Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-10-11
SOME VERY FOOLISH THINGS.
Farmer Tells What He Thinks Most
Foolish, and Some Others.

FOollSll, ana Some Others.
Editor Courier: We notice in your
issue Of last week short article
headed "A Very Foolish Thing" A
good little write-up this, but your an
swer Is not according to our way of
thinking. We think the most foolish
thing that we ever heard Of is that
the farmers will make a big crop Of
cotton when they can get more money
for little crop than they can get
FOR big one. Now, for DOWNRIGHT
foolishness this certainly takes the
cake.
Suppose you have a man chopping
wood by the cord. You propose to
pay him 50 cents per cord. You
tell him that you will give him one
dollar tor half cord, but you will
give him only so cents for whole
cord. The most ignorant negro in all
this land would stop when he put up
the half cord, simply because he
saves half his labor. But the farm
Ers are DONG something precisely
like that, and they won't stop.
If we make fourteen million bales
OF cotton we get from S to Q cents
Tor 1t, and If we make seven million
DaleS we get is to 20 cents for it,
BESIDES we have saved half our labor.
Doth 1or ourselves and our stock. We
nave saved half our fertilizer bin
ana still get more actual cash. Just
think of that now, if you please, and
you will agree with me.
Fhere are some Old gray-headed
citizens in this county who will tell
YOU that Just after the war closed
IN 1863 or 1866, cotton sold for 80
10 40 cents per pound. Why? Sim
ply because there was but little cot
ton IN the country. This seems to
De s"ihcient PROOF OF what supply and
demand Will do. But unfortunately
for our country. our farmer friends
seem to be every one from Missouri
| and YOU can't tell them anything;
YOU nave to show them everything.
One great dra whack to our farm
"rS is that majority OF them seem
10 want the whole world to know
luSt what he is doing. and lust how
lnuch ne Is making, OF everything he
plants. We see some little upstart
90 out on the side Of the public road
ana lay of one acre OF the best land
on the farm. He will plow il ~ and
put ton of guanO on this one acre
Ihen, II he makes bale Of cotton
on 1t, he will run TO town and geI
the editor OF some ncWSDaucr and
carry him out TO look at his cotton.
ne editor will then 80 back to his
ono" ana publish to the world what
TINS great farmer has dOnc--madc n
bal" OF cotton to the acre. Then.
again, some little Johnnie Jump-up
in some other state will claim that
H." made two bales to the acre; then
| som" body in some other State will
say n" made thre, bales to the acre.
h"h the bear spectators Of New
YORK Will sec all this and they will
publish ii in all the big daily papers
IN the United States, and they will
De crying out, "Bumpor crop! Bum
per crop. Three bales to the acre"
all over the South. Then down goes
the price OF your cotton. when. as
matter OF fact. probably there is
hardiN an average crop being made.
But the price is down and the far
mcr did it himself.
lhcn the farmers Of the South will
get ont report that there is only a
half crop Of cotton being made; that
great drought has injured the crop
- per cent: that the boil wccvii is
dcvOuring the crop. etc. Wen, then
we find that the bear spectators,
too. are all from Missouri, and we
can't tell them anything. We have
10 SHOW them before they will be-
IicEp.
! happened on one occasion, not
lohS since, to meet up with several
farmers. One man said he had five
bales OF cotton now open in his field
ana could not get any hands to hclp
gather it; another said he had six
bales in his field open and could not
get it gathered, and he said about
hall his fodder burned up before he
could save it. Then in less than ten
minutes they were talking about
| going to Texas or Oklahoma to get
rich farming, when they had already
man1 more here than they could
gather
Then there IS another foolish
thing. Why move away. gentlemen?
Now, Johnnie, If you will put one ton
or guanO to the acre as you did on
your cotton to make one bale, and
then plant that acre in corn, you
VIII make nifty bushels, and it will
bring you fifty dollars, and your bale
or cotton will only bring you forty
five dollars. and you don't have to
90 to New York to hunt up some lit
| tie dude who never did hard days