The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-07-27

iiahe our farms Self-SuStalnlng. 1t
won't do to put all of our eggs in one
basket. 1t is suicidal to stick 10 the
ONE CROP SYSTEM.
1t will not do to make 81 tobacco
to buy s14 meat. We must raise
everything we need for both man and
beast, right on our farms and then,
plant only so much tobacco as we can
manure we'll, cultivate thoroughly, and
handle nicely. In this way, we shall
secure independence at home, and
thus enable US to hold our crops until
we can get a fair price for them. And
besides, by this method, we will de-
crease the supply of tobacco; de-
creased supply will increase the de-
mand, an increased demand will pu.
up the price, and money will be more
plentiful among planters. What we
need in this country is
DIVERSIFIED, INTENSIFIED SYSTEM OF
FARMING.
We need to plant a greater variety
OF crops and smaller number of
acres. By liberal fertilization and
thorough cultivation, we should en-
deavor to make one acre produce as
much as three acres have been pro-
duclng, and that too, of such variety
of crops as are required for home
consumption. We should raise all of
our grain, forage, meat, &C., at home,
instead Of keeping our granaries and
smokehouses in the north and west.
Farmers should be sellers of produce,
not buyers of it. The farmer who
sells tobacco at S. per cwt. that cost
him $40 per cwt. to produce it, and
buys meat at SI4 per cwt. which he
might have raised at cost of S. per
cwt. is on the high road to bankruptcy
and yet this system of business is
practiced extensively in this country.
Plenty home raised meat in the
larder, plenty corn in the crib, plenty
wheat in the bin, plenty hay in the
barn, plenty pigs in the pen, plenty
cattle and sheep in the meadow,
fewer dogs, better roads for teams and
smaller crops Of tobacCo-all will
help to secure better times for the
farmer.
At present, much is said of
MONEY PANICs,
their cause, &c. The fact is that
money panics are periodical. They
occur about once every ten years, and
are generally the result of overtrading
and wildcat speculation. When price:
are low, as they are now, the money
kings combine their capital in the
form of syndicates, monopolies and
trusts, and buy up the products of the
country and withdraw them from the
market. AS soon as a favorably op:
portunity presents itself, a ring i:
formed to kite prices, values are
pushed to abnormal heights, specula
ton becomes wild, excitement run:
high, and nearly everybody, but those
in the ring, plunges into debt A:
soon as the big fellows have sold out
reaction sets in, down go prices
numerous failures occur, the creditor
class rushes to collect, the small
traders, who have been caught nap.
ping, are closed out, confidence i:
destroyed, money is locked up fol
safe-keeping, and a general panic
ensues. About five years of hard time:
always follow such catastrophe, and
then things begin to look up again.
At such time as this, the farmer
who was prudent enough to keep out
of debt and sufficiently wise to raise
his supplies at home, can sit under hi:
own vine and fig tree without feeling
to any extent, the disastrous effects o
a financial crisis.
THOMAS n. HINES,
County Lecturer F. A. q l. U.
Sunny Peak Farm, July 4, 1898.