Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-01-05
A COMMON ECONOMIC ERROR.
Farmers Should Not Buy Supplies
They Can Produce.

Farmers Should Not Buy Supplies
They Can Produce.
The following article comes to us
from S. A Knapp, special agent in
charge Of Farmers Cooperative DEM
onstration Work Of the United States
department Of Agriculture:
For many years it has been the GUS
tom of southern farmers to make their
crop upon the advance system" and
while this has been regarded as an
economic error on the side Of the far
mer, by many merchants it has been
thought that it was very profitable
way of buying cotton.
The farmer realized that as a matter
of safety 1t was better to make the
food consumed by his family and his
stock upon the farm rather than to
purchase it and especially when he had
TO promise payment out Of crop which
had not as yet been made. 1 have
been watching this phase Of country
life in the south for many years and
have come to the conclusion that the
advance system" is just as great a
mistake on the part Of the merchant as,
it Is on the part of the farmer, for the
following reasons:
First, the merchant takes great risks,
which, of course, he tries to cover by
increased charges. But even though
these charges are increased, the staples
of life are not such articles as high
percentage Of profit will adhere to, and
the merchant is practically trading gold
for a promise to pay. If the crop fails,
he is obliged to carry and carry and
carry and possibly may ultimately, as in
thousands of cases, be obliged to take
the farm, for which he has no use,
and under boil weevil conditions Is diff
ficult to handle profitably upon a ten
ant system.
Under a cash system there will be a
great reduction in the sales OF some
staple foods such as bacon, potatoes,
beans, lard, vegetables, canned goods,
hay corn, etc., all articles that carry
low profits. The farmer is rarely a
hoarder of money and II he saves two
hundred dollars or more by producing
all his food supplies at home he has
that much more to spend when his crop
is made, and 1t is cash.
Under a cash system the farmer will
buy with his surplus more dry goods,
clothing, shoes, furniture, etc., for his
family, better teams, farm implements,
wagons, buggies, ETC., on which there
iu a much greater profit for the mer-
chant than on staple articles Of food.
The merchant can turn his money In
thirty days, instead Of a year. Ten
per cent clear profit turned monthly is
better than 120 per cent gain received
annually. Some Of the farmers in
creased income goes into permanent
improvement to enable the farmer to
produce more and spend more annually.
Again, there is something about rails
ing cotton, tobacco, ETC., to pay a debt
that saps the vitality Of the farmer and
affects the quality Of his tillage. 1t
really lowers the grade Of farming. II
upon the other hand the merchants will
join with US in urging farmers to raise
tall their food supplies and try to pro-
duce by better tillage double the crop
per acre they now produce, the result
as it affects the merchant will be this:
All business will soon be on cash
basis and the volume will be three or
four times as large from the farmers
alone. The advent Of more money Will
bring diversified industries among the
farmers and eventually will attract
manufactures to the market towns.
If there are idle farms in the county,
instead Of calling meetings for the pur-
pose Of raising funds to secure immi-
grafton, call meetings to encourage the
farmers who know the country and are
loyal to it, to universally adopt the
following plan. First, provide their own
food supplies from the farm. Second,
double the average product on every
acre under cultivation and let each
worker on the farm by the use Of bet
ter teams and tools, till three times as
many acres as at present, not In the
one crop, but in a variety Of diversi-
fed and profitable crops. This would
cause all immediate demand for more
land and would provide the money to
pay for it. This makes every man on
the farm more than six times the in
dustrial power he now Is and gives him
love of the farm This is better than
to leave him in encouragement and
secure immigrants to come and buy
him out.
1 should not speak so positively, only
l have observed for a quarter OF GEN.
tury that where the southern mer-
chants have changed from an advance
system" to a cash system, they have
prospered very much more than In for-
mer years and the number Of failures
Is immensely less. OF course, 1t Is not
meant that there should be no credits,
but practically there should be little
necessity for them until the crop Is
actually ready for the harvest, then
trade becomes a cash transaction. Or
better STILL the farmer can get his mon
ey from the bank and pay cash In all
cases, If there is a lack Of ready money.
The advance system bears down up
en- the cotton farmer with special hard
ships His crop is either sold at once
or Is forced to the gin and the ware
house so as to secure loans. If the cot
ton farmer is not forced to sell to raise
money or pay debts he will store his
crop on his farm and market at his
leisure, which is in the interests OF
all parties.
1t appears to me, therefore, that the
farmer viii immeasurably gain when he
produces what he has hitherto bought
in the way of living. He is not COM
PEELED to sell his crop Immediately upon
the harvest. When he does sell he
trades for cash. The greater amount OF
money he has is very helpful to the
family but the stimulus to his self
respect is perhaps the most important
item to be considered. The merchant
prospers by the greater volume of bus
mess and by the quick return OF his