The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-01-25
A WOMAN PLANTER.
Alabama Woman Planter Manages Her
Farm Herself.

tenacity Of holding their land for life
and leaving their leases to their chill
dren. A man takes better care Of
land that he expects to continue to
live on, and, maybe, his children to
cultivate after him.
At the present low price of cotton
its cultivation has become problem,
but with the tenant system | do not
see how we can stop it. 1t is the only
crop safe for your rent. am trying
to have each tenant raise his own
| meat in hogs and enough corn aud hay
for himself aud stock. This, with his
garden, should make cotton his sur
plus cro.. ,hink is all nonsense to
talk about the South cutting down her
amount of bales one-half aud making
cotton ten cents. The minute We quit
raising it and cotton goes up Egypt
and India will raise it in large quanti-
ties. What we want to do is raise as
much as we can to the acre, but have
it our surpl IS. crop. This, with the
opening OF the markets Of the east,
will give US better prices. intend,
however, to experiment with raising
hogs on large scale. thiuk there
is biz money in it if one can keep
cholera away. and with the large range
I have in the Big Woods l think
the danger of that small. / want to
raise in quantities to ship by the car
load.
OF course. the busy time Of year on
a plantation is the fall. Then the
cotton is being picked and ginned,
the nant is getting ready to pay his
rent, and here is where the beauty of
cotton comes in. If your tenant has
raised enough to pay you you can
sleep easy, for he cannot run off with
that. However, if he has only got
corn, you have to watch pretty close
ly, or he gets it off in small quanti-
ties, and then you are left on the
rent. However, I have an excellent
set Of tepaaes, and also am very
good collector. / seem to have some
quality which makes my tenants pay.
No matter what comes or goes, il the
crop is made I get my rent.
Saturday afternoon is paying off day
for the cotton pickers. They pick all
week, each night having their baskets
weighed, and Saturday it is all counted
up and given them. Hardly any
power can get work out of negro
Saturday afternoon, so the weeks
work closes at noon. l am on my
horse nearly every day seeing that the
cotton is being picked as rapidly as
possible. In the spring [ also ride
constantly over the fields to see that
the crop is being put in properly and
in time. The negroes are very proud
Of having no overseer, and take a
great pride in giving me all the help
they can, always, though, with sort
of an air that woman farming is
great joke. I have their confidence
thoroughly by the stricsness with
which I keep my books. Each tenant
has his account in my plantation
book, and the night they come to set
tie up is great affair. They bring
their books along, for if they cannot
write they all have some child that
can, and we go over the year, take out
their work account and square their
rent before I sign contracts with them
for another year.
am very proud Of the way my in
fuence extends. even in my absence.
[ 60 sometimes two months at a time,
and every negro feels that he has the
honor of the place in his hands. My
head man, whom J. leave in charge,
works good deal harder than when |
am at home, l tell him. am clear
ing one hundred acres of land, and
have a wood yard in town to sell the
wood off, and the handling never
ceases while I am off. OF course, but
for the fact that | can get off from the
whole thing every once in a while |
could not stand it, as it is u great re-
sponsibility, and l would not advise
woman, unless almost made Of iron.
to undertake it.
LEILA SETON WILDER.