The Springfield herald. (Springfield, Baca County, Colo.) 1887-1919, 1912-02-23
HOPE FOR SOUTHERN FARMER
Must Grow Everything Needed for
Home consumption-one-crop sys-
tenn Means Poor People.

My text for this short sermon Will
be found in Dr. Wards most excellent
article on the subject Of pellagra and
reads as follows: Unless we can lay
our foundation deep and wide and
strong upon the rock OF home sup
plies, all other measures are doomed
to Inevitable failure. The manufac-
turers and cotton spectators thor
oughly understand this and confident
ly expect US to fail"
There is one hope and only one
hope for the farmers of the south and
that Is the growing Of everything nee
essary for home consumption. Let us
not think for one moment that our
cotton conventions and warehouses
will save us II we fail to grow our
home supplies. All cooperative
schemes of holding or selling will be
of but little benefit to the farmer who
ia in debt for his supplies and the
feed for his teams.
The one-crop system means a poor
soil and a poor soil always means a
poor people. A poor people always
means uncomfortable homes, poorly
equipped farms. very little education,
the credit system. and in fact all that
retards civilization. The individual.
state or nation that practices a one
crop system will certainly come to
poverty. There Is not an individual.
not a state or nation in the world to-
day that Is prosperous in spite of
one-crop system. Go wherever you
will and wherever you find one-crop
system, there you find poor people.
We must grow our home supplies.
do not advise southern farmers to
supplant cotton as their leading money
crop, but l urge them with all the
earnestness of my soul to grow every
food product necessary for home con-
sumption and to raise enough good
stock to manufacture the legum!nous
crops that must be grown in order to
economically increase the productive
ness of the soil into teams and feed
for man and manure for the fields.
We cannot afford to send two-thirds
of the money obtained for cotton to
other sections Of the country to pay
for farm products. We are in sore
need of the money obtained for cotton
to build good roads. to educate and
clothe our families better. to build
good homes. good schoolhouses.
churches and 30 on.
The one-crop system established the
credit system. As long as We raised
every farm product necessary for
home use and some to spare. there
was no necessity for the credit sys-
tenn. The one-crop system marked
the dawning of the era Of the supply
merchant. What hope is there in the
future for the farmers Of the south
as long as the husband. wife and chill
dren cultivate by far the larger part
of the farm in cotton to pay for high
priced bacon. lard, mules and other
farm products bought on credit?
Their Is no hope.
The one-crop system forces us to
buy on credit We must dump all of
our cotton on the market in the fall in
order to pay for the supplies bought
on credit We cannot hold our cotton
off the market. The merchants were
kind enough to keep our families from
starving. We must sell our cotton as
fast as we pick 1t in order to satisfy
our creditors. The dumping of all of |
our cotton on the market In the fall |
forces the price far selow an equitable |
one.
We have no business to plant three |
Of our land in cotton and go in |
debt for ordinary farm supplies. Let |
us grow our own supplies. practice the
most rigid economy. and insist on get !
ting all that we are obliged to buy at |
the lowest prices for cash. This is |
common sense farming, all other kinds |
being nonsense farming
n Ii mr. n