The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-07-27
Charlotte NeWS.)

good many things from the great West
is evidently the opinion Of MI. S. B.
Tanner, of his city, who has recently
returned from a trip across the con-
tinent to the Pacific.
1.-THE secret Of the uniform success
of the Western States" said Mr.. Tan
ner, in speaking to a News man, is
easily found in the up-tO-date meth
DDS of the planters.
I did not see a single horse hltched
to q pillow anywhere in the West. In
every case there were from two to
four and they certainly made a ditch
or furroW that will hold moisture n
fertilizers and also prevent the soil
from washing away during heaVy
rains as it does in this section. Ihelr
lands look very little better on the
average than ours, but they farm in
diligently and are constantly improv-
ing their lands by working regularly
every day during the entire year, the
same as the merchants and manufac-
turers.
From Pennsylvania through Ohio,
Indiana, Missouri and Illinois | saw
acres of cattle, sheep. horses, mules,
hogs, poultry, etc. / saw about 500
mule and horse colts on one farm.
The same or similar conditions con-
tinue throughout the newer Western
and Northwestern States n n lat
ter have the additional advantage OF
SOlQ, silver dnu topper HIiIlIIlS, ~
all of which brings good prices, in ad-
dition to the big prices they obtain
for all farm products.
"All of these farmers are very pros
porous and what we would say rich,
and living in luxury. They seem to
have all of the modern c~onveniences
in their homes such as water works,
electric or gas lights, automobiles,
etc. Occasionally o see a farm
with gullies and lands badly washed
as we have them, but it Is the excep-
ton, as the farm which has no gullies
and washed places is the exception IN
this section.
They Plow Deep.
ct saw fields containing from SO to
1000 acres freshly plOwed for plant
ing corn and they were all as care
fully prepared as we epa our gar
dens. They pillow deep and ditch or
bank their hill sides to prevent wash
ing and Withstand droughts, which
the Carolinas can do and are doing
in some localities, and they can pro-
duce as much per acre as the Western
people by employing the same meth
DDS. On their rich bottom and they
have advantages, as they have more
of them, but on the uplands they
have none except in energy, system
and constant, intelligent application,
all the year around, which makes
them independent, prosperous and
wealthy. I was told that they never
complain of hard times and that the
real secret of their success is hat they
diversity their crops.
L saw some farmers returning from
a meeting at Portland. There seemed
to be a lot Of foreigners among them
and / asked why some OF them did
not go South and the reply was that
they did not like the one crop idea.
They "a that they could produce a
-.:+ &c -ooacci4inc c,,ob &C crniv,
hay, sugar beets, live stock Of all
kinds, and when one article was dull
and at a low price they could hold it
and sell something else but they I'M
derstood that the South could only
make cotton which had to be sold
during a certain season and seldom
paid the cost Of production.
Southern Farmers Last Opportunity.
ct is certainly sad to see that our
armers with a commodity that can
not be made elsewhere and on which
they nave a monopoly, will deliber-
ately put themselves into such a help
less position as to be forced to sell
without getting a good profit when
they can diversity as easily as the
Western farmer can, and instead Of
being at the mercy of the balance OF
the world he could be the most indie
pendent and wealthy planter in the
world.
1.-THE Western people get good pro-
fits for all they produce. There is no
reason whatever why the Carolina
farmers or any Southern farmer
should pay the western farmer $500
per barrel for flour when he could
make it for $3.50 to $500, the same
as it costs in the West, and then have
the additional advantage Of holding
his cotton for a fair profit, instead
of being forced to sacrifice it for
bread. The farmers in the CarOlinas
have many advantages over the far
western States, where they have good
lands, but W. no rain, and have to
irrigatc regularly, which is very ex-
pensive.
"A planter gave me some figures
which show how they make money
under great difficulties. He made IT
tons per acre of sugar beet which sold
-zA0r faxn-N pE