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WHY FARMING DON'T PAY.
We ll Known Lady Gives Home Cogent
\„*w*r* to the Important Question.
Furrow* Constitution: Your wise
f,irinTH have had their nay, and your
(jisuppointed farmers have made their
but the subject is deeper muddled,
to my comprehension, than it was before.
So nlJl „y have differed, (and none agree,
that farming as a rule, is in a bad
% v iv ) that I approach the subject with
genuine timidity. I will adopt a nom-de
!limeat this writing, because my sex
, jight incline all these worthy doctors of
i-iculture to forsake the mooted ques
tion and go lecturing me. It goes for
nothing, that some of the most success
f,ii farmers in Georgia have been women,
fur the fact remains that men are pro
foundly impressed with the idea, that
••what they don’t know is not worth
knowing” on the farming question. I
l iavn i, a d some experience in that line,
. im j perhaps it will be well to give it, by
‘ v () f introduction. In ante helium
,1 os. I had a cotton patch and scuffled
along with it and my house gang of little
( j iir kies until it was compressed into a
medium sized bale and sent to market,
when my liege lord made a habit of bor
rowing the cash it brought, much the
jm . as he does now. But the time came
wiic/' “niggers’* were made free and we,
like the most of folks went off on the
ifloa that white folks were made for a
wliitf man's business, and we would not
have the negro, so we hired two brawny
sons of Tennessee, who were stranded in
the vicinity when the war closed. To
these we promised twelve dollars a month
and board. This monthly pay was not
in pocket for we had no money, but we
hoped to raise it by teaching school in
the village near by. The crop to be
planted was immediately on our route
to the school room, so that we were to
be Kept intelligently informed as to its
culture, progress, etc. fortunately oi
otherwise, General Sherman left us a few
slice]) for astart in life, and our difficulty
at that time was a failure to recognize
the incompatibility of cotton and mut
ton. Harmony in products and the
general fitness of things are quite neces
sary in farmingor in music or medicine—
but more anon. That year we bought
cotton seed at three dollars a bushel to
plant, and paid two dollars a bushel for
corn to feed the mules and the hired
hands, who worked them. Things went
along peaceably until the cotton seed
began to swell and show above the
ground. Then the sheep took to the field
con amore. The Tennesseeans, ignorant
ofcottonculture, and indifferent to sheep
culture, decided to let the two fight it
out. without help or hindrance on their
part. As we trudged to school in the
early May mornings, we would abjure
these high-priced men of all work to keep
the sheep elsewhere that day, and as we
would ascend the hill on our return
i where we could “survey the landscape
’ o’er,” we invariably found the sheep had
outwitted them in their proposed en
deavor to protect the cotton. The strife
continued as row after row of cot ton
plants vanished —the hardy sons of toil
all the time assuring ns that the sheep
had been kept out that day, until one
notable afternoon my spouse waved his
old hat and cried aloud: “Thank the
Lord lam done with that aggravation.
Go it, sheep ! I have bought some expe
rience, if I paid three dollars a bushel for
the seed.” Not a stalk remained.
Our difficulty was in not reconciling
the Tennesseean to cotton, or in first
harmonizing grass to mutton. liad we
employed the freed man’s bureau to start
us out, we would have lmd some cotton,
if we had had no mutton or we would
have even done well to have pledged
Tennessee to sheep, without three dollars
per bushel spent on those disappointing
cotton seed, that were “so near and yet
so far,” in the windup of that year’s
failure in farming. Want of harmony
and want of money was the trouble, as
it is to this good day.
We took the Angora goat sensation
for our next rise in farming life. Some
body traded a Nanny goat to my spouse
fur a small sum. and he immediately saw
and dreamed dreams of wealth
"and luxury. He explained to all passers
hy that Angora goats were to redeem
t'i'.f S. nit-hern laud from the desolation of
war. Wouldn't they live on nothing? so
to speak. Wouldn’t they increase and
manure the land like Jacob’s cattle, and
wouldn't we live fat on tender kid meat,
mid dress fine on goat's hair cloth? (I
mean to say we would sell it for money
enough to buy fine clothes and a heap
of them.)
