The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1899-01-04
ADVICE TO FARMERS.
PLANT LESS COTTON AND
MORE FOOD CROPS.
Address OF the President OF the
mississippi Cotton Growers
Union.

planters of Mississippi, held al
at Vicksburg, |, as its president,
was instructed to write an ad.
dress TO the cotton growers OF
the state. In writing this ad-
dress it shall be my purpose to
appeal to the good Judgment and
common sense Of our farmers,
and try to get them to change
their methods OF farming SO as to
better conform TO existing condi-
tons. To do this it must be ap :
parent TO every thinking man
that the first and most impor-
;ant step is to grow a full supply
of all food crops necessary TO run
the farm at home. This seems to
many to be an impossible task
but it is not so. venture to say
there is no neighborhood in the
state that has not one or NOR.
object lessons, in the nature OF
some intelligentw wide awake farm
er, who is pursuing this course,
and who, il not actually making
money at 4-cent cotton, is at
least holding his own and max
ing a good living S brother
farmers, there is no use saying
it can't be done. ltcan be done,
and it is being done--not by in
dividuals, butin some cases by
whole communitiesin our state I;
and wherever we find such con-
ditions we find prosperity and
abundance. Now / appeal to
you, whether you be IN the delta
or in the hills, to give this mat
ter serious thought. Statistics
show that from 60 to 70 per cent
Of the farmers expenses IN maxi
ing a crop are for articles that he
could raise at home. This does
not only hold good with the large
planter, but equally 50 with av-
erage small farmers. N w, sup
poe this was different. Sup
pose every farmer, arge.orsmall, /,
would raise his own bread. meat,
mules and horses, an abundance
Of corn and hay, with peas and
potatoes and such side crops, his
cotton would be strictly a surplus
crop; and the increase acreage
Of these food crops would neces-
sarily decrease the acreage Of
cotton and bring it within the
range Of Ia profitable crop. Should
our farmers pursue this course,
a year or two would bring about
a great change in our financial
cJndis issg2 gs27.. These owing debts
would soon pay them off, make
needed improvements to their
farms, and in a few years their
surplus money would be seeking
investments. Then what Is look :
ed upon as millennium would
come. The cotton factories
would come to the cotton fields,
much as it il in North and South
Carolina, where the system o.
making the cotton a surplus crop
has enabled the thrifty farmers
to help build these mills, until
now, nearly every hamlet and
water course has a mill on it, and
the result is, in all this cry OF
hard times no one has heard any
complaint from TIE manufactur-
ing districts Of the Carolinas. As
a matter OF fact they have carri-
ed the raising of homs products
50 far that this last planting sea-
son these farmers were urged to
plant more cotton, as the year
before North Carolina manufac-
tured more cotton than was rais-
ed within her borders. What o
commentary on Mississippi.
Next in inheritance to growing
supplies at home Is diversitying
the crops. Those who are con-
veniently situated 10 market can
do this TO a certain extent With
truck farming and fruit growing.
Others not 80 situated-aDd here
comes the large planter-can go
into stock raising Beef cattle
offer the strongest indusement in
that line The presess demand
for beef cattle viii probably keep
up for years to come, and with
our cheap iands, abundant na-
tive grasses, genial climate and
cheap feed stuffs We have in tae
| the products of the cotton
seed, there is no state in ths
union whore cattle can be growr
and prepared for market cheape
than in Mississippi.
- 4 a. Ia