Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1922-04-13

CONFIDENCE IS
COUNCILS PLEA
Americus Banker Makes Best Talk
OF Group Convention At
Bainbridget

the best talk of the meeting here on
yesterday Of the bankers of Group a.,
of Southwest Georgia, was delivered
by L. G.. Council, president OF the
Planters Bank of Americas. Talking
in his characteristic man-to-man style
Mr.. Council handed out some. rapid
fire practical observations that made
a good impression, coming in the
midst of some rather irksome ora
tory.
Taking for his subject, "The Bank
and It's Relation to the Agricultural
Interests 1t Serves" Mr.. Council
opened with a plea to his fellow
bankers of Southwest Georgia for a
relationship of confidence and thor
ough understand between the pan
ker and the farmer.
"As a rule" said he, most of us
start off the year without a thorough
understanding with our farmer custo-
mers. Early in the year, say Jan
uary, farmer comes into your bank
and wants to borrow $500. Sit
down with that man and go over his
whole problem and proposition with
him. Map out with him his program,
Just what he is going to do and how
he Is going to do it. YOU learn all
about his plans and probably are able
to advise him somewhat. There is
complete understanding. The chances
are nine to one that if you grant him
the loan it will be repaid, because
wan haua toGon aaoh othor intn pnrO1-
plete confidence.
Must Use Brains.
My experience as banker and a
farmer has taught me that we are
living under vastly different condi-
tions than we were five or ten years
ago. If the farmer today tries to
farm as he did ten years ago you
just as well not lend him any money,
because you probably won't get it
back. 1t takes brains and energy
these days to make a success at farm
ing, and if man does not have both
and use them, he. hasn't chance to
make good. We have them in Sum-
ter county, just as you have them in
your communities, and | say they
haven't chance.
Farmers as rule are attempting
too many acres per plow. l think
the amount should not exceed 20
acres. | would allot that 20 on a
5000 basis-half for food crops and
half for cotton. Any farmer is an
utter failure if he is not self-sustain-
ing, regardless of the price of cotton.
Beating Boil WeeviI.
And speaking of cotton under boil
weevil conditions as we now have it,
let me say that we can raise cotton
anyhow. But we must use our brains
TO do it. Prepare your soil properly.
Free your ground of every bit of
trash, brush or other unclean things,
and break it up we'll Prepare a good
seed bed and plant good seed. Use
plenty of guano, 800 to 400 pounds
per acre. Plow your cotton well.
Pick up the boil weevils early, in the
squares and otherwise. Employ all
the children of the farm possible to
help get the early weevils, for it is
important. There are three crops of
Weevils. We can not do anything
with the third, but the first and the |
second are important. Get the first
crop of weevils just before the cotton
blooms, and do the best you possibly |
can with the second crop. Plow rap
idly. Shake the cotton stalks and
knock the weevils off, burying all you |
can with the plow. Push your crop. |
If you will do these things you will |
find you can raise cotton, in spite of |
the weevils. We raised IS, 500 bales
in Sumter county last year with a
very wet July and part of June, and |
the year before we grew $4,000 |
bales.
Il want to say few things about
the price of cotton. A prominent
business man called on me the other
day and In conversation said that !,
cotton was commanding a better
price comparatively than most any
other commodity. But is it? 1t is |
not. Because now we average one /
bale where he grew three before the I
boil weevil came. DIVIDE the pres I
ent price of around Is cents by 8 I
and you have 6 cents, which is the |
true comparative price of cotton to- |
day. And yet rs per cent of our own
people think cotton is bringing a good |
lrice. Cotton at 80 cents pound |
would be equivalent under former
conditions to only 10 cents. So / say /
that, regardless of the price of cot |
ton, it is suicide for any farmer not
to raise hogs, grain and other crops |
to make him self-supporting or as
nearly so as possible Let the cot |
ton crop be the money crop.
Bane Of Mortgages.
And let the farmer think less |
about plastering mortgage on his /
tarm and more about filling his smoke /
house. | am worried to death about
the loans being put on our farms
through the big Eastern insurance |
companies. For those loans with |
compound interest are going to have /
II be paid back, and that means years
OF hardships for our people, with |
probably their children scratching it |
out finally.
81 want to see our farmers more
thrifty: A couple OF years ago they
were flushed with high prices and |
their prosperity went to their heads. |
The first thing you knew they were