Newspaper Page Text
The
Democrat.
TERMS*-* 2 A YEAR,
BAINBRIDGE, GA., THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 24,1883.
VOL XII-NO. 32.
01 RE TRUCK,
pbba»k which belongs
HEOBfiCV ONLY.
. iflw’s Yeatare Into an
Lj field Mi Wfc«t Case *f It-
*nrA b»*m* the Berrtatlea
E/gp—.M-w I* Melnm »■$
In HjftiMf*.
* 6 u Atl*® 14 Cogitation, #
McKsk's May 6.—About six
V out of Valdosta lives Mr.
V Molkc. the first, largest
successful truck farmer
Mpa- . Jt
p^at is tlic interest in the
. juju-try of ,ruck growing
L important has it become;
11 determined to spend a day
Mr. McKee and from bis ex-
and observation of ten
n ptliercl lor the readers of
(Constitution what seemed to
L^resting or instructive. In
il, the truck business is an
riment with us. Here is -a
i»hu can speak as Mr. Conk-
ItouM say, from “the arduous
(Oration of deeds done/
Unu-li a large gate, into a
in which sheep
[ftltlc are grazing—through
Jlfr cate into a smaller grove
Ihidi several horses are pastur
«d through another gate
handsome flower yard, up
(! walks to a comfortable
with broad halls and
, well furnished and hospi-
louking. Before you reach
kous' you are met by Mr. Mc-
iiman of middle age, sliow-
cucumbers, packed them neatly
and sent them forward. They sold
readily at high prices, and I then
discovered the secret of sncessful
truck-farming, viz, offer only your
best truck for sale. Destroy or
use at home all that i$ peer. Pack
neatly and value your reptltatioil
with the commission merchants.
“Did the business grow rapidly
this year?”
“Not the vegetable business.
For years the man who planted
cucumbers was laughed by his
friends. It was only by repeated
demonstration of the profit in it
that others would come in. It is
now pretty general and has spread
over the whole of South Georgia.
With melons it was different. The
first year (eight years ago) Mr.
Tally and I planted 12 acres each
in melons and made 13 car loads
each. We were afraid that this
would glut the markets, so I
agreed to ship to Savannah supply
the eastern cities while he ship
ped to Atlanta and supplied the
northwest. I cleared $1,800 on
my 12 acres and I think he did the
same. We doubled acreage next
year; others began planting and
the melon acreage in Lowndes
has doubled year after pear uutil
now about 3,500 acres in the coun
ty are down in melons; and near
ly all South Georgia counties have
taken it up.”
COTTON FARMING COMPARED WITH
TRUCKING.
“Eight years ago,” said Mr. Mc-
i Ree, “I was a cotton planter. I
ilainlv in presence and man- J was p er }i a j)g a better farmer than
is Scotch origin. His delib- J ^] ie average, and yet I was able to
pi'.'ifive demeanor gives
>tliat he is a man of force,
phis studious and thoughtful
shows that he has not been
habit of reaching cou-
Miastilv. Beyond this there
of the furtive, haggard
leftlieman who is hairasaed
pbt or anxiety. You have
you evidently a man who
t’ii through all that and is
t ease, and disposed to smile
(scars.
prr msTORY ok trucking in
UKOIMUA.
first truck farming in this
said Mr. McKee, “was
|hy Mr. Talley, my neighbor,
president of our association,
whap<< a few others, just 8
Fruits and vegetables
already being raised in
fa The brother of Mr. Elli-
faisnow on the Savannah,
i Western railroad, was
"gin Florida and urged hi^
‘r. then in the railroad busi-
1 Illinois, to come down and
tint to got rates for his truck.
Mr. Taylor reached this
i he urged Mr. Haines to
Jap a truck business along
1 of his road. Mr. Haines
n ?> Mr. Taylor was put in
r"* f was then planting
I *n>i was very much discour-
thought I saw a future in
business and I planted a
in cucumbers, peas and
ero soon required to pre-
treight on all we shipped.
b°cn promised this would
required, but the truck
orida had met such poor
roads were forced to
Prepay. This virtually
business up. We reason-
,f Veterans like the Florida
* beating us to market by
three weeks, could not
e, r truck bring the freight
there was no use in our
°f our money by
n £ .freight So we let our
°n the ground. I had
lumbers then I ever
0,1 or since, and had made
en *- W hen I heard how
rock was going begging
, e % I went to Sav£
.. —.■ * went, wj ouvan-
. Ppeued to see some of
truck on its way to
" as slouchily packed,
, y> and altogether not
hme m fu A . Sreat light
J hurried home, se-
ftve ral crates
barely come out even at the end
of the year. My land was getting
poor# every year, and I was get
ting older, and both therefore less
able to maintain a struggle in
which we were then but barely
holding onr own, as far as the cash
went. I was discouraged and
thought of giving it up.
