The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1892-10-20
MONTHLY TALK
WITH THE FARMERS.
BY-R. T. NESBITT,
COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE.

ent season will soon be known, and
Jhet1er satisfactory or the reverse, can
not now be changed. However this may
be, "a careful review of the years work,
noting and studying the causes, which
have led to either success or failure,
will gradually aid us in our preparations
for another season. By applying the
knowledge gained from our experience
OF the past year, we may be able to i'm
prove upon our successes, and even
CLEAN benefit from our mistakes.
THE FARMER, AS WELL AS OTHERS, MUST
STUDY TO SUCCEED.
In these busy, rushing days of rapid
transit, electric cars, telegraphs and tel
ephones, the farmer who would succeed
must avail himself of every opportu-
nifty. watch the markets, watch every
chance, and be willing to accept every
reliable guide which points him to better
methods. Many thinking farmers now
realize that
MILLIONS HAVE BEEN LOST TO THE SOUTH
by ignorance and carelessness, and many
are applying themselves heart, head and
hand to the task of redeeming of land
from the curse and the consequences of
the one-crop system-that gigantic mis-
take which has well nigh ruined us.
| They realize, too, that this is a progress
slve age, and that the unthinking. sloth-
full farmer will necessarily be left hope
lessly in the background. RELOCATING the
| political questions of the hour to the
rear, let us calmly survey
AGRICULTURAL SURROUNDINGS.
How many advantages we have of the
situation, soil and climate, and how
lightly, even indifferently, we have
valued them! That we have fol-
lowed mistaken agricultural methods,
these SCARED and worn hill
sides bear mute witness. That we
are confronted by the gravest agricuI-
tural problems, no thinking man will
deny.
Producing as we do rs per cent. OF the
worlds supply of cotton, and thus hold
ing in our grasp the key to the solution
of our difficulties, why is it that
WE ARE NOT ENJOYING THE PROSPERITY
to which this monopoly entities us?
Why Is 1t that this immense crop, which
should make us rich, has brought only
poverty alike to the producer and to the
soil. so much has been said, and have
already written so repeatedly on this
subject that l almost hesitate to address
you again on a question, which has been
SO eXhaustively treated. But when
look around over my own state, and con-
template the condition of our farmers
and their lands, andrealize that the same
Obstructive policy which has brought but
disappointment and poverty, may be
continued, cannot remain silent, and ]
| feel that l cannot repeat too often OF
urge with too much emphasis that until
we can come down to a
/ LEGITIMATE SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE.
a self-supporting system, we cannot
| expect anything more substantial in tn,
| future than we have have gained in tn,
past We are straining every nerve anC
eXhausting every resource to produce
crop OF cotton, one-third
THE GROSS VALUE
of which goes to the north and Yves
for breadstuffs alone. None of this i
for meat, for which we also spend mill
| ions of dollars. Suppose one-third of tn,
land devoted to the production of cottor
the past season had been put in foo(
! crops, and crops ON which to fatten hogs
we would now have an abundance OF
everything to supply our home demand
and instead of crop of 8, OO0, 900 bales al
81 cents, we would have had crop OF
5000, 900, worth anywhere from 10 to Il
cents. ThatI am right in this, is proven
| by the recent jump in the price of cotton
following Immediately upon the unfavor-
| able reports from the cotton fields which
point with certainty to short crop.
The following figures also give the
same conclusion:
No. Acres
Planted. Bales. Value.
1S66-67. -. 6,00O,G00 1888, 900 1927, SIC. 900
1S70-71. 80. S.500,000 4,347, 600 $50, 900 900
1SS0-8l. 80. l6, 100000 6600,O00 358,O00. 600
1S90-9L q, 100000 S,500,0O0 $4,000, 900
1S9l-92 =. %, 100000 100000 $4,000, 900
have submitted these figures for
your careful consideration They show
that we have added Immensely to our
cotton acreage, which means also addi-
tlonal guano, meat and supply bills.
They also show that while we have
more than doubled our cotton crop in
twenty years, the price has been re-
duced more than 100 per cent. Turn
which way we will there is no escape
from the stern realities of these facts.
|, Let every man who reads this article
ponder well over this question. Around
our tiresideS let US discuss these grave
problems, which are to affect the happi-
ness, prosperity and future usefulness of
coming generations, Don't get disgust
ed and say you have heard this advice
until you are tired of it. The hope of
the state, the stability of our home in
situations, turn at last upon whether we
make our farms self-sustaining and at
the same time improve our lands. At a
meeting of farmers last winter, the fol-
lowing language was used:
"Some are fighting the wolf from the
door, while the wife and little ones are
poorly clad, and the latter growing up
without education. Nearly all the mules
and horses are mortgaged, and spirit
OF unrest pervades our entire agricul-
tural community. This lamentable con-
dition confronts the town as we'll as the
country. If the latter dies from poverty.
a speedy dissolution of the former is
inevitable.
I'VE are to solve a condition, not a
theory. Reduced to its last analysis, it
can be summed up in this sentence:
Waste of time, money and energy in
the over-production of cotton and the
under production of all the necessaries
of life"
Teach this doctrine diligently to your
chill ren. Talk of it when you sit in
your house and when YOU walk by the