The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-01-12
GOOD ADVICE TO FARMERS.

Home Markets and New Methods
Needed-The Country Cannot Be-
- come, Prosperous Alone Through
e Agriculture.
lec Hon. w. A. MacCorkle, Ex-Governor
:, = of%West Virginia, who made q national
reputation for. the great work which 6
Virginia while Governor, contributes
toShe January number of the South
ern Farm Magazine, Of Baltimore, an
Unusually interesting and striking die
.,cussion Of Southern farm conditions,
=: and how the agricultural interests of
the South can alone be made pos
Aperous. -. o.. = ...r -
~ Governor MacCorkle says: "The
farmer is not in good way in the
South. The totals of his labor, taken
~ -:as o whole, are enormous, but the farm
::ers is not. the gSiner, and the South
- doee not profit by her enormous yields
as she should. She is another exam
cannot become rich: and!strong through
agriculture alone. The loom, the
:,xeaper and the anvil must 60 together.
Severed they but furnish tie raw ma
Garterlal for other and more favored COM
j. lnuntties. transportation, the factory
and the farm under wise end estab-
:s4ished laws can make the South an
Industrial empire and the Southern
farmer a mighty power in the worlds
affairs"
.I.3Discussing the situation, he says
.,'"Wo cannot live under such conditions
as have existed. The Southern pro-
ducer must change the mere raising of
the staples and seek other products
for his farm. He cannot do this as
things stand with him today, for with q
long haul and no close homo market he
cannot do otherwise than raise the
.Htaples 0f. heavy farming. 1t needs no
argument, but simply the re-expression
of&the statement that the glory Of the
Southern farmer is to come through
change of methods looking to the di:
versification of his product. How shall
1He do thisS? There Is one way, and
shat is. enlarge our horizon, iiberaiize
our laws, turn our faces to the East,
welcome Eastern aud Northern cRpi-
tai, establish by the eide of the water
fall and in the midst Of our cotton
fields, enthrone on our iron mines and
locate in the midst Of our magnificent
forests the railroad and the factory"
Discussing the farm situation In New
Engle nd and the lessons to be drawn
from it by the South, Governor Mac.
Corkle states that while in New Eng
land this summer he made a careful
son. of cheap Western land, vast
changes in the economics of transpor
tion, greater fertility of soil, there was
produced in New Engla some years
ago q tremendous, farm depression.
Great numbers of farmers, who had
not been able to understand the change
that >wae. taking place, anandoned tue
East and went West. They did not
grasp the situation, and thought that
II they could not proftably raise the
cereals in competitioA with the West
there was no life for yhe New England
farmer; but in the last fifteen years
fasrvelous change has taken place In
the agricultural districts Of New Eng
Snd.,r They have found out that they
cannot compete with the West in the
growing of the heavier grains, in the
r&faings OF beef, hogs and sheep, and
wisely they have turned to new fields
of agriculture. The teeming manu-
featuring towns demand poultry, eggs,
butter, fr uits, vegetables. and the thou
sand smbll fruits that can be protitably
grown adjacent to great population.
The result Is shOwn>in a few illustra-
tions. In 1865, the beef product of
Massachusetts was So, 1873, ,564; in 1885 it
was $71S, ,932-a loss of ST .O0J, 600. But
these figures, which seemed to indi-
cate a~great' obstruction OF the agrlcul-
turai interests Of Massachusetts, weBe
offset by the increase in milk, to which
farmers turned their attention when
thew found the change that was taking
place, and in 1886 the value OF the milk
product was $lO,312, 762, while In 1865
it was only 81, ,956, 1874 gain of $S, 1885,
SIS, making up the loss on beei and
year, or in 1897, the milk product was
worth $15,OOO,O0O. In 1897 the value
of the vegetable product, due almost
altogether to the growth of manufac-
turing cities, was moro than $16 ,000,-
900, while strawberries and cranberries
brought over So, 600, 900.
Notwithstanding the naturally poor
soil of..the New England States, the
highest acreage value of farm products
of5dinproved lands Is found in Massa
chusetts, Rhode Island and New Jer
sey, @three States in which you are
never out of the sound OF the W ,irr of
the wheels of the %actory, while the
lowest value of farl4products per acre
Of improved land Is in the purely agri-
cultural States.
Governor MacCorkle then illustrates
his point with one case, OF which
hundreds could begiven, based on the
establishment In his own State OF q
factory employing eight hundred men.
In that community the result was an
absolute change In the whole agrlcul,,
tural situation. The boys instead Of
going west became operatives In the
factory, q town grew up, every class Of
email farming gave the best results. at
least 800 year of form products was
reanired to feed the operatives, or $4O,-
600 as q total. The variety OF products
raised included eggs, beans, peas,
fruits, vegetables, melons. small fruits
and many other articles. One farmer
made 81 800 clear profit last year from
his melon crop, m9gre than he had made
in all his life as A9isheat and corn pro
ducer. Another turned his attention
from wheat and corn to poultry and
sold last year / 800 chickens and 81, l0C
worth of truck. He points out that tC
secure these; great benefits the South