The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1904-07-21
FARMING IN THE
OLD DAYS.
Profitable Then. It Ought to ba Much
More 50 These Days.
CORN SOLD AT TEN CENTS,

look at the conditions under which
farming Was done in the first half Of
the century. First, very heavy
amount OF labor came upon the farmer
ia the clearing OF the farms, particu-
larly III thoss states where there was
little prairie and where tha timber was
large and heavy. Then log houses
| had to be built for the family and
stables to shelter the stock, and also
churches and school houses, for the
men who settled Ohio, and in fact
most of our states, were men of ideas,
who were determined to g1ye their
children education and to minister to
their higher wants as we'll as to the
wants of the body. Then roads were
to be built and bridges constructed, as
the market In those days was accessi-
BILE only by wagon, and this often at
long distance from the farms.
Another hindrance to agricultural
progress was the character OF the i'm
plements with which the farming must
be done. They were crude and clumsy,
mostly made by the reafest black
smith and even the hoes, instead OF
being the light, steel hoes so easy OF
operation, were clumsily forged by the
blacksmith, and the handles were made
aud put in by the farmer, and often
these handles we're simply bean poles
Another difficulty the farmers had
to meet was in the fn afke:s, which not
only were at great distance from
home, but we're also easily glutted, as
tie cities had not made growth enough
the farm even when that surplus was
small. Fortunate was the man who
was 10 Gated within 50 miles q; coed
market for his products, and even then
he sometimes would find the market
so glutted that after having drawn his
load long distance to it, he cou.u liz.
dispose of the products. As an Illus
tration of this, neighbor of mine-a
man of about my own ageH-tells me
that when he was Is years old he
needed a little money, and applied to
his father for it. His father said to
him: "There is the corn CRIB; shell
all the corn you wish take the load to
Cincinnati and sell it, and you may
have all the money 1t brings" He
shelled two-horse load of corn, took
1t to the mill and had it ground and
went to Cincinnati, 40 miles distant,
with the meal. He found the market
80 glutted that 10 cents bushel was
the best offer he could get for it, and
Was not able to dispose of more than
half his load at that. have forgotten
now whether he drew the remainder
home or left 1t with commission man.
Thls was not Only true ct corn, but
OF all products. During The '4Os, when
I was old enough to work on the farm,
and can recall prices received, dressed
pork sold once as low as 81 Is hun.
dred pounds, and the highest l remem-
Der during this period was 1896
bundled pounds. This was considered
remarkably good price for those who
we're within SO or Is miles OF mar
ket. And, the same season in which
pork opened at 1896 in November, the
price had dropped in February to $1.75.
Eggs sold as low as three cents dozen
and potatoes at times were scarcely
worth drawing to market, selling at Is
cents a bushel- When there was
local failure of crop, however, prices
were high and have known potatoes
to sell at 25 cents bushel in the
spring and advance to 50 before the
following spring. There might be an
abundant crop and a glut in the mar
ket within 100 miles, but farmers
would not know it and if they did, the
wagoning of potatoes that distance
would largely reduce this profit.
| The want of transportation to mar
ket was one of the chief factors In the
poverty of farmers, for it not only low
cred the price or increased the cost of
marketing what they had to sell, but
it also made what they had to buy.
which came from an eastern market,
very high in price. The only way to
get goods at this time from New York
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing
ton (Which seem to have been the best
eastern markets) was to wagon them
across the Allegheny mountains, ard
as consequence the farmer paid more
than double the prices at which he can
now buy the necessities of life for the