About this time I began study
ing the truck problem. I saw that
with the same hands and plows I
was obliged to keep for my cotton
I could put in a few acres of vege
tables and fruit, and did so. But
I was so afraid of losing my hold
on cotton that I began by pre
paring my truck patches for cot
ton, so that I could follow vege
tables with cotton. I thus hedged
against the dimunition of what I
considered my money crop. As I
have told you, I cleared some
money on my truck, and I also
made better cotton on my truck
patches than I made anywhere else
on my place.”
“What did you do with your
money ?”
“I used it in preparing more
land for truck, and in buying im
proved impliments. In preparing
an acre for truck, I charged every
thing, including the fertilizing, to
the truck crops, and I always
cleared money on the acre, ranging
from $50 to $600. It was then left
in better condition for the cotton
than any other acre on the place*
I have frequently made a bale of
cotton to the acre, on land from
which I had taken early m the
season enormous crops of cabbage
orcucnmbers.”
“So truck farming does not de
crease the cotton crop F*
“On the contrary, it increases it.
My experience is this: Where I
used to get a bale to three acres, I
now get a bale to the acre, and the
enriching of the land I always
charge to the truck, which always
pays for it and more besides. I
get six bales of cotton to the hand,
and the same hand manages the
truck crops. I have only five
plows now, and they give me twice
as much cotton as i ever got to
the plow before and do my truck
farming besides. In short, with
truck, you raise more cotton on
less ground, and at less cost, for
all your fertilizers, and say half
your labor is charged to another
crop.”
“It has been a great thing for
you then f”
“It has saved me from a life of
me independent and happy. What
it has done for me it has done for
scores of my neighbors. What it
has done for us it will do for any
others who go at it intelligently.”
ttttE profit of trtuck farming.
“What is the profit of truck
farming ?”
“That is a dangerous question to
answer—and a hard one. It has
proved itself very profitable with
us, or it could not have grown so
rapidly. Why it was considered
undignified to raise melons or
truck for sale, and the pioneer
truckers were laughed at In spite
of this those who watched it closest
haye gone into it heaviest, and it
has doubled and quadrupled and
doubled, growing by its own work
and forcing its own way. I do not
know* of one man who has started
truck farming and abandoned it.
The very reverse is true.”
To put the profits in dollars and
cents is hard !”
“Yes, I could say safely that I
have cleared more than $50 an
acre on every acre of melons I
have planted in eight years, and
this year I have 210 acres. I
have averaged $250 an acre on
20 acres of truck clear profit.
From present prices I think I
will clear nearly $200 an acre on
vegetables this year. I cleared
8610 on one acre of cucumbers
year before last, and made a bale
of cotton on the same acre the
same year. Last year I cleared
over $100 an acre on cabbage.
These things vary. One year you
hit it on one thing and one year
on another. But I have cleared
as I tell you, over $50 on melons
for eight years, good and bad,
and 1 am disappointed if I don't
average from 8100 to $200 on veg
etables. My net prfits for last
year were $15,200, and hare in
creased steadily each year since I
began.”
“This is a very handsome profit”
“But it is not the money that
I value most. I have enriched
my farm. Besides the money I
have taken out of every acre, 1
leave a surplus in the ground in
increased fertility. My farm was
10 per cent richer last year—had
10 per cent more reserve in the
the land—than it had before I
took the $15,000 in cash out of it.
Or, to make the contrast. Un
der the old cotton srstem my
farm paid me nothing and got
poorer every year. Under truck
and cotton it paid me well and
got richer every year. Say that
it was worth $5,000 eight years ago.
I would't take $40,000 or it to-day,
even if it were for sale. If I had
gone ou impoverishing it each
year with cotton, you couldn’t
have given it to me to-day and
forced me to live on it. So you
must add betterment to cash
profit.”
HOW TO HANDLE 8,000 ACRES PINE
LANDS
“Now, Mr. McRee,” said I, “you
have made a success of farming
—you have tried many systems of
planting—you have a large place
here, and you doubtless have your
plans for the future. What do
you propose to do with it ?”
“My idea is to bring my place
to such a condition that when
divided among my iotir boys it
will make each of them indepen-
dent—as well off as if I left them
a fortune of $100,000 each*”
“How will you do it ?”
