
accomplished? Why merely by self
conviction. One must be convinced of
his errors from experience; he must
feel and know he is wrong, and when
so convinced in his own mind, then if
he has resolution, he will abandon
what he knows to be wrong, and take
a new line OF departure and rely on
himself, and adopt a system more
economical and practical.
The great error the farmers made
just after the war, was in trying to
farm for money. They overlooked the
first principles of farming, and that is,
to make farming successful; the farm
must be made self-supporting = all
those old methods were abandoned,
raising food crops and stocl1-and cot
ton became the only crop, to make up
all wants and DEFICIENCIES. The result
was, failure and poverty; and instead
OF going back to old methods and first
principles, cotton was held on to as
the only chance of making money. and
retrieving ones losses, and it only
made matters worse. This is, or should
be, lesson of conviction-learned
from bitter experience-and should
lead to reformation. It is practical
lesson that should appeal to ones
good sense, and convince, and no
sophistry can gainsay it, and the farm
er's only redemption is to go back to
diversified farming, which was the mode
of farming before the war, and make
the farm self-supporting. l never
abandoned old methods; never had the
cotton mania; made food crops my
special object, hence never incurred
debts. By this method l gained no no.
triety as a farmer, but have lived a
comfortable, easy life. My advice to
all farmers is to cut loose from Western
corn and meat, and raise it yourself;
cut loose from commercial fertilizers.
and make all the manures you can,
and run your farm as economically as
possible, and let expensive machinery
alone, until you can afford to buy such.
The work of reformation has been
begun with a few, and their examples
will have good effect on others,
especially with those who are maxim g
stock-raising a speciality, for stock in
sures grain and grass farms, and when
it comes to such farming, farms will
improve, and the agricultural outlook
will be more encouraging. Cotton
crops will never draw our young men
to the farms. But when they see
beautiful stock farms, and fine stock,
they will naturally be inclined to en-.
gage in such farming, for most persons
fancy fine stock, and like them; there
is diversity and pleasure in such farm
ing. With cotton, it is year in and
year out monotonous drudge, it is a
crop only adapted to slave labor, for il
makes slaves of all who make it a
special crop. Diversity our whole sys.
tenn of farming, and our sons will take
to farming, and give up town pursuits.
No one could blame them for choosing
the towns to the cotton fields. Make
farming interesting and they will come
back to the farms.-John III. Dent, in
Southern Gu ltivator.