Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-02-12

IN duulllOIl, SSNCIdl III "Si
sent outside the state for mules and
horses and about $4,000 tons Of food
stuffs, not included in the table, and
embracing 2,466 ton Of apples, 2,64S
tons Of oranges, 2,626 tons Of peas and
peanuts, 1929 tons Of melons, and g.
O55 tons Of other fruits and vegetables,
were brought into the state by one
railroad alone, making the total Of
such purchases at least 800, 900, 900.
South Cardinals experience In this
respect is shared in one degree and
another by all Of the cotton-growing
states in the south. Eleven Of these
states, which in 1914, raised corn,
oats, hay and wheat to an aggregate
value Of s639, 353, 900, spent In that
year more than s2O3. 900, 900 for such
products brought from other quarters.
II the proportion Of such purchases to
the total purchases Of foodstuffs and
feedstuffs prevailed in South Carolina
in the preceding year prevailed In the
cotton states generally, the total ex-
penditures in the eleven cotton states
for agricultural products brought
from outside their respective borders
would have fallen not far short of
$500, 000, 900, or only about s100, 0OO,-
less than the value of the 1913 cotton
crop, with it's seed.
Are not such facts sufficient to turn
the mind Of responsible southern farm
ers to the wisdom Of diverting some of
their acreage and some of their en-
ergy away from all-cotton and into
the raising of home supplies for man
and beast, without losing time In
triAing with such facilities as legis-
lative attempts to control the plant
ing # cotton? If they require other
facts, they might study the results of
operations of such bodies as the
Eastern Shore of Virginia Produce
exchange, a cooperative organization
Of farmers Of Accomac and Northamp-
ton counties, Virginia, which handled
2,4S9, 955 packages Of products in 1914
or 334,6S4 packages less than in 1913,
the reduction being due largely to a
shortage in the sweet potato crop.
But, in spite Of the reduction, the re-
turns in 1914 were s5,S93,9 42, an in
crease of s1,11O,O31 over 1913. Among
the members Of the exchange a divi-
dend Of 10 per cent was divided.
Here and there are signs Of a move
ment in the right direction. In eleven
cotton states, the area planted to
wheat last fall is 7,271. 900 acres, an in
creas of 1872, 900 acres, or more than
80 per cent over the planting of the
fall of 1913, and the area planted to
oats is 4,355,000 acres, an increase of
1908, 900 acres, or nearly A per cent
over that of the fall Of 1913. The in
| cas- in the acreage in wheat and
oats is something more than 10 per
m Of the acreage planted to cotton
in 1914 in those eleven states. This is
a good beginning. A revolutionary
change from all-cotton to extensive
| growing Of other money crops cannot
be expected Of hundreds Of thousands
of individuals who know little about
any crop except cotton, and whose
knowledge even of that is suggested in
the fact that the average cotton crop
in tn. south is about one-third Of a
bale to the acre. But a bit Of wise
cooperation on the part Of the most
capable growers with y cir less fortu-
nate neighbors ougf suffice to
bring about a wides I'd determine
ton to make a begil. ing at least in
raising foodstuffs and feedstuffs at
home. II 100 all-cotton growers in
every cotton raising county in the
south could De induced to recognize
the wisdom of planting first of all,
crops other than cotton sufficient to
provide. directly or indirectly, food
for their families and their animals
before planting their cotton acreage,
nearly 1907 C0 farmers would take an
advance step toward the position OF
being fairly independent of this years
cotton market. They would, it is
true. constitute but a small proper
ton of the total number of southern
cotton growers when it is believed
that they would constitute a leaver
that ultimately would leaven the
whole Observation-Disclosures Record.