“Well, I have 8,000 acres of
land. Of this 6,500 acres is in
woodland, 1,500 acres cleared. Of
this latter I have 400 acres ift
truck and about 1,100 acres rent
ed out This is the material with
which I have to work.
“The first thing of course is to
utilize the 6,000 acres of wood
land. This I shall do with sheep.
I now have h flock ol about 700,
which I will increase this lall by
the purchase of 2,000 to 3,000
sheep, or more if I can buy them.
Before that time I shall have the
entire 0,000 acres inclosed with a
wire fence. I do not believe in
of them
of choice drudgery and anxiety, and made^ letting sheep take care
p
selves and run oh [an open range.
The sheep men of Colquitt and
Irwin counties, who never see
their sheep but once a year, are
satisfied if the Hocks hold their
own in iitiinber. With only par
tial care of my sheep I have done
very much better Utah this. The
past winter is the hardest ever
known here on sbeyp, e «nd my
flock shows less than 50 sheep
dead and 250 fine lambs to balan x
that loss. I intend to keep my
flocks inclosed by this wire fence
and to put them under the care
of a perfectly competent shepherd
that I shall import. I expect to
keep from 5,000 to 7,000 sheep on
the range of 6000 acres. There is
no better range in the country.”
“After the sheep, what ?”
“I shall then reclaim from my
renters the 1,100 acres they now
have. I think our farmers make
a great mistake in renting their
lands. While the rent may pay
a pretty good interest on the in
vestment, the lands are getting
poorer every year. The tenant is
usually irresponsible as to pay
ment and to methods. If he
makes the money he’ll pay you.
If he don’t make it you can’t make
him pay. He usually treats the
land as if he never expects to sec
it after the present year, and it
consequently gets poorer every
crop that is taken out of it. There
may be exceptions, but that is the
general rule. I shall therefore
take my land out of the hands of
renters just as fast as I get ready
to bring it up.”
“What will you do with it?”
“As much of it as is needed I
will put down in winter pasturage
for my sheep, such as rye or peas.
I shall turn the sheep on these
pastures and let them enrich
them until I think them good
enough to put into truck. What
is not needed for winter pasturage
I shall put probably in corn. I
havemade corn this year at a cost
of 13 cents a bushel, and am going
to make it at less. I sold 3,500
bushej^l&st year at from 90 cents
to $1 bushel. 1 can make more
money raising corn to sell at 40
cents a bushel than I can by rais
ing cotton at 10 cents a pound.”
“•Will you continue to raise cot
ton on your truck patches?”
“I doubt it I do not like cot
ton. It takes all the year to make
it and handle it 1 may plant a
few acres of my truck patches in
cotton, but mv policy will be to
sow down all the truck acreage
in peas or rye, and after the truck
is taken off turn the sheep in on
it, and in this way bring it np to
the highest pitch of fertility.”
“Will this pay you as well as
planting it in cotton?”
“Yes. Mutton commands twen
ty cents a pound in Jacksonville
all the winter. I could have sold
800 pounds a day in Jacksonville
for four months last year at fifteen
cents a pound, and it would have
cost me only one cent a pound to
get it there. As long as Atlanta,
Savannah and Jacksonville Will
pay me even five cents a pound
for fat mutton I can beat cotton
acre per acre with wool and mut
ton, even if my land would aver
age a bale to the acre. And then
you see every time 1 take a bale
of cotton out of an acre I have
drawn just that much from my
ground. When I plant it in peas
and turn the sheep on it I enrich
it very heavily and must add this
increased reserve to the wool and
mutton I take off it”
“You propose then to bring
your whole 1,500 acres of cleared
land up to the high pitch P f
“Yes, and instead of buying the
material to do it with, I a ill use
my flock of sheep. It is my pur
pose to clip about 5,000 sheep an
nually and sell the wool. In the
winter I will fatten and kill such
of the wethers as I can spare and
sell the mutton in the neighbor
ing cities. My fenced woodland
range will be the home of these
sheep, but I shall turn them in
on my cleared lands, giving the
preference to my 400 acres now in
truck, and bring up the ether 1,100
acres in cleared land as fast as I
can. The clip, the increase and
the mutton of my flocks ought to
and doubtless will, pay me several
thousand dollars profit, and en
rich my farm lands Without cost.
I shall, of course, have some fine
eattle, hogs and a few horses run
ning on toy ranges also. 1 believe
in raising everything on my farm
that can be raised.”
“And you will carry on special
improvements also ?”
“Of course. I flip just closing a
war against stumps. 1 have studi
ed the labor question pretty close
ly and have long felt assured that
the price of negro labor would be
raised and the difficulty of com
manding it constantly increased.
