Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-08-24

Guano manufacturers saw at once
that plant foods IN enormous quanti-
| ties would have to be supplied to
keep up tho fertility Of the oleanly
cultivated fields, and that the invest
ment would be agood one. Cotton
expositions were held all over the
country and the white staple crowned
king.
1t has taken twenty years to whip
the fight, but the Intense greed of
the world has done the work, and
today the old king lies half dead in
the ditch, while broken and disap-
pointed mourners gaze upon the long
trail of disappointed past. While the
farmer has lost in the struggle, the
country at large has developed and
increased it's wealth steadily each
year.
| | hav6no criticism to make of the
farmer for so largely producing cot
ton, even with The costly use of
commercial fertilizers, when the
business was lucrative one. But we
face conditions to-day which are Sc
rious and which makes impossible
the future wholesale production OF
cotton as q means of developing
future prosperity. In the rich, allu-
vial lands of the Southwest, in which
are embraced the valleys of the
Mississippi, the extensive plains of
Texas and Southern Oklahoma, cot
ton Is being grown on an average of
one bale per acre, without the use of
fertilizers. The farmers of your
own State, after using annually hun
dreds of thousands of tons of ferti-
lizers, can barely average half a bale
per acre. With these heavy odds
against ns and competition annually
increasing in the Southwest, we will
be forced to change our present sys-
tenn of farming. The solution of the
problem by which we are today con-
fronted must be largely determined
by the efforts of each individual who
is directly engaged in the production
of cotton-and who, by reason of a
full appreciation Of his needs end
condition, realizes that he is an i'm
portant factor in breaking the bond
age under which he rests, that the
freedom and independence of his
business may be once moro establish
ed, placing him on that high plane
of prosperity which was made 30
conspicuous in the early days of our
fathers.
Fill your granaries and smoke
houses with the products of your
farm, stock your pastures with cat
tie, sheep and hogs. Diversity your
interests and prepare to 60 into the
markets of your country with a dozen
staple products where you now only
attempt one. Cut down your cotton
acreage and diversy the crops planted.
We CT gradually get into the sup
ply business, and raise enough COT
ton besides to meet the demands of
the world, and the price for which
it is sold will be profit in our bust
ness. Every farmer who has hereto
fore operated his affairs entirely on
the credit system must make strenu-
ous effort to use more cash in his
business for what he is forced to buy
and raise everything at home which
his lands will produce.
LARGER ACREAGE IN WHEAT THIS
| am satisfied that larger acreage
in wheat will be planted in the
South during the coming fall than
for many years past. We need
shrewd business men on the farm
as well as in other departments of
life. Broad, liberal thoughts find
birth in higher education. The
farmers will only combine their COM
mon interests when confidence in tho
business ability of each has boon
gained. Unity among tho farmers
Is ono Of the greatest needs of the
present day. A careful, thoughtful
study of the resources of the coan-
try will open up system of diversi-
fled farming, which will bring profit
and pleasure to the agriculturist
Every farmer should have thor
ough knowledge of commercial paper
and understand some system of keep
ing books. At the beginning of
each year detailed account of
what he owns should be taken down,
representing his capital invested.
An itemized account of every dollar