The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-09-08
THERE'S MILLIONS IN IT.
Sheep Raising as an Incident to Cotton
Farming.
NcWS and Courier.

NcWs and Courier.
In these sharp times Of competition
and small margins of profit it becomes
necessary to look well after small
economies and utilize fully every op-
portunity that may contribute to sue
cess otherwise the remorseless opera
ton of the stern law of ;'the survival
Of the fttest" is likely to leave those
who ignore its condition behind in
the struggle for success. The condi-
tions confronting the cotton farmers
of the South Atlantic States, at least,
are such as to demand a change Of
their methods, or to render hopeless
the struggle for industrial prosperity,
hitherto, unsuccessfully waged by
them. Josh Billings once sagely re-
marked that F;the last six inches wins
all races and doubtless many bust
ness failures ere justly attributable to
a failure Of the managers to fully ap-
| preciate and utilize all of the oppor-
tunities involved.
A careful consideration Of climate,
soil, population and industrial condi-
tions would seem to render it safe to
assume that cotton growing is to con-
tinue indefinitely as the chief agricul-
tural pursuit in all Of the States south
of latitude 81 degrees, Florida except
ed. The purpose of this article is to
invite attention to some important
facts heretofore not generally under
stood or largely ignored in Practice,
and to indicate a more rationalssystem
for utilizing the opportunities and adj
vantages possessed by the cotton
farmers Of the South. Careful com.
piled statistics show that Of the cotton
crop Of the United States for 1894 GO
per cent. was produced by Texas,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
and SO per cent. by North Carolina
South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama,
the small balance by Florida and Ten.
nessee. The average annual produc.
tion per acre Of the first named four
States from 1874 to 1894, inclusive,
was 223 pounds, while that Of the last
named four States was only l6t
pounds. The field for extension Of
tbs business in the first group ,oi
States is largely in excesstof that oil
the last group. The fact that the
four States producing 60 per cent. ei
the crop give.an average annual yield
per acre so per cent. greater than that
Of the four producing SO per cent Of
the crop, taken in connection with the
probable greater extention in the for,
mer, would appear to justify the fol
lowing conclusions, viz
First, the group Of States, by yir
tue Of its ppeponderance in product
will regulate the price by which al
must sell, second, they will produce
cotton at a less cost per pound thar
the other four, and third, that they
can survive at a price destructive t
their less fortunate sisters, unless Thu
latter overcome the natural disad7an
tages under which they labor by th,
exercise Of greater economy in TIL
production and utilization of thei
crops.
It is, therefore, chiefly in the inter
est of the cotton farmers of NORTH
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia ant
Alabama, and especially those Of s'outl
Carolina, that the labor involved il
the preparation Of this paper has beef
assumed.
It has long been known that cotton
seed contained valuable animal foot
and fertilizing constituents, but thos'
who produce them have been slow &
appreciate their value and Indifferent
to the large annual waste involved il
their failure to use them primarily a
a fertilizer for their lands.
The seed from a five hundred poun'
bale Of cotton averages 1000 pounds
consisting Of 500 pounds Of bulls, IS!
pounds of meal and $50 pounds of oil
each a valuable animal food constitu
ent, but not in proper combination a
furnished us by nature to supply
healthy ration for any of our domesti
animals flied alone.
While the oil is not a fertilizer it i
a valuable animal food, estimated b,
Wolff, a celebrated German authority
at nearly four cents per pound as som
pared with corr at 60 cents a buahel
If all the seed is used as a fertilize
the oil is q total loss ; if the seed ar
exchanged with the mills for the inca
or sold for cash at current rates tn
farmer only receives an equivalenrsfo
meal ana bulls contained in his seed
1t may be, therefore, stated as q broa'
proposition that the only way the cot
ton farmer can secure to himself tn
full value, potential and commercial
of his cotton seed is to feed to ami
mails on his land and plough under til
droppings, liquid and solid.
After careful consideration Of a
the factors involved sheep have bee
selected as the best animal machiner
for the purposes in view, for the FOL
lowing reasons:
First, they seem to be capable Q
consuming to advantage larger quar
titles of cotton seed in, proportion t
size than any other Of our domesti
animals. There is probably no bette
authority in matters Of this kind tina
Col. j. Washington Watts, the vetera
sheen raiser Of Laurens County, S. {
It is, therefore, a great pleasure t
publish his testimony on this point a
given in the following letter:
:, MoUNTv1LLE, S. c., June IL, 1887.
Mr.. V.,P. Clayton-Dear Sir: You
letter of the 9th instant was receive
two days ago, having been forWarde
from Laurens, my former postofice, j
which you request me to give you tn
result Of my experience in feeding ra'
cotton seed to sheep, which l will TT
to do as concisely as possible. | hav
been feeding sheep with cotton see
for over forty years, and have neve
seen bad effects from over.feedine
while the COW must be confined t
short feed or she will eat too muc
and get sick, the sheep will satisf
hunger and leave the balance, if owe
fed. J. have fed all winter on thel
without other feed, but prefer to Civ
them hay, fodder or straw, and whe
the forage is added they will eat NOR
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