The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-20
Stock Raising.

Ous
With the return of autumn, .droyes
of horses and mules are pouring into
the cotton States. AS soon as the mar
keting of cotton fairly begins, and the
farmer is supposed to have some cash,
the wiley trader plies him with flaming
advertisements of fine stock How
long will our people pursue the policy
Of raising cotton to buy mules where
with to raise more cotton. Will they
never tire of this perpetual moving in
circle? It takes about four bales of
cotton to buy a good mule, does any
one believe, for moment, that it
would cost farmer half that amount
to raise one? If lot, why do our peo-
pie persist in raising cotton to buy
mules? Is it less trouble? Think of
the labor required to raise cotton-ne-
gro labor with all the irritations and
annoyances connected with it. Let
the difficulty of getting cotton picked.
the present season, bring this matter
home to our minds. Is it not our true
policy to reduce cotton to a strictly
surplus, money crop? Do not the in
creasing scarcity of labor, and both So
rial and political considerations urge a
o]-sala,nee of this course. Conceding-
pursuaaAalQr-Ker~B0yrr;I--f0sIrnas1
the superiority of cotton to other crops
as money crop in the Southern States,
why should it be raised in place of
other things that are of actual necessity
on the farm. Why compIicate the
owning of q mule with the uncertain.
ties and annoyances connected with
labor, with the fluctuations in value
consequent upon speculation in cotton,
with the risks of panics and disturb
ances IN the money market, with the
profits OF warehousemen, buyers, rail-
roads, wharf owners, shipowners and
the whole array of middlemen. Why
allow the farmers of Kentucky Or Illi-
nois to get profit out of the mule be-
fore he comes to you? Why allow the
railroads to put their hands into your
pockets for transporting him to you,
and the trader to gouge you still deeper
for the little work he does in bringing
him to your door. Consider how many
profits are taken out of the four bales
Of cotton and out of the mule, before
the latter reaches the farmer. Now, if
he raises the mule at home, how does
the matter stand? The mule can be
raised without the negro, no specula-
ton, no tightness in money market, no
profits of middlemen, or of railroads
intervene. The western farmer and
the trader get no profit out of him.
The farmer pays nothing butthe actual
cost of raising the mule. Is this so
great that it exceeds the first cost of the
mule to the Kentucky farmer, with all
the profits mentioned above added to
it? Does any one believe that? What
advantage has Kentucky or Illinois
farmer over Georgia farmer in raising
a mule? You say their lands are richer
and will grow better grain and grass.
Possibly so, but their lands cost 500 an
acre against $40 All acre in Georgia.
They may grow better blue grass than
we can in Georgia, but We can Offset
that with Bermuda, and our red clay
soils will not lag far behind in raising
clover. Texas blue grass bids fair in
Georgia to rival Kentucky blue grass
in Kentucky. Two years. trial of it,
in competition with orchard, red top,
tall meadow oat, and English blue
grass (festuca elator), on our station
ground at Athens, shows great aud
marked superiority to them all. It is
evidently plant of wonderful vigor in
our hot climate. The winters in Ken
lucky and Illinois are longer and colder
than ours, calling for more housing
and winter feeding of stock. Labor
costs more with them than with US.
In striking balance, the advantages
are with the cotton States, and it would
seem that nothing but the momentum
ofa long continued habit perpetuates
the folly of raising cotton to buy horses
and mules.
American Locomotive In the Holy Land