The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-04-14
CUT IT OUT
The Farmers Urged To Reduce
The Cotton Acreage
VERY GOOD ADVICE
Which Would Help Out Wonder
fully, If the Cotton Producers
Would Only Follow it Out Gen.
orally Throughout the Cotton Pro-
ducing Region.

orally Throughout the Cotton Pro.
ducing Region.
Columbia, April 8.-President B,
Harris, Of the South Carolina State
Farmers Union, has issued the fol.
lowing address, which he desires that
the county papers of the State should
copy:
Again I want to call your atten-
ton, farmers, that now is the time
to fix price on the 1909 cotton crop.
Will you make it 8 or Is cents? 1t
is in your power to make it either.
II want to, If 1 can impress upon
you, that Investigation of your
crops is the keynote of the situation.
I want to urge every Southern farmer
to plant at least rs per cent Of his
cotton land in food crops, so as to
let's see if it will pay US as farmers
to diversity our crops. To my knowl-
edge, the farmer who has not been
making home self-supporting has
been swapping 81 for so cents. Now
let's see if this assertion is true.
1.-THE farmer who bought corn last
year paid $1.10 cash for it. If he
borrowed the money to buy with, it
cost him $1.25, as he paid interest
on the money. If he hauled 1t home
ten miles 1t cost him 10 cents. 1t
Is worth 10 cents per bushel to haul
corn ten miles, so his corn cost him
s1.35. Now, any good, progressive
| farmer can make all the corn he will
need on his farm for 35 cents per
bushel. You see he gave a dollar
for what he could have raised for
IS cents per bushel. Are any Of
| the Southern farmers guilty of the
| above? If so, go and sin no more.
did you buy any bacon? 1t is
| selling now for IL IL cents cash.
| Still swapping 81 for so cents. Any
| good farmer can raise enough for
his family use or 8 cents per pound.
Did you buy any hay? you did
YOU are still at the same old way
Of exchanging. If you bought a
horse or a mule you paid from 5000
to $3.50. You can raise one just
as good for less than 500. Now,
| brother farmers, do not say that you
| can not raise corr for 35 cents. Try
to do it. I have met more than 30
farmers this year that raised 1t for
| less than IS cents per bushel, and
as many as Is who raised it for less
than 20 cents.
"The farmer who is raising corn
for 80 cents, bacon for 8 cents, rails
ing his own horses and making home
self-supporting has quit swapping 81
for so cents. The farmer who Is
buying is still at his old job. While
| the farmer who is buying on a lien
and mortgage on his crop is. just
| swapping 81 for % cents, for the
| cash buyer is swapping 81 for 80
| cents. He can raise it for half what
he pays for it when he buys 1t.
| Brother farmer, If you are guilty OF
the above sin I say to you, sin no
more.
Now, what price will you have for
| the 1909 crop? Will you have 8 or
| Is cents? Remember, it is all in
| your hands, and you will get what
| ever price you make 1t. To get 10
cents you will have to diversity your
| crops and stop exchanging 81 for
so cents, or you will never be able
to get a remunerative price. Now,
| what is the use of the farmers of
| the South to raise. 100000 bales
| of cotton and not get for 1t any
more than they a for a 100000
or 5000, 000-bale crop? Think OF
the enormous expense of raising the
| extra 100000 bales to bear the
| market down. And who does this?
1t is the .farmer. Think and consid-
FLOR. a m6fhs9t what you are doing
and you VII Quit.
IssBG6:golb-think f6E:a> noment that
Ia manufacturer weufd'd1sany such
f1ireus business :,asEGStessss No, he
would stop one-ha1f 6fshfs machinery
at once and curtait his output one
half and make thess same profit.
Now, brother farmers, use a little
| good business judgment and common
good horse sense! -I'hear some farm
er say Mr.. Jones is going to cut his
| cotton acreage and l will just In
| crease mine. Sad, but this is too
true to make a joke Of. This is just
what the speculative world says you
will do. The most essential thing
for the farmers to do this year is
to plant S5 per cent Of cotton land
in food crops and live at home.
81 took dinner the other day with
a man who lives in the country. |
can not say that he was a farmer,
for his dinner did not satisfy me In
| calling him a farmer, for everything
he had on his table was bought.
Out of curiosity l asked him how he
! cured his bacon. He said Mr.. Ar
mour cured it for him. asked
him what tomato he found was best
for canning. He told me his were
! canned in Baltimore. I asked him
what kind of turnips he sowed for
making salad. He told me he bought
, that also. Then l wanted to know
what kind of cotton seed be- planted,
md he quickly answered.: I plant
Toole's and Cooks
$50 you can readily see that he
was a planter and not a real, real
farmer. This is the kind of farming