The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1910-12-17

buy corn to raise hogs as 1t is to
buy corn to raise cotton.
You boys ask your fathers how
much better off they would be to-
day II they had always raised suf-
ficient corn. how much their supply
bills would have been cut down, how
many more hogs and cattle they
would have had to sell each year
and how much less meat 70 buy
Having been connected for
many years with a firm operating
grain elevators at st. Louis and
Memphis and doing n large grain
business here at Nicksburg. | know
OF the millions of bushels of corn
and other feed grains that have
been yearly shipped into the cot
ton producing States and the mil
ton raising States and the mil
lions Of dollars that have been paid
in return to the railroads for haul
ing the grain. and TO the farmers
in the West who raised IL.
The awakening of the Southern
farmers to the necessity OF produc-
ing foodstuffs ample for feed
ing cattle hogs and work stock. is,
in my judment. the most important
advance in agriculture they have
ever made II will give them a IL
nancial independence they have new
er possessed before.
when the cotton crops, small
though they may be in boil weevil
districts. are ready for the market
they will not be ortgaged TO the
limit to pay for advances Of grain
and meat. but will belong 10 the
farmer for him to sell only when
the market is favorable This will
give him an economic advantage he
never before enjoyed. and | be-
lieve will bring about an agricul-
tural and commercial prosperity in
the South far greater than has ever
been known before.
Now. boys. it is to your corn
clubs that We must look to bring
about all this. | trust my words
may help to spur your ambitions
on to further and greater success
es in corn raising Don't stop with
raising a big yield on prize acre.
It's the average Of your whole crop
that counts. Mr. Bait. whom /
met at the North Carolina state
Fair. had 80 acres almost as good
as his prize one.
"The average yield Of corn per
acre for Mississippi this year is
little better than 20 bushels 10 the
acre. while for Illinois II is nearly
40. Double your efforts and keep
up your good work. and before
many years Mississippi will equal, II
not surpass. Illinois
In conclusion, permit me TO re-
mind you Of the greatness OF the
work of cultivating the soil The
great English writer. Carlyle. has
wisely said that he who gets some
thing from the earth is the only
real producer He only adds 10
the worlds wealth.
I'VE. merchants. bankers and
lawyers. don't produce any wealth
We are mere instruments 10 distrib-
ute IT, You are the producers and
you who till the soil make the foun-
dation of the wealth Of the country
Don't let the glamour and the pleas
ures of the cities tempt you
to leave the farm with its health
and freedom The percentage OF
men who succeed in the towns is
much less than among those who re-
main on the farms Stick to the
farms, study your farming as the
merchant studies his business. or
the good lawyer the law. Keep in
close touch with the agricultur-
al college of the State and read the
admirable bulletins which they send
out. and apply the scientific knowl-
edge you get to our daily cultiva-
ton Of the soil. DO this and you
will grow up to be happy and pros
porous men, a credit to yourselves,
to your country and to your state