The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1899-01-12
all COTTON FALLACY
OLD BLUNDER FIAT FARMERS
SHOULD AVOID IN THE
COMING YEAR.
RAISE SUPPLIES AT HOME
Time Has Arrived to Stop Relying on
u Crop Which Sells Below
Cost of Production.
ATLANTA. Jan. |. 1899.

Ihe beginning OF the new year is upon
as and 1898, with all its hopes and dis.
appointments. is thing of the past. Ii
will be well for each OF us at this time,
before we commence our work for the
year, to take calm and thoughtful
view of the situation, and then to act as
become sensible men
What, then, do we find to be the con.
dition of the average Georgia farmer at
this time? After working 10 months to
make and gather large cotton crop,
has he any money left from its sale?
say emphatically no. Those farmers are
fortunate indeed who have been able tc
pay the debts incurred by them in max
ing the last cotton crop, the vast ma
jority having unpaid accounts against
them either for guano, meat, corn or
goods of other kinds.
Has the average Georgia farmer q
supply Of corn, oats, hay and fodder,
with which to feed his stock of every
kind until he can make another crop?
Has he plenty of homemade meat and
-four and syrup, with which to feed all
hands on his farm for she next sen
months? Are his mules, and horses,
and cattle, and hogs, and sheep in good
order and well cared for, now in the
midst of a cold, long winter? Has he
an abundance of poultry of all kinds,
well housed and well fed? Has he
plenty of good milk and butter from
graded Jersey or Holstein cows? Has
he a rich garden from which he can
daily gather the winter vegetable to add
to his bill of fare? To all these ques-
lions must regretfully answer no. And
yet l assert positively that all these are
within easy reach of every land owner
in Georgia who will throw off the curse
OF oil cotton growing, and return to the
ways of our fathers.
Shall we continue to grow and sell
cotton below the cost of production Ito
the great delight of the balance of man.
kind, who care nothing for our suffer-
ings) until total ruin overtakes us, or
shall we make a united and determined
effort to raise our own supplies in abun-
dance. and thus make our cotton crop
an absolute surplus? / see no hope for
our farmers save to adopt the latter
plan and stick to it regardless of the
price of cotton. Don't delude yourself
with the idea that your neighbors will
diminish their cotton acreage and there
i fore you will increase yours in the hope
OF getting good price. There could be
no greater mistake of Judgment than
this, as the selfish farmer so acting will
find to his cost at the end of the season.
If Georgia made no cotton this year
the loss would doubtless be made I'D by
the yearly increased acreage of rich cot
ton lands brought into. cultivation west
OF the Mississippi river. We had better
prepare ourselves for hong period Of
low-prlced cotton, for the outlook prom
ises nothing else. and being prepared,
we can better endure such calamity.
For SO years we have relied on cotton
alone with which to purchase every
thing else. During that time we have
made not less than 10000, 900 of bales,
worth at a moderate estimate, fully
$500, 100000. What has become of this
vast amount of money, which, if kept
at home, would have made us one of the
richest states in the Union?. It has all
gone to pay the farmers and manufac-
turers of the north and east for supplies
OF various kinds, every item of which
we could and should have produced
within our own borders. Suppose we
had made only l0,0O0,0O0 bales in the
past 30 years, and in addition
had produced all the supplies that
we have bought from other states.
is it not self evident that we would be
better off by 100000, 600 than we are at
PRESENT. The entire property of the
state, cities included, is now but little
over $500, 100000, and the farmers of
Georgia ought alone to have been richer
by this vast amount, had they not been
deluded by the all-cotton fallacy.
Look around you in your different
communities and note the successful
farmers of your acquaintance; invaria-
bly, you will find them to be the men
who have diversified their crops and
raised their own supplies, No state or
section can prosper that relies entirely
on one crop Kansas tried it with wheat,
until most of her farms were mortgaged.
and she was only saved from utter ruin.
1t is said, by the "hen and the cow"
Now. with diversified farming, she is
again on the road to prosperity.
write as q farmer to farmers know.
Ing and approaching the difficulties in
the way. but 1 believe they can all be
overcome by persistent and determined
effort in the right direction. by no
means advise the abandonment of cot.
ton culture. for we have no other money
crop upon which we can with absolute
M aNene Il