St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1909-11-20

Saturday.
Prosperous FARMERS MAKE
PROS -nCUS TOWNS.

SCoolIy IOI Duii..llS up our agricultural IN
dustrles in orCer to secure prosperity for
Covingt0n. The subjoined article by Prof .
S. A. Knapp, than whom none is more capa-
BILE of speaking intelligently of the condition
OF the farmer of the South, should be care
fully read by everyone interested in build |
ing up Covington and the other towns Of the
parish. It will not be denied by any intelli- |
gent man that prosperous agricultural dis
trict means prosperity for the towns within |
it's limits.
1t is true we are not now handler of
much cotton, though we could handle much
more if a strictly cash system prevailed, yet
the principle is the same Make the farmer
prosperous-place him in position where
his earning capacity will enable him to buy
what he needs for cash and you will make
him a builder of towns and support that
never fails. Our climate and soil and wide
scope of profitable crops make it certainty
that this can be done, with proper manage
ment It only remains to do it,
Professor Knapp, who is special agent in
charge Of Farmers Cooperative Demonstra-
ton Work, has the following to say:
For many years it has been the custom
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 farmer, by many merchants it
has been thought that it was very profitale
way Of buying cotton.
The farmer realized that as matter OF
safety it was better to make the food con-
sumed by his family and his stock upon the
farm rather than to purchase it, and espe
cially when he had to promise payment out
of crop which had not as yet been made.
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 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 in
creased charges But even though these
charges are increased, the staples of life are
not such articles as a high percentage Of
profit will adhere to, and the merchant is
practically trading gold for promise to pay
If the crop fails, he is obliged to carry and
cary and carry and possibly may ultimately
as in thousands of cases, be obliged to take
the farm, for which he has no use, and I'M
der boil Weevil conditions is difficult to han
die prOftably under tenant 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 hOarder Of money, and if 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 it is cash.
Under 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 is a much greater profit
for the merchant 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 increased income goes into
permanent Improvement to enable the farmer
to produce more and spend more annually.
Again, there is something about raising
cotton, tobacco, etc., to pay debt, that saps
the vitality of the farmer and affects the
quality Of his tillage. It really lowers the
grade of farming. If upon the other hand
the merchants will Join with us in urging
farmers to raise all their food supplies and
try to produce, by better tillage, double the
crop per acre they now produce, the result
as it affects the merchant will be this:
AL Du0lllCSo w Ill SOOll NC VII d CASH UdSlS
and the volume will be three or four times
as large from the farmers alone The ad-
vent Of more money will bring diversified |
industries among the farmers and will even
tually attract manufacturers to the market
towns
IF there are idle farms in the county, !
instead Of calling meetings for the purpose
of raising funds to secure immigration, call
meetings to encourage the farmers who
know the country and are loyal to it to uni
versally adopt the following plan: First, pro-
vide 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 better
teams and tools, till three times as many
acres as at present. not in the one crop but
in variety of diversified and profitable
crops This would cause an immediate de-
mand for more land and would provide the
money to pay for it. This makes every man
on the farm more than six times the indus
trial power he now is and gives him love
of the farm. This is better than to leave
him in Encouragement and secure immi-
grants to come and buy him out. /,
Il should not speak so positively, only
have observed for quarter of century
that where the Southern merchants have