The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1906-05-10
The Farmer.
I harlOttc Observer

'HdEloil' 'istr\rE-
Wednesday, April 25th, was farm
ers day in the national House OF
Representatives,, and many facts and
figures were developed relative to the
great amount of wealth brought
forth bv this the leading class OF pro-
ducers in the United States and a
class which in recent years has last
forged to the front and is now tully
abreast OF the timeS-as much alIv"
to their own interests as those ell
gagged in any other business. The
farmer is engaged in work which is
the basis for all this country's devel-
opment, and it may be said that the
quotation from Napoleon's writing
in the French civil code, made by Mr..
Lever. of South Carolina, in the
course of speech i'll the House is ap-
plicable to conditions in this country
now. The great Corsican said: FIRST,
agriculture. the soul and basis OF the
empire; second, industry, the comfort
and happiness of the population;
third, trade, the superabundance and
proper application of the surplus OF
agriculture and industry What We
started out to refer to, however, was
not the high standing OF the Amerl-
can farmer, hut the great value OF
| things which he produces, as shown
by statistics quoted on farmers
day" in the House. Sixteen years
| ago the value of farm products in
the Inited States was s., 400, ,0OO,-
600. while in 1905 the aggregate
value is placed at So, 100000.
| "In this short time, says Mr.. Lever,
"the farmer has trebled the product
ivencss of his capital and in one year
wrung from the soil products the ag-
gregate of whose money value is only
Il third less than the total capital ac-
| cumulated by manufactures during
the entire existence Of the country.
In dealing with t, 9 productiveness
of our American farms. Mr.. Dawson,
OF Iowa, sad
The crop vaiIes for last last year are
almost past comprehension. Ming IRA
reached its hig hes, production Wit =
| 1OS. .OuO. .UOU bushels. Il gain OF lSl,oOD,-
600 bushels over til, next lower year,
1902 The value of last years corn crop
was 81 Il 10000 oOO-a sum equal I" he
capital stock If all the State and nation
banks ia The nited sta -.
Cotton, inrluuing "! stood Sec nd
VITA a production va.u,d 500, 5000
OOO-a sum larger than the total expen-
ditures Of til government last year.
Third in value is wheat. The wheat
crop of last year was the second III size
that this country has ever produced and
the highest in value, being worth SJ1s,-
OOU. .OOO-a sum which exceeds the an
nual output OF all the coal mines of the
country by $4,000, 900.
Next after wheat comes the hay crop
the value of which amounted to nearly
| Sol g. 900 O0O-a sum equal to all the
| gold coin of Great Britain. The Oat crop
of last year amounted to S211 100000
"a sum large enough to meet the total
annual expenditure for public schools in
the nited States The potato crop was
| worth almost S161 600. 900 and the bar
ley crop SO, ,OOO, 900 n.ore. To this may
be added the value OF the dairy products
OF the United States. which amounted
last year to $500. .0O0, ,o0O-greatcr il
value than any crop but corn.
Such figures are indeed almost be
yOnd comprehension, and yet they
by no means represent all the yalua
ble things produced by the farmer
There is, for instance, the American
hen AS everybody on this tiOOl
knows, the raising ofpoultry is large
~ Incidental to the general business
of the farm" continued the Iowa
Representative, ''and yet the annua
production OF eggs has reached mor
than score OF billions, and the poul
try products have mounted to
place of more than half n billion dol
lars in value" Thus it appears tha
the poultry business is as much ;
producer OF wealth as the grea
Southern staple, cotton, the value O
which i'll 1905 was S575, 900, 900, be
ing second in value Of all the crops
the leaders Of which for 1905 were a
follows: