Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-11-16
PROFITABLE FARMlRa
Six Hundred Dollars from an Acre 81 Land.
H0y' Ia That52 II

Hoy' 's That 2 b ~ 3
Ii - S{ AZ 3Ss !. 49
Alta recent meeting of the Georgia
State Agricultural Society Mr.. F.s,,I "a
Merriam, who runs a hillside farm
near Atlanta, Ca, in the course Of:
an interesting talk made the follow.
ing statement -: Is
If a man will study his ground hei
will find it to be fully as entrancing
as the study Of books. Through.
marriage l became connected with q
small farm. With my hrother-in-
law l broke ground in 1893 to meet 1
the market demands in. Atlanta. 4
That year made only $500, butthe5
$115 which I received from $50 hills
of cucumbers convinced me that T
was on the right track. The next 4
year my sales went up to $1,934.29. y
I got $500 from one acre which Ihad /
planted in potatoes. The next year
(1895) I marketed $500 worth of 4
vegetables. This year 1 found let.
tuce to be the best seller, getting
$791 40 on that article. 1t was in
1896, however, that I struck luck
and gained the final conviction that
there is money in the land when the &
farmer studies his surroundings. In
that year 1 sold $5,O68 worth Of
stuff, of which $764.60 came from
lettuce, $5S3 from turnip salad and
$4O4 from .Seets I;~~Hsepz books.a
strictly and find that it costs me ox-s
aotly one-third. of what l raise to y
pay the necessary expenses, inolud-
ing repairs. In 1897 prices were
lc" and the more ordinary vegeta-
bles we're in demand, but even under
this stringency made $4,738.60. I,
Of this $529.55 came. from three {
acres planted in tomatoes, $998.90E !
from beans and $329.55 from turnips.
In 1898 found the market still de-
pressed, but Imade that year 81.
1920, of which $732.90 came from
turnip salad and 1861 from collards.
This year, Notwithstanding the very
bad season we had in the spring
months, up to the 1st of August l.
have sold $4,138.55 worth, 5000 Of
which came from one acre planted in
cabbage, and I intend to pocket a
round $4,000 this year out of my:
little farm. j,
Georgia soil under system Of
deep plowing and thorough tillage
will produce fine crops. Our red,
clay subsoils are rich in plant food
The Georgia "Cropper" has been
blowing for years down TO TWhat ho
called "the hard" and the same hard
subsoil has been absorbing all these
years the plant food from the thin,
layers of cultivated ground asst was
packed down by the heavy rains,,
until to-day it is ready by the magic
of modern improved farming to Weld
up its riches in crops that will aston.
ish the civilized world. We have
striking examples of this in tho
farms scattered here and there over
the State, which appear like oasas in
the desert of surrounding barrenness.
Farms where thrift is the order Of
the day, and the owner looks per.
sonally after every detail, are object
lessons of what we may expect when
the community at large becomes bet.
ter educated in modern farm meth.
DDS. And the fact that these sue.
cessful mon are still progressing,
that their crops are growing larger,
thoir land richer and their net profit
at the close of the year shows q cor.
responding increase, goes to prove
that no limit can be placed upon tie.
productiveness of our soil and the
wealth and prosperity, as an agri-
cultural community, that we may
finally aspire to.