Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-02-23
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1916
TUE FEtTILIIIiis SITUATION.


going about the consideration Of it
in u busincss-lke way. They assert
that the prices prevailing are pro-
hibitivc, and that it IS bad business
to use fertilizer at Il cost greater
than the benefit that can possibly be
drriy"d from it's use. And it GER
,ailly seems that they are ON the
road to correct understanding OF
tho matttr.
There was Il meeting of the farm
r,s at the Court House last Thurs
day morning. There were not as
many farmers present as there
should have been. and the other bus
mess men OF tho county, who had
been invited to meet with them, were
not represented at ALL This was un-
fortunate, we think. There should
be closer cooperation between the
business farmer and the other bust
ness men Of the country. All are
more or less dependent upon each
other, and the greatest good can be
bS uuucl-
standing between the people of all
lines OF business. and the fullest CO.
operation between them.
Mcssrs. II. b. Thackston and u.
Harris were present to talk with
those who were present Mr.. Thacl-
ston was the principal speaker, de-
voting the gre;Lter part Of his time
to Il consideration and explanation
Of the workings OF proper and ade-
quatc rural credits system. He has
familiariZcd himself with this sys-
ten as it is carried ont in Ireland,
Aust ria and to it's nearest perfection
in Germany, whore the agricultu-
visits, by a system Of longJterm loans,
are enabled to finance their opera.
tions at the low rate of S per cent in
tcreSt. This he contrasted with our
system Of borrowing individually at
rates OF interest ranging frc m per
cent to 100 per cent. according to
the laXity Of laws in certain States,
the avarice Of loan sharks and the
rupihtty OF the Farmers themselves.
He stated that in the one matter of
time prices" alone the farmers Of
South Carolina lose millions Of dol
lars annually. it Having been shown
by actual figures gathered from
every section Of the State. that the
farmers who buy con time" pay
from - to 1925 per cent more than
tho cash price OF the articles pur-
chased. The actual average increase
over cash prices for the whole State
Of South Carolina is ~ per cent
that is, for every dollars worth Of
goods bought in the State at time
prices the farmer pays SIZE. lie
urged the combining OF resources
and the adoption OF "a modern rural
credits system as the only cure for
such an unhealthy condition. In
this connection he urged that the
present time was the one in which
80 make Il practical local dcmonstra-
ton OF the efficacy of cooperative
work, and it was decided that Oco-
nee should go into a cooperative
purchase pool by which it Is hoped
to got fertilizer ut living price.
Spartanburg. Anderson and Pickens
counties have entered this pooling
OF interests. and Oconec did so be-
fore the conclusion of the meeting.
The farmers OF those counties have
agreed 10 ASK hn n n ia nt ~ ,nr ,>r
acid to give them Il lump price on
several thousand tons OF the mate
rial, and if quotation in reason
can be gotten, then they will pur-
chase for cash. Failing to receive a
reasonable quotation on the acid. Ca
slight advance over the prices OF last
year is recognized as necessarily
they will simply do without the COM
mercial fertilizers, making the best
Of a bad situation. For. as they rea-
soned 1t out, it is folly for the farmer
to pay 81 for fertilizer that will
return him but 75c. OF benefit.
This pooling OF the purchases by
the farmers Of tho up-countics has
been demonstrated locally in sec
tions, and it has proven OF very great
benefit to the users Of fertilizers.
The farmers present at the meeting
last Thursday were asked to signify
not If they favored cooperation, but
il they were willing to cooperate,
and the response was unanimous.
Every man Of them stood up.