It was astonishing how many people
lmd a spare Angora to sell to this hope
ful f, inner of mine, and we were stocked
"it;: hi a lew days with a supply of An
ttora goats at a reasonable price. I
h' - in to realize their readiness to part
"it' -rich stock before many weeks went
k v nd we were kept busy providing
1' sand chains for these agile, crafty,
'marauding animals. Night was made
Imc uisby their tramping across piazzas,
'lown steps, occasionally paying a visit
'"t* the sleeping rooms, and rushing
through hallways, and up stairways.
W the summer waned they even grew
I'ohi' r, until one afternoon I was aston
e<; ro find Billy entranced in the door
*'a- v of mv sitting room, evidently pre
]*a; for a settlement with me then or
c' ur. I threw the shovel and tongs at
jjm without more effect than to have
j'jm rise up on his hind feet and shake
t hoary locks at me. I emptied the
w ° 0( i box, piece by piece, and In spite of
my annoyance, I was forced to admire
the skill by which he could evade every
billet I hurled at him with all my mus
cular strength. At last I bethought my
self to throw him some bread, and as he
turned to smell at it I slammed the door
in his face and found myself a prisoner.
Not a soul was on the place but me that
afternoon, which the cunning brute ap
parently understood. I dared not open
that door. Twice I yelled for help at an
open window, at which Billy galloped
around and made feints of getting in
from that quarter.
Meanwhile old Nanny overturned my
flower jars and boxes, upset the wafer
pail, demolished the broom, and ployed
havoc with some dry goods hung out to
air. The others imitated all her motions
till I was well nigh frantic at my own
helplessness and their assurance.
My spouse was willing to sell out “lock
stock and ban-el” when he heard my
story that night, but he was truly glad
to find somebody to give them to, before
we and thegoats parted company Some
weeks after their departure the old farmer
who had been beguiled into acceptance
of the gift called to see us. In course of
conversation I gently inquired if he found
difficulty in managing the goats. Never
will I forget the expression of his coun
tenance as he tapped his cob-pipe in the
palm of his hand preparatory to loading
it for a smoke, and answered : “Mighty
nigh as well as you uns did when Billy
tuck you prisoner. When I want him to
git out in the field, I goes inside an gins
him a dare, and bless your life he runs
me out. Myole’oman is just afraid to
put her head oaten doors when we uns is
gone and it is just too good to see her
run when Bill comes about.”
So ended the Angora goat fever, but
we had hardly convalesced before the
Jersey craze took my liege lord a little
worse than any ailment lmd hitherto
possessed liis anxious mind. He was
buoyant, elastic: he had reached the ul
tima thule of poverty and was on the
high road to success now. He was ready
to sell half his land for Jersey cows, and
actually paid a fabulous price for a calf
three months old that was so feeble that
I must feed it with a spoon. All that
winter T cooked its gruel and nourished
this little starveling until it hunched me
for its motherand overwhelmed me some
times with its rough caresses.
My farmer relinquished all other litera
ture at that time but the American cattle
club reports. When a farmer’s cow was
reported as selling at $40,000 cash he
patted me on the shoulder with the hap
piest smile on his features. “Oh we are
in the right line now. You shall have a
new cooking stove and carpet before to
morrow night. Just listen, ain’t it
glorious? Won’t our daisy of Europas
pay us?”
Alas! We lacked harmony and money
again. Jersey cattle fed on cotton seed
and shucks are undoubtedly the poorest
cows in creation, and my liege lord had
grown so unfortunate that he couldn’t
give away his registered Jersey who was
the terror of the place unless there was a
ring in his nose, a chain in the ring and
a stanchion nearby to tie him down into
submission and quietude.
Perhaps somebody would like to know
if we didn’t take the Chester hog fever?
Of course we did, and the Berkshire and
the Poland China, and all other sort in
reach that cost money and died with the
cholera. One year they died out to an
old black sow, who turned out to be
white or ashy, and was as deaf as a post,
who run sideways when she started, and
fell down if she touched anything. Cin
cinnati bacon and lard ran high, but it
is better than no meat if it does cost like
the mischief, and it is cheaper than twen
ty-five dollars a pair for Chester whites,
who always wink out with the cholera
before fattening time.