I therefore thought it wise to for
tify myself against it The first
protection suggested was improv
ed machinery. The objection to
this was the stumps, which clus
tered so thick as to preventits gen
eral use. I moved at once against
the stumps. I now have 800 acres
of land in which their is not a
stump to be seen, and I’m moving
on my other land now. Nothing
I have done has given me so much
confidence as this. I can use on
it two-horse cultivators, screw
pulverizers and any sort of im
proved machinery, and am com
paratively independent. I intend
to make my place as near perfect
ai I can get it, and equip it
with the best stock, Implements
aud buildings that money can buy,
if it takes all the profit of my
truck farming to do it. An in
telligent farmer can put his surp
lus money no where in the world
where it will pay him such a large
certain and satisfactory dividend
as to put it back on his farm.”
“Won’t the 1,500 acres of truck
be too big a farm for one man to
manage?*’
“To properly manage, it is.
But I shall bring it up gradually.
My truck interest is first, my sheep
next, my pasturage and com crop
next, and cotton next, and my
overshadowing object is to enrich
and improve my farm. By the
time I get it into condition, some
of my boys Will be ready to take
part of it and so it will divide up.”
“You will keep your boys on
the farm ?”
“I shall let them decide that
mainly, but I suppose they will
stay here. I hope so. There is
no life that is happier, more inde
pendent,-freer from temptation or
fuller of hearty enjoyment, and
none that is safer or more lucra
tive. I abandoned civil engineer
ing, and a flattering position too,
to come to my farm. I shall nev
er cease to thank God that I did
so. My land will give me every
year, good or bad, all the money
I want, and will carry in its soil
every season, a big balance to the
credit of my sons. When I die,
it will be an inheritance to them
that will make them independent
and comfortable all their lives, if
they will only let it do so.
MARKETING THE tfitfCK CROP.
“The one danger of the truck
ing outlook in Georgia is glutting
the market. Can this be done ?”
“I am decidedly of opinion that
it can not. I was much more un
easy about overstocking the mar
ket in our first year when Talley
and I discovered that We had 13
car loads of melons each, than I
have ever been since, We have
had an alarm about this every
season. I went to Savannah a
few years ago and told Mr. Haines
that I thought we would raise 75
carloads of melons that season.
He said “Mr. Me Ree of course I
want to see the business increase,
and will haul all you raise, but if
you raise 75 car loads you’ll never
be able to sell them. And yet
last year we sold from this county
alone, nearly ten times that many
and got better prices and better
demand than eyer before.”
“The markets open np with the
advance in the crops?”
“Yes While a bigger crop brings
bigger responsibilities, it also com
mands larger attention and facili
ties. Why, when I commenced
shipping melons it took me two
days longer to get a car load to
Atlanta than it now takes me to
get it to Chicago. The freight to
Chicago was then $210 a car. It
is now hardly half so much. It is
all a question of distribution, and
swift schedules.”
“But the increase of acreage has
beeil so enormous this year.”
“ So have the facilities. Last
season we had §2 points in the
west to which we could ship. This
year we have 572 points. The
talk I had with Mr. Jeseph M.
Brown, of the State road, disclos
ed to me facilities that in my opin
ion will distribute and sell this
crop quicker and better than the
crop of one fourth the size was
sold last year. The work of that
one man will overbalance the in
creased acreage, for he has an old
head on his shoulders and the sys
tem and persistence of his work
is simply amazing to me. We
knew nothing of what he was do
ing, save what you reported, and
he comes to us just when we need
him, with every considerable point
this side the Mississippi river be
tween Buffalo and Vicksburg
opened up to our direct shipment.
In that territory is 16,000,000. peo
ple, ol whom we can reach 5,000,
000 in an average of three days.
With swift and perfect distribu
tion of our truck, and nearly a
million immigrants pouring into
the country every year and the
natural increase swelling this to
tal, I have little fear of glutting
the markets. In the markets our
facilities have greatly increased.
At first the commission merchants
in the larger cities paid but little
attention to us. Our patronage
was not worth their special effort.
Now it is quite different. The
strongest and best firms east and
west solicit our consignments and
do the best they possibly can lor
us. This makes a great difference.
You saw how the freight men
came to Valdosta the other day
to ask for our freights* We Used
to hunt the railroad men up, and
it was very seldom we could find
them. Now they look us up/
“You look, then, for an indefin
ite increase in the new industry?”
“I do. I see no reason why it
should stop where it is—or any
where near it It pays those en
gaged in it—it is legitimate and
pleasant.—the more we raise, the
better prices we get and the bet
ter demand there is. It seems to
me that an experience of eight
years would have shown ns all the
dangers, except that of over-pro
duction, which I do not consider a
danger.”
