The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1899-01-14
ARP'S ADVICE TO FARMERS
QUIT RAISING COTTON, OR BUY
a MONKEY TO PICK n.
The Georgia Philosopher Mixes a
Lot of Good Advice With His
Pleasing TIumor.

Not long ago one-horse farm
er from the back woods came to
our town with two bales of cotton
and sold il for 8 cents q pound.
This was his entire crop. and he
was complaining bitterly to one
of our merchants, and said that
the farmers would perish to death
in another year if there wasn't
some change for the better. A
mischieyous drummer, standing
by, said: "Well. my friend,
you must quit raising cotton or
else buy some monkeys to pick it
out. Over in India and Egypt
they make the monkeys pick
their cotton, and that is what q
the matter. A monkey will pick
thousand pounds a day and he
feeds on the seed. So il costs
hardly anything over there to
raise cotton, and our farmers in
Mississippi and Texas have sent
over for hundred ehoasand
monkeys, and they will be over
here in time to pick the next crop
and the price will go lower still,
and il you don't get you a mon
key or two you had better quit
growing cotton, for you can't
compete with monkeys, (" The
old man took II al seriously, and
said: "Nell, what is poor
farmer to DO il he hasn't got any
money to buy the monlSey?"
= Grow something else, = said
the drummer. Grow corn and
wheat and sorghum and pota-
toes. Plant apple and peach
trees, raise chickens and eggs,
and q yearlin' calf or two to sell.
Get up soon and stir around live
ly and make every member OF
your family work. Work at some.
thing. for il you DON'T you viii
.Retsh out Go back home and
take a new start. Don't sit down
and grumble and blame some-
body else with your poverty
Qait cotton until you can buy
half a dozen monkeys" !"
The man went back home and
circulated the monkey story, and
for ten miles around the ,one-
horse farmers have sworn off
from raising any more cotton.
That's what they tell me. They
say that before the war the poor
man couldn't compete with the
rich mans niggers, ard now
since he has lost his niggers, he's
buyin' monkeys to take their
places, and the poor man won q
have no chance at all.
OF course there's no truth inI
this story, but there is good
deal of philosophy. New meth
DDS, new plows and new ma.
chinery are the monkeys, and i'll
the poor farmer does not work
earlyand 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 theirI
cotton and wheat. Little things
well nursed count up more than
big ones. The thrifty farmers
always brings with him some
thing to sell when he has To come
to town. Some fowls or eggs or
potatoes or a shote or some Fruit
in its season. There is good
home market for all these littlel
things. In fact il we leave outI
cotton everything the farmer
grows brings about the same old
prices of ten years ago, and ev-
erything he has to buy except
coffee is much cheaper now than
It was then. Everything that is
made of cotton is SO per cent
cheaper, and everything made OIL
iron or tin is 100 per cent cheap
er. Beef and pork and chickens
and turkeys and eggs and wood
and potatoes and apples and
peaches have not come down a
nickel IN ten years. Labor is a
little cheaper, not much. We
still pay the same for cooking
and washing and work in the
garden. II anybody has reason
for complaining Of hard times it
is the town people, who have ev-
erything TO buy. The farmer who
is not in debt and owns his farm
i better of than he ever was and
The prudent renter can pay rent
and make money farming.
But Of course there is a large
class Of shiftless, unthrifty peo-
pie who will not succeed at any
thing, and they blame everybody