The next sensation was fancy fowls.
We crowed and cackled in unison. My
liege could describe his stock to a feather,
and we fed more corn to some pets than
would feed a year's supply of the “blue
hen’s chickens.” Then we made a break
for bronze turkeys, and from the signs in
the domestic skies I see Cayuga ducks
and Hong Kong geese approaching us.
But to sum up, we make no money.
Whenever we get a supply of high priced
animals or fowls or seed, they are too
common to bring any price at all. We
have the faculty of leveling all such pur
chases down to lowest figures, and we
drift with the tide, up when we must buy,
down when we can sell and I conclude
the trouble lies with the farmers them
selves and not the farms. The land is
good enough, the stock is good enough
when it gets enough to eat, and the seed
are good enough, if they have a living
chance, but the trouble is in the manage
ment of the farms, either by the owner
or the tenant. To begin with, people
can't sit in the houses or lie in the shade
and farm successfully. “He that by the
plow would thrive must either hold him
self or drive.” The farmer who hires a
freed man at $lO per month and board,
and starts him to the field at eight
o’clock in the morning, needn’t be aston
ished to find the darky sitting on the
plow, resting, while the mule nods to
keep him company. In old times fortunes
were made on the farm. Everybody old
and young werestirringat daylight. No
time was lost between sunup and sun
down. Now my darkey quits woik on
Saturday to go to town, even though it
was the only clear day of the whole seven.
In other (lays people only bought what
they were obliged to have, and did with
out everything else. Ah! but sav you:
“Why make cloth-piece quilts, knit
socks, or boil soap, when all are so
cheap?” Exactly so, my lazy sister,
their cheapness is the lure to your pov
erty. Nobody is so poverty stricken as
those who depend onbuyingat any price,
however small, what their own well di
rected labor can supply without such
outlay. Just alter the war farmers made
money, but farmers’ wives still made
blankets, jeans and heavy workingmen’s
clothes. Cheap things are flimsy things
as a rule, and there are more shabby
looking farmers in Georgia than ever
known before. There is also a hidden
snare under the fertilizer question that
will bear uncovering and exposing. A
stuff that costs so much to the farmer
and pays so little is either a fraud and a
swindle, or the farmer is the dupe of those
who make and sell it to him. If the fer
tilizer sharks were tretfted just like the
jute bagging vampires for a year or two,
things would right themselves on that
score. But there is a broader, deeper,
sadder evil that underlies the whole sub
ject, and that is the struggle to keep up
appearances and rival town folks in
dress, equipage and entertainments. A
man can set up in a butcher shop or a
family grocery and make a living in any
“one horse” town. Why? Because he
attends to his business and undertakes
no more than his capital or labor Jwill
manage. He makes a living and a profit
off the poor scamp who has no money
to start with and goes farming by
attempting to save his labor which is
his only capital in trade. Then he gets
envious, and berates the middle man,
who dresses well and has plenty left to
work his business in success. There will
never be relief to farming classes until
they avoid debt like a pestilence, live
hard, until they save enough to live
easy, and have the cash to pay for it,
and content themselves with what they
have and can make, without asking
credit for luxuries or finery.
The whole social fabiie is on stilts. It
will and must have a fall, but thank the
Lord the farmers are so near the soi
that they can get up without serious loss
or injury, while the middle man and the
capitalist will be crushed because they
have so much more distance to encoun
ter when they tumble down into bank
ruptcy.
The time is coming when the white
man and the negro will separate.
Whether by violence or mutual satisfac
tion is not yet decided. As we are now
situated each one is an injury to the
other. The negro either grows more
thriftless, less reliable as a laborer, or he
accumulates property and sets up for
himself. In either case he is being made
a burden to the white race. While the
white Southerner who once owned slaves
is so fatally inculcated with unwillingness
to do hard work when a darkey is in
reach; that he will perish in poverty
before he will fallback on his own muscle.
