The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-03-28
No. z

80, 600 bushels of Mecklenburg wheat
and shipped it. One Of my tenants
uses cabbages shipped here from Ger
many and Irish potatoes from Scot
land. had one good cotton grower
who came here to Charlotte, 16 miles,
about once a month to get his mules
shod and buy supplies. I tried in all
conceivable ways to induce him to
diversity. He stayed with me some 10
years and usually made good crops Of
cotton, and got fair prices. But his
cOtt N always failed to meet the cost
Of making and outlay for rent and in
cidental expenses. He left my land
run down and exhausted and mort
cages thick and heavy. And the ex-
perience Of thisman was thee perience
OF hundreds and thousands Of others.
The explanation is found in the simple
statement: That most of our average
farmers and planters really understand
no crop except cotton, and the cultiva-
tion Of chat is largely by costly stimu-
lants and by expensive methods. But
because Of their want Of true agricul-
tural knowledge, and the great advan-
oage of cotton as a credit crop, they
can raise nothing else. And here, in
my opinion, is the one main cause of
our widespread agricultural depression
at the South.
Is there any relief or adequate rem
edy i'll reach?
REMEDIES INDICATED
cannot here go into details. but l
am free to say that no puUli; le4isla-
tion (sither State or FederaD can miti-
gate the evil incidentally in removing
some burdens. setting the currency
and distributing its circulation more
evenly among the sections and by State
and Judicial action c.ovuting the stand
ard Of personal obligation and legal
duty. AL Of this is "a slow process
when applied 10 the rre6eu: & neration
OF aIl cotton farmers. A9to the Younger
people coming on. the outlook is hope
ful IN better training through indus
trial schools and better methods in all
business.
low COTTON OUR HOPE
Rut Gl"ra IS onn vi-v of the question
that icy Vii favor. While I should
greatly rcgra& TO see cotton fall to the
figure reached two years since under
the Mckinley tariff. yet honesty be
Iieva that the best thing that c cyuld be
fall The South "a a ohoIe would be a
steady decline Of the great staple so as
to force other crops and industries. and
thus restore farm labor to it3 past eff
cheney. l fully consider in this the i'm
portance Of skill in certain specialties
OF lines as the great guarantee Of sue
cess especially in manufacturing,
mining, etc, but this can hardly apply
to the art Of agriculture, and particu-
larry mixed agriculture, when so much
OF the labor and skill is CO operative
and inter Dependent But practice is
better than theory, and the fall of cot
tn in 169O-'91 has already shown a
marked effect in the condition of farm
ers. They have not only saved enor-
nous sums for farm supplies, but they
are working on less borrowed money
and their credit is improving. Many
diversified crops have been tried and
new industries started, such as roller
-four mills, creaneries, etc, etc, and
the export Of such new products makes
a fair showing for the loss Of cotton ex-
ports.
I am myself largely interested in
farm landa and their annual products;
and I feel more hopeful Of the future
than when all cotton" was the rage.
All interested in such questions should
remember that food comes before
clothing and that its demand is more
likely to increase than the demand for
textile material Europe still has one
hundred and fifty millions Of people
who never cat wheaton bread and a
like number who get meat not exceed
ing twice week. And the modifica-
ton Of our tariff is sure to enlarge the
market for provisions.
RUFUS BARRINGER.
RESOLUTIONS OF CONTEMPT.