The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-02-01

one Of your correspondents, Joe, OF River
side, thst we al ought to tell of our failures
ia farming, as well as our successes etc., to
serve as a beacon light to others. L am IF
his opinion. II we tell Of our failures an d
the causes Of them, We might enable some
other poor ploddiug farmer to steer clear of
where we made our mistake; and profit
thereby, without themselves having to pay
for the experiment. Experience is dear
school, and sometimes one has to pay dear
ly for single lesson. know that ha We,
and thought would tell somo causes ef
failures which have occurred in this section,
believing that these reverses the last three
years, have brought farmers TO a stand.
In the first place, we did not, last year,
plant early enough. But that could not
we'll be avoided, when tho spring was SO wet.
This year we hope will be different. L have
found that carly planted cotton, but not too
scon-for there are extremes in every
thing-is the best every time 1t yields
more good white cotton than the late planted
and not near so much yellow faulty cotton.
And it gives one q chance to get it picked
out, and chores done bet orc Christmas.
Another cause of the failure, was on iu-
suffici enoy of hoe hauds. We depended too
much on tickle day labor, and then could
not get it whom the crop needed it. That
gave tho grass q chance to get a start and
"choke'' the cotton, and when it was hoed,
1t was cut and ss,lsshsd and the roofs dug
out of the ground and left to scorch in the
parching sun for several days until the
plew could get around to put dirt to it, That
kind of work caused a quantity of it to die
out, and the grass being 50 large and we'll
rooted some OF the cotton was pulled up
with il, and so much cut up by tho hoe
hands, in order to make time; leaving on an
average only about n third ofa stand. L
do believe there were some fields with only
fifth of o stand on them. Aud then far
mers expected to make n full crop on lapd
with such stands. The cold wet spring drso
caused cotton to die out some, but The
greater cause.was in the working. Ii a far
mer could have hands TO put the crop in
early, they could have it hocd out early, be-
fore the grass gets large. But sometimes q
farmer is compelled 10 pick up day hands
here and there, TO hoe, for they cannot al
ways jget them for a whole year. They
want to "work about" go they can quit
work and run about whenever they get tired
without having lost time charged to them.
You may think
However much he may be lazy
You'll shame him to q sense of rcason. be-
fore he quits your chamber door
"Sir, you say, have you no feeling? Do
you mean to live by stealing?
Or by wsrk and honest dealing? Tell me,
tell me, l mplore:
Will you ever work for wages, Gs mankind
have done before?
Quoth the niger novermore.
,ol, ho ;nl I
planting smaller acreage Of cotton, and
then lift must be hoed by day labor it can
be hoed over earlier, and plowed oftener,
which will cause ]: to grow faster and put
on moro fruit and make rs much on the
smaller acreage, as on the larger, with less
expense and worry. | know | can make
more on fifteen acres of cotton per plow,
than can ON twenty, counting in the extra
labor it takes the extra five aorce, and the
buying of the corn that could bc made on
them, with halfthe work it takes to make
| the cotton, and then buying bacon the corn
would help to make. 1t would be better TO
| plant only ten acres in cotton to tho horse,
and raise corn. oats, roughness, molasscs and
peas, to help make pork enough and some
to spare. and only have to buy sugar and
coffee and have the cotton az reserve than to
plant twenty acres in cotton. aud make q
by February, and then take the half crop,
of cotton to buy corn and bacon, and bor-
row money to buy sugar and coffee and to
have the crop, worked.
As for our corn crop; that on the bottoms
was destroyed by the freshets, which no
enc could hep, but the upland corn was
neglected and lost, in order to get into the
| bottoms befors it was too late conse-
| quently, all was lost; and now the cry is
everywhere, "hard times
"Tis the sigh that is waited across the
troubled waves,
Tis the wall that is heard from the shore,
Tis dirga that is murmurcd upon the
lowly farm,
Oh, hard times, come again no more
l have found out another thing in re-
gard to farming, that might he Of benefi.
to others. That is, when one plants carly
| corn it will not do to put Off working it, but
1t should he worked rapidly. II will not
wait The earlier the variety, the earlier
and oftcner the work. One cause of the
| failure Of our upland corn was, that it was
not worked fast enough
Now what makes the times seem still har-
der to some, is the advance in the price of
| fertilizers, which will take n good many
hard earned dollars out CT their pockets, foe
they seem to think that they IN eht n, we'll
try TO live on corncOb soup in January, as
to try to make cotton crop without com
mercial fertilizers. 1t seems as if anoIhcr
trust has been formed. And il seems as
" the moncyed men have taken II spite at
the poor farmers, and are now rurlng all
the extra weight they can bring to hear
upon US. Not only are they trying 10
tighten tho screws on us, but also to put On
Jam nuts, TO prevent US, if pos .inle. from
Jarrlng them loose, so that we may DC able
to run Oft the single ones, | suppose they
'n'nk us only slaves; but the larger portion
of the farmers can say;
Though poverty daily looks in a. our doors,
We may be hungry, footsorc and ill.,
we can look the whole world in the face aud
say,
IL we're poor, we're gentlemen STILL"
Much rs we hate Trusts, we regret very
much that the price of guano wa, not raised
cut OF our reach last season, | would have
been much better off, for it dill not pay me
last year, nor any one else in this sectien.
am not writing this in oppJ si,on to the