“What are the dangers of the
business ?”
“Principally greed on the part
of the farmer that leads him to
send inferior truck to market or
slouchiness that leads him to pack
it badly. We should all make a
point to ship only the very best of
our truck and to pack it neatly.
It is much better to let the poorer
truck rot on the ground than send
it to market to discredit what else
we send, and either disgust the
public or fail of sale altogether.
The farmer must of course watch
the markets and pick the place he
ships to. He should be very care
ful in the selection of his commis
sion merchant, for there is a very
Important part of the business.”
THE EFFECT OF TRUCK FARMING.
“What is the general effect of
trucking on your section ?”
“There’s no end of an answer to
that question. The most impor
tant general effect, in my opinion
is that it brings about the inten
sive system of farming. We all
agree that the greatest trouble has
been the scattering plan of culti
vation. The more land we could
scratch over the better we thought
we were doing. The result was
the land deteriorated, our places
went down, and there was general
discouragement Truck farming
has changed all that The truck
patch means a little land well
tilled. You’ve got to make it rich
or it won’t Make you rich.
“I’Ve noticed* when a Wan en
riches his truck patch* and sees
how touch better it pays than the
old slipshod system he begins to
improve the test of his farm.
And even his neighbors who are
out Of the truck belt; ate affected
by it When they see him mak
ing a bale of cotton on an acre
from Which he has already etaken
a crop of cabbages, they begin to
wonder why they can’t make a
bale to the acre without the cab
bages. I think the introduction
of truck farming raised the stand
ard of general farming in Lowndes
fully 50 per cent
“With our people, truck has re
lieved them of the dependence on
one money crop. They have gen
erally raised their own bread and
meat, but having only cotton as a
money Crop has been bad. This *
gives them another Money crop;
marketed when they need money
most sorely, Incidentally it has
lessened the credit business, and
put many of them on a cash basis,
where they haven’t been for a
long time,
“Beyond this it Will result in the
establishment of many incidental
industries, such as barrel and box
and crate factories, canning estab
lishments, pickle factories, etc.
We need such things now. They
will come in time, attd will but
emphasize what I have long be
lieved, that truck farming is the
salvation of this section. In mak
ing its own Meat and bread, it
managed td hold its own on cot
ton, but like me it was getting
less ableXto do it every year,
Trucking did for it whal it did for
me. It gave it a cash balance and
put it ahead.”
Mr. McRee said that all along
the M. & B. and Central roads he
had noticed the very best trucking
lands, and It is his opinion that
the business will spread along
these roads very rapidly, after
this season’s bUsines is footed up,
I Might fill this page With the in
teresting experience and opinions
of this pioneer in the great work.
But time nor space will not permit
at present. He would not estimate
for me the probable profits on hk
farm this year, as he prefers to
give figures only of What he ha a
done. His neighbors say that ko
will clear certainly $20,000, and
that it will take 400 cars to carry
to market all the produce he will
send. Don’t that beat politics or
the profession ?
--T-. ■»»», ..r •
“It is probably trtie that Mr,
Henry W. Grady,, through the
columns of the Atlanta Constitu
tion; has done more for the ma
terial development of Georgia by
his inimitable letters than any
other one man in the State with
in the past ten years. It is im
possible, in a short editorial para
graph to enumerate the many
paying enterprises this brilliant
S oung journalist has set on foot
Jr his pen, Lost week he spent
in the “truck” regions of
west Georgia, and nis letters from
that section have been published
throughout the country. They
hate been read by a million peo
ple within the past ten days, and
the Georgia truck farmer Will
have abundant cause in the near
future to thank Grady for his visit
to them.” We copy the above
from the Augusta Evening News
merely for the purpose of endof*-
ing every world there of. Henry
Grady has done and is doing a
grand work for Georgia.
—That all great minds run id
the same channel was clearly il
lustrated an last Thursday by the
contemporaneous appearance in
the Democrat and the Atlanta Con
stitution of editorials Upon iden
tically the same subject, our con
temporary taking almost the
identical grounds and position
assumed by the Democrat. The
subject and editorial alluded to
was that upon “The Negro and his
Future” and it appears elsewhere*
—Col. Marcell us E. Thornton,
Proprietor oi the Atlanta Post-
Appeal has failed, and applied
for a receiver. A daily newspa
per is a very expensive plaything
anyhow—and besides the Consti
tution is the only daily that pos
sibly can make money in Atlanta,
and it beats a gold mine,
