The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1909-11-26
III ADvnsCtDCoST Of uvu6.


IlF ADVANCED CeST Of lining.
The cost Of living grows higher
with each turn of the market. Cot
ton goods of the palmer weave and
the WOODEN goods needed for winter
wear are advancing in price. In
New York, where milk has advanc-
ed 2 cents on the quart, and eggs
several cents more on the dozen, the
hystericaf purchaser has arisen to
blame the trusts.
More practical people see in the
situation only another demonstra-
ton of the world-old law of supply
and demand. Houses bring higher
rents because building materials are
higher now than a few years ago.
Cotton goods are higher because the
supply of raw cotton is short.
Wooden goods have advanced be-
cause raw wool has gone forward
40 per cent. and this simply because
the wool crop is short. Sheep
growers in the west can no longer
Craze their focks at will on outly-
ing government lands, the forest
service has seen to that. Therefore
the sheep raisers have, many Of
them, turned to more profitable
things.
The shortness of the milk and
egg supply is merely a result of the
season. There are no green pas
lures for cows, and the majority Of
dairymen underfeed their cattle.
Chickens find a better outdoor liv.
ing in summer than in winter, and
when not properly fed refuse to
lay. These two errors in farm man
agement can and should be correct.
ed. Poor feeding is poor business
Beef is advancing in price, and
pork is attaining to a prohibitive
price for the working man. This
past week the Chicago packing
houses handled $4,000 fewer hogs
than the week before. The farmers,
finding big prices awaiting corn.
sold it for 81 and more a bushe]
and didn't use it to fatten hogs.
A local dealer prophesies that the
price of pork next spring will be
higher than has been known in
many years. The supply is not
equal to the demand.
When the Western farmer sold
his corn and neglected his hogs, the
Southern farmer has been following
the precedent set by his people who
farmed before him, and has raised
only cotton, expecting to buy the
bacon, hams and lard that his West.
ern neighbor raised. Both have lost
out on the proposition.
Because the cotton crop of 1909
has been a billion dollar crop,
many small farmers expect the
same prices next year and are rent
ing or buying further acreage. A
number of West Tennessee truckers
are already doing away with cold
frames and small patches in read
mess for a cotton crop next year.
The staple food products are be-
ing neglected because of the mis-
leading high prices paid for certain
commodities, and the balance OF
economic power is being destroyed.
When the farmer realizes this he
will begin to raise his own meat,
his own meal and molasses. Mean
while he is apt to learn a very hard
lesson wherein his gold reserve,
won from his cotton crop, will be
seriously impaired . by the high
prices he is paying for goods he did
not, but might have, raised.
The United States government
has had S. A. Knapp, a specialist on
farm demonstration work in the
South for several years, showing
what small acreage and diversified
farming can do for this section.
Through the application of such
teachings lies the independence of
the farmer and a less costly living
for the average c~itizen.-Memphis
Commercial Appeal.