The farmer who lives at home, plows
his own mule and cuts his own firewood,
is the most independent being, white or
black, that trods the earth, if he will
keep out of debt, and subsist on what he
makes on the farm. r lhe farmer who
owns a thousand acres of land and goes
in debt for what he lives on, or goes in
debt for the labor he hires, is the poorest
man in the country, for he is taxed on
the rich man’s scale and ruuied on the
poor man’s schedule. Owe no man, is
the secret of success, if one elderly female
with forty years experience, is not egre
giously mistaken. Strike a broad line at
debt, and never over-step it and you are
safe.
Like Wilkins Micawbir a shilling on
the safe sideof yourineome is prosperity,
while a shilling on the losing side is
bankruptcy. Let farmers’ wives and
daughters .come to the rescue. Wear
your old bon net or seedy frock until the
ground ceases to tremble under your
feet, and then you will be safe as well as
sound in purse. Debt has eaten the life
out of Southern farmers. Quit going in
debt. Matron.
Now is the Time
to use Hodges’ Sarsaparilla with lodide
of Potash, the great purifier for the
blood. A certain cure for rheumatism,
scrofulous affections and all diseases pe
culiar to females. Renovates and invig
orates the system. Physicians recom
mend it. Take no other. Rangum Root
Medicine Cos., Manufacturers, Nashville,
Tenn. SI.OO per bottle. Sold by all
druggists. 8-30 tl oc
is. P. o.
Don't waste time and money and un
dergo needless torture with the knife
when Ethiopian Pile Ointment will afford
instant relief and certain cure in every
case of blind, bleeding, itching, internal
and external piles. Rangum Root Medi
cine Cos., Manufacturers, Nashville. Tenn.,
50 cents and $1 per bottle. Sold by all
druggists. 8-80 tl oe
T. I. IS. C.
Don't suffer any longer but use Tan
ner's Infallible Neuralgia cure, the only
infallible cure on earth for all forms of
neuralgia and nervous headache Ran
gum Root Medicine Cos., Manufacturers,
Nashville, Tenn. oo cents per box. Sold
qy all druggists. 8-30 tl oct
Invalids, aged people, nursing moth
ers, overworked, wearied out fatheis,
will find the happiest results from a
judicious use of Dr. Sherman's Prickly
Ash Bitters. Where the liver or kidneys
are affected, prompt action is necessary
to change the tide toward health, ere the
disease becomes chronic—possibly incur
able, and there is nothing better to be
found .in the whole range of materia
medica Sold everywhere. novl-lm
Croup, wnooriNG cough and Bron
chitis immediately relieved by Shiloh's
Cure. For sale by J. li. Wikle & Cos.,
Cartersville, and J. M. Gray, Adairs
ville. iik!9-(m—l
Dr. C. McLane’s Celebrated
LIVER PILLS
WILL. CURE
BEK.
A few doses taken at the right time
will often save a severe spell of
sickness. Price only 25 cents at
any drug store. Be sure and see
that Dr. C. McLANE’S CELE
BRATED LIVER PILLS, FLEM
ING BROS., Pittsburgh, Pa., is
on the box. None other is Genuine.
Ue IVORY POLISH for the Teeth,
Perfumes the Breath.
foRiE Blood
A POSITIVE. CVREfORSCROMA
rhlumatismscaldheador Tetter
BOILS Plimts OLD OR CHROMIC SORES
of ALiKH'fDSAMoAu DISEASE!) ARISING
FROM AN IMPURE STATt 07 fHEBLOOD
SIPerBOTTLE 6 FOR $5
IS THE BEST ot< EAfIJH
n EVER EAVES To CURf
T. I.M.C.
'5 THEORY iKFAIUBLt CURE
• • • foR REURAJ.GIR- • •
-Sold EVERYWHERE
DRICECLY ASH
I BITTERS
One of the most important organs of the
human body islhe LIVER. When it fails to
properly perform its functions the entire
system becomes deranged. The BRAIN,
KIDNEYS, STOMACH, BOