The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-07-06
AGRICULTURAL.
In the Sunny South.

and those living in the North are more
anxious to know the real state of things
here than ever before. will try to
tell the readers of the WATCHMAN
omething as to the conditions of the
farmers in the South,
At the outset it should be known
that very large portion of the farmers
in the South are renters, and the sys-
tenn in vogue here is one of the
worst that could be devised for the |
farmer. Rents are mostly paid in cot
ton, and everything nearly that the
renter buys he goes in debt for, paying
at the end OF the year. The merchants
charge an enormous profit, and take it
altogether, the southern renter of
farm is in about as hopeless condition
as any class in this country. OF course
there are we'll to do farmers and there
are wealthy farmers, but if one stands
on a street and watches the farmers as
they come to town, especially in the
mountain region, he will feel that there
is vast difference between the farm
ers of the North and those of the South.
The saddest thing about it is that there
seems to be no way of ending this
hopeless toll for mere pittance. The
rich can get rich fast by this system,
and so they love to have it so.
The homes of the southern farmers
are very poor as might be expected.
Families often live in buildings having
one or two rooms, no windows of glass,
only board shutters, great chinks in
the sides, and yet the house is the best
building on the farm. The barns are
mostly pens of logs with roof, in fact,
it is hard to find we'll built, good
sized farm barn in the South. 1t is an
actual fact that of cattle more than two
in each 100 and of sheep three in each
100 die in North Carolina from winter
exposure, while in the cold North the
loss from such causes is practically
nothing. 1t is estimated by the best
authorities that the annual loss to the
farmers in that State from exposure to
cold of their stock amounts 10 enough
to pay the taxes on all the farm lands
of the State. And what is true of
North Carolina is more or less true of
all of the South. Set a prosperous Yer
mont farmer down on one OF these
farms, compelling him to use the tools,
teams, stock, and buildings he would
usually find here and he would 90 wild
in week, l think. l have seen just
one fine farm home, nice house, fair
outbuildings, fine grounds, but sad to
say, the owner and his wife both killed
themselves with hard work. Remem-
Der that nearly ne.quarter of the
white population of Georgia ten years
old and over, cannot read nor write,
and you get at the root of great deal
of the evil which confronts the South.
Add to this that more than eighty in a
hundred of the colored people of the
same age cannot read nor write and
you see the chains of ignorance which
bind the southern farmer. Much is be-
ing done to remedy this state of things,
but there is no compulsory education
law, and while the city and village
children, white and colored, are going
to school and getting fair education,
there is sad lack of interest in the
schools among the farmers. / had
heard of the poverty of the South, but
after all had heard, had no concep.
ton of how bad things were. There
is much wealth in the towns, there are
many men who are worth their thou
sands, but had great deal rather be
poor man than to get riches by grind
ing it out of the struggling masses.
The colored farmer is fully as pros
porous as the white, sometimes think
more 30. One feature of farm life
shocks US, 90 where you will at this
time of year and you will find women
and little children out in the fields hoe
ing corn and cotton. Generally the
men are with them, but one who has
been here long enough to learn more Of
the people, says that too often the men
are off somewhere playing cards, or the
like, having good time, leaving the
hoeing to the women and children.
Women do the milking here, and 1
have noticed that you can tell the state
of civilization in country by seeing
who does the milking. When you see
strong man sitting on his heels
watching poor, tired woman milk,
well, you know what you would think.
But these people are very kind. 1 rent
my home Of man whose father was a
stakeholder and who was brought up to
work with slaves, and never found a
kinder man so far as stranger can be.
The cotton crop is the main farm
crop, and it is rather forced upon the
most Of the farmers here. Corn does
we'll and wheat has its good veara this