Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1914-10-14
QUESTIONS AS TO OUR FUTURE.
Some "SuppOSes" that Lead to the
Most Important Question.

Editor Keowee Courier: Suppose
the special session Of the Legislature,
now in session, should pass a law
reducing the cotton production next
year one-half, or even prohibiting the
planting Of any cotton at all next
year: suppose every other Southern
State should follow suit, and it should
be guaranteed by law that there
would be only half a cotton crop, or
even no cotton at all raised next year
then what would we plant? And
| where would we sell what we do
| plant? We don't want less money;
we want more money. And there is
absolutely no difference in dollars and
cents between an 0,0O0-bale crop
of cotton at 16 cents and a 16,O0O,-
! 0O0-bale crop at cents. If we were
to plant no cotton at all next year
and be able to market our present
crop at 20 Co'ts in consequence, we
would not receive any more money
than if we marketed it at 10 cents
and made another crop Of the same
| size at the same price.
The gist Of the matter is just this:
If we are going to cut down, or cut
out, the cotton crop, we have got to
plant and sell something else or cut
down our money supply. We are not
looking at the profit that will accrue
| to the individual farmer, but we are
looking at the bulk of money that
will be coming into the country as a
basis for business. And if we are
going to plant anything else besides
cotton, on an extensive scale, we
have got to look out for market
for it.
We heard a farmer say the other
day that he was not going to plant
cotton next year; that he was done
with "the nasty stuff; that he was
going to plant corn and hay; that he
could make more money out Of these
than he could out Of cotton. We
asked him where he was going to sell
his corn and hay. He replied that
he could sell all the corn he could
raise at 81 per bushel and hay at
$40 per ton. We asked him where,
and he said fright here" We admit
that for the past few years that has
been possible. But that is so be-
cause so many farmers have not been
raising their own feed crops in this
section. But if everybody is going
to raising corn and hay, as it looks
now like every one will be compelled
to do, there will be no local market
for those things. And this will be
true not only OF this section in par
ticular, but all over this State and
the entire cotton belt. The pros
poets now are that the whole cotton
belt will be planted largely to feed
crops next year And to find mar
ket for our food crops we will have
to go not only out of our State, but
out of the South. That means that
we will have to meet the Western
States in the open market. Are we
prepared to meet them in this COM
petition?
There is another way out. The
most ready and most profitable mar
ket for food crops is live stock. We
have some marked advantages in this
industry over the West, and while
this war continues meat prices are
not likely to decline. For us. in this
section at least, it would seem to us
that the only wise thing to do is to
begin now to prepare to have live
stock to feed our contemplated in
! creased yield of feed crops to next
year. And this is II matter that will
demand cooperation between the
farmers and the business men of the
country Just as much as the holding
vt cotton and the reduction of the
acreage of cohton does.
Some action should he taken along
this line at once by the farmers and
business mems organizations of this
county. l. f.. w.
Seneca, Oct. Q, 1914.