Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-03-23
sOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
The Farmer. Of Middle Georgia

l0r information as 20 the c0ndlGlon OF
larmers, and the cause Of the bad con- {
aition. and the remedy for the benefit
Of this class, who are the support of
the whole country, think 1t not only
q privilege, but a duty all Of us owe,
to give our views, and see II we can
by any means be instrumental In ad-
vancing the interest Of our entire
country.
Nearly all correspondents touch the
same line as the cause of financial em-
barrassment, which has been too much
Of desire to make large cotton crops,
to the exclusion Of all other crops. l
saw great many of the farmers In
Middle Georgia, who said that they
were fully satiied. they were making
cotton for s cents, which cost them 10
or ~ cents to make. In addition, they
were buying corn at 81 per bushel,
when they can make it for 90 cents, Gas
they say), and one man in Hancock
County told me his corn never for
ten years mad cost him over 25 cents
per bushel, made at home. Where corn
can be made at so low rate, it is very |
clear that hogs, horses and cattle can |
be raised at corresponding low prices,
and especially is this true of Middle
Georgia, where they have thousands OF
acres of Bermuda grass, which yields
hay in such quantities, that they are
willing to sell for % cents per cut, In
the field. Now, in addition to all these
advantages, they are surrounded with
the greatest amount of labor which Is
now employed at SO to So per month,
the year round. The lands are cheap
in price. as much Of it is not able to be
sold for S. per acre. Besides the grass,
the lands are well adapted to oats, rye,
wheat, barley and peas, the last OF
which is a great benefit to the land. as
the lower part is made from the air.
Potatoes are grown in all the perfec-
tion that is possible, and the apple and
peach hangs in profusion to feed both
people and stock, If the owner will only
give them One-tenth the care he does
his cotton fields.
Now, / say the farmers of no Sec
ton of the whole world are in a bet
ter fix to make money than our people
If they would only make proper use
of the advantages by which they are
surrounded.
Let every man set his determination
to make on his farm-meat, corn,
wheat, raise his own stock OF horses
and cattle, and stop this eternal buy
ing of what he can raise at home, and
soon we will find ourselves released
from the thraldom of debts and mort
cages. This state of things, had II
been begun twenty-three years ago,
would have had the effect OF keeping
out the foreign capital which now has
laid hold on the lands of our Georgia
farms, and which has ruined so many
of our people.
To illustrate my argument, l viii
mention one farmer in Wilkes County
who cut from 400 to 500 tons of Ber
muda hay, and who raises corn, wheat
rye, oats, peas, etc, in great abun
dance, as we'll as meat; sells butter
has horses and cattle for sale, and al
WAYS has cash on hand to lend hi
brother cotton makers. l saw severa
others like him, but they are men VIII
are exceptions; the reverse is the rule
The negroes are also greatly tn
sufferers from our present system 0
farming, for it forces them to pa
high prices for such things as the
might be induced to raise themselves
They are initiative, and I have hear
various ones say they would prefer t
raise their own provisions, ETC., bu
they were following the example {
the whites. The Farmers Alliance
the Grange, nor any thing else wi
never bring prosperity to our poverty
/ stricken people until they change thei
, present system of farming.
The labor system is also In ba
; state. Too many idlers and too fe
workers. The rule of all hands stol
; ping.o on Saturdays to go to towns an
4 villages. leaving the crops in the gras
r Is ruinous in the extreme.
: Another very sad error made b
q many of our best men, is that the
Y read but little on the score of farming
D They laugh at book farmer, and ca
8 him a fool, yet they employ Doc
doctors, lawyers, preachers and polit
: clans.
d Another evil arises from too lit
: time being spent on the farm in wor
d which should be done in proper tim
g MANY men in Middle Georgia hav
adopted the plan of planting their col
on land which was the year before
cotton, and planting without any brea
!. Ing up. They run of the corn rows
cotton middles, put two burrows arour
d the corn, and even as late as last
# June many of them have the middl
: of their corn unbrolzen. This is ce
il tainly poor farming, and Mr.. Prim
+ Jones, nor any other intensive ma
II would ever expect to succeed by
o They try to fool God-by pretending
s have DONE, when in reality they ha'
70 not done a single lick properly.
II The young men Of the country ha
n with one accord almost abandoned Il
l. country, and run of to town. to cler
is read law or medicine. Many girls d
,r clare they will not marry a farme
RI and this has run a large number of Il
]. young men OF, in order to get Marie
D I am seriously in doubt If the til
e that is spent by the laborers OF Il
e State was counted up If over one-thi
h Of the days in the year-are worked