The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-01-24
COTTON A SURPLUS CROP.
Editor Homo and Farm

Editor Homo and Farm.
The advance in tic price of & ,t'.n
will cause an increase in cotton acre 90
for tae coming year. Many InrmyIs
will plant on the "all cotton" plan
next spring, thinking hat they VIII get
cents per pound for their cotton u,At
fall and neglect their food crops.
Just suppose a crop of II 900 900
bales next fall, how much would farm
er receive for his crop? Some ar- ne
that if II ,000,0 900 bales are made next
year the price to be paid will be not
less than s cents. They lry 70 make
themselves believe that the factorie
are behind. This may be true, but Il
farmer should neglect to raise any
hogs and peanuts, What viii he io for
meat if for any reason cotton should be
cheap ? Amt if he ucgleCts his ca,e
crop aud other such as pc Is, rc,, no
tatocS, etc, he wIil DC IVnD,rau,ulv
left Even II cotton should ue worth
10 cents next ial'. it should be a sur
| pluS crop. ~ I"Hnvg SdUuld nuV,r huv
any corn, and always haSc few hun
drcu pounds Of meat to sell Some
think hogs rc too much trouble to
raise, and that they can make cotton
and buy their meat cheaper than they
can raise hogs. This is a mistake. A
person can have pasture convenient
to the house and raise hogs almost on
what would otherwise be thrown away.
Then hogs kept in pasture are not
subject to cholera as when let to lun
out on the range.
Any farmer can fence few acres off
and have Spanish peanut patch By
50 doing he can turn his hogs in on
them in August, and his hogs will be
nearly ready for the butcher bv the
time his corn is gathered, and more
thar that, hogs will falton better in
warm weather than in cod Then to
have meat to sell, you can pay for work
being done on the farm Of you cannot dc
it all JourselD, and never miss it
Why, it looks foolish to buy meat when
it can be produced at home so easily
l had hogs this year weighing from l sc
to ITO pounds, and they were not
twelve mon;hs old. They had never
eaten much corn. They were raised
on slops principally, and in July be,
gan giving them small watcrmelons
that were raised IN my Spanish pcanu
patch, and by the middle Of Angus
they were doing fairly well, when
put them on the peanuts. A pig, in or
der TO thrive, should never get "stunt
ed" A few peas boiled, once day
is just splendid for pigs.
l know farmers who raise cotton ir
plcnty-a large crop-and boast Of
their splendid farming, and after the
truth is known they have their corn t,
buy, meat to buy, make no cane n,
: potatoes, and have no garden, and ir
fact, nothing but cotton. Well, cam
see anything great in this. A farme
, can never prosper under such condi
ions. In summer / like to visit
community and find at the dinner tabl,
plenty of beans, peas, Irish pota
toes; in fact, vegetables of ever
description, and thcnfnd on han,
watermelons, etc. IN the fall
want to gee barns groaning with corn
l peas, ETC., while in smokehouses
want to sec meat hanging from eacI
/ end.
Think of old timcs--timcs just afte
!, the war--wEen cotton was scarce an,
times were good. Cotton has been th
farmers ruin. 1t has made many O
our boys leave the farms and see
, positions in the city. a farmer can b
the most independent man on earth
he will only try.
There have been more than fift
, cotton mills opened up in the pas
twelve months in the South. Their
. are more people TO use cotton, an
there are more usages for cotton thai
,, have been, but is that any reason VIII
! farmer should make more {? Why h,
, should work all his life and then die il
poverty ? Why, no. Make such a
you will consume and let cotton be
surplus crop. Did you ever see farm
er get rich by raising cotton a few
but "thcy are few and far between.
Ii one will keep out of debt and max
what he needs for home consumption
. he can be contentcd to live on tn
farm. TIMOTHY.