The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-12-21
FARMERS HAVE THE XIV

ooiue poapIe, reading that oo
has reached fifteen cents, jumn to -"
conclusion that all the farmers
become rich and begin to talk
II rich farmers. 1t is 2 matt
co~hsratuiatlon to farmers that tho,
get remunerative prices for their %.
ton and everything that men eat h..
by the same token everything tha,- 49,
is very high and the high prices 70.
what they sell does not mako +ho
armers as rich as superficial oh
servers think.
The Southern farmer who is oa.-
ting good prices for his cotton ava
country produce, could be much mora
prosperous if he would quit buvirr
Western feed stuff, Western corn and
Western meat. Every farmer N tho
cotton belt cannot profitably raise all
his -four, but with wise manacemon4
he can raise all his corn and meat and
feed for his took. That IS the frs,
resolution North Carolina farmers
should make for the New Year. The
South ought to have corn to sell in
stead of buying it, and 1T should raise
cattle and hogs as we'll as corn and
wheat and grasses. Many farmers are
doing this and as a rule they are this
most prosperous farmers to be found.
A commercial traveller, Of large ac-
quaintance and wide experiences.
writes to this paper as follows:
To the Editor: The newspaper and
people generally are discussing the
high prices Of beef. leather and shoes.
They contend that the price of beef
Is SO high that the poorer classes can
not buy, thus limiting the slaughter OF
cattle and making a scarcity of hides,
etc. At first sight, this would seem
very plausible. But let us go deeper
into this matter and see If we can
find other and more serious reasons
for the high prices Of beef. leather ana
shoes. See the great Northwest, West
and Southwest, where the cattle are
raised to supply the country with beef,
leather and shoes-the corn, wheat
and hay + also produced to sup
ply the country. These Western ra;m-
ers r now enjoying the greatest pros
perity. They are selling their cora,
wheat, hay to the people Of the East
and farmers Of the South, at fabulous
prices.
they know the trust methods, who
fiji the price OF their cattle, just as
they fix the price Of the SoutherIs
farmers tobacco. Consequently these
Western farmers will never feed col
lar per bushel corn and twenty dollar
per ton hay to cattle, SO long as they
find such a ready market in the
South. If it were possible for our
Southern farmers to get together and
raise their own home supplies for just
one year, you would see cheap beef,
leather, shoes and clothing.
This is unquestionably the key to
the situation and the only hope or its
solution. I would be glad to see the
newspapers of the South tax up this
true light.
Yours truly,
T, A. LYON.
Greensboro, n. &.
There is food for thought in what
Mr.. Lyon writes. 1t is pleasing u
read in the weekly papers that more
wheat is being planted this fall in
North Carolina than ever before, and
the farmers in most counties are be-
lieved to have grown more oats and
corn during 1909 than previously, and
in some portions Of the State cotton
growing is on the increase. The
Southern farmers will be prosper
III year in and year out when Hog
and HoIniny'' ia their motto. tnuf
they raise enough to feed home folks
and feed constantly increasing mum
bers OF cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry
they will lack the prosperity that ma