The Burke County news. [volume] (Morganton, N.C.) 1899-1901, 1899-01-20
He Must be Shiity if He Would Like
to be Prosperous
COTTON NOT THE ONLY CROP.
Take the Advice Of the Drummer and Plant
Something E'se-The Monkey Story he
1old-Sworn Off From Raising Cotton.

Not long q horse farmer from !
the back woods came to our town with
two bales of cotton and sold it for 5 /
cents a pound. This was his entire
crop. and be was complaining bitterly
to one of our merchants aud said that
the farmers would perish to death in
another year if there wasent some |
change for the better. A mischlevOus ,
drummer, standing by. said: well, |
my friend, o must quit raising cotton
or else buy some monkeys to pick 1t
out. Over in India aud Egypt they
make the monkeys pick their cotton,
and that is what's the matter. A mou-
kew will pick q thousand pounds q dav
and he feeds on the seed. So it costs
hardly anything over there to raise cot
ton, aud our farmers ii Mississippi and
Texas have sent over for q hundred
thousand monkeys. and they will be
over here in time to pick the next crop
and the price will go lower still, and
if you don't get you q monkey or two
| you had better quit growing cotton, for
you c~antcOmpete with monkeys" The
old man tool it all in seriously and
said: "Well, what is a poor farmer to
do if he hasent got the money to buy
the monkey"
''Grow something else," said the
drummer. "Grow corn and wheat and
sorghum and potatoes. Plant apple and
peach trees, raise chickens and eggs,
and q yearlin calf or two to sell. Get
up soon aud stir around lively aud
make every member of you family
work. Work at something, for If you
don't you will perish out. Go back
home and take a new start. Don't sit
down and grumble and blame somebody
else with your poverty. Out cotton
until you can buy half O dozen mon
keys"
The man went back home and cir
cula,ed the monkey story, and for ten
miles around the o%ne-horse farmers
have sworn off from raising any more
cotton. That's what tfty tell me. They
say that before the war the poor man
couldn't com. etc with the rich mans
lgger ana now since he hiss lost his
uig-ers he IS buying monkeys to take
their places, aud tue poor man wont
Luye any chance at all.
OF course there Is no truth in this
story, but there IS agood deal Of phil
osopny. New methods, new plows aud
new machinery are the monkeys, and
if the poor fal mer does not work early
aud late he Will keep poor. | know
some country women who make more
money on their chickens and eggs and
butter than their husbands do on their
cotton and wheat. Little things ell
nursed count up more than bug ones.
The thrifty farmer always brings with
him something to sell when he has &c
come to town. Some fowls or eggs OF
potatoes or q shote or some fruit III it
season. There is q good home
market for all these little things.
In fact, if we leave out cottor
everything the farmer grows bringl
ago, and everything he has to buy ex
it was then. Everything that is mad
of cotton is so per cent cheare'
and everything made of iron or stee
or tin Is 100 per cent cheaper. Bee,
aud pork aud chickens and turkeys ane
pies aud peaches have not come dowr
a nickle in ten wears. Labor is q littl,
cheaper, not much. We still pay tn,
same for cooking aud washing aue
work in the garden. If anybody has
reason for complaining of hard times
it is the town people, who have every
in debt and owns his farm is better OF
than he ever was and the pruden
renter can pay rem and make none
farming.
But Of course there is . large class o
ahiftless uLthrifty people who will no
succeed at ANYTHING, and they blam
everybody for it but Themselves. Cob
says that the Lord had to make 200
I foik. IN bean rich folka IN mouev an,