The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1893-03-23
DIvRRsIFy THB CRoPs.


The farmers of the Northwest are
confronted with the same condition
that exists in the South-they have
pursued the one crop plan until the
markets are glutted with their
products and they are at the mercy
of the spectators. This result will
always follow just as surely as the
day follows the night, when the sup
ply exceeds the demand for any ar
tic'e produced or manufactured.
In speaking of this the Minneapolis
Journal says:
This brings the producer face to
face with a condition. He should
meet it just as the commercial man
meets the conditions that confront
him-change his business policy.
The Northwestern farmer must diver
sify his crop if he wishes to do a
profitab BILE business 1t requires no
particular courage to do this. In
deed, if the farmer would study the
situa ton more and the political edi-
torials of his Alliance paper less, he
would find it much easier to shape
his business policy. 1t is the man
who test meets different conditions
who makes money the fastest. The
farmer is too apt to follow the same
plan year after year regardless ofthe
changes in conditions. This is a
wrong policy. and to its habitual
practice the non-success of many
producers is due, while the producer
himself iDagines that the fault is
with the railroad company, the
elevator company and the grain
commission man, all of whom are in
league to rob him. Let him meet
the conditions of 1898 on their
merits and all will go we'll. Diversity
the crops.
The farmers of the South have
much the advantage of those of the
Northwest in soil and climate They
can produce with profit many crops
which the Northwest cannot raise at
all, and yet by producing a large
surplus of cotton and tobacco, they
reduce the price of these articles to
about the cost of production This
is great folly, when our land and
climate is so well adapted to the
profitable cultivation ofwheat, oats,
corn, peas, potatoes, the grasses,
fruits of nearly all kinds, and the
raising of sheep, stock and hogs.
There need be no necessity for our
people buying a bale of hay, a pound
of meat or lard, or a can of canned
fruits that is not produced within
the borders of the State.
We cannot be a prosperous people
SO long as we buy from the North
and West more than we sell abroad
The merchant who would annually
order So, 900 more of goods than he
could sell would soon go the wall
and his stock into the hands of the
sheriff. The same law that applies
to the individual applies to a COM
munity or people. If we produce
surplus which we cannot sell at a
profit we are just as badly off as if
we did not have it, berause the sur
plus represents labor and capital
that has been expended in its pro-
duction, and, if there is no demand
for it, it is so much capital locked up
and of no benefit to any one.
The people of the South might and
should be one ofthe most prosperous
DeOple on the face of the earth. They
are favored by all the natural condi-
tons necessary for such a happy
consummation, and it lies With
their power. And this condition will
be reached when the people grasp
and intelligently utilize their oppor-
tunities and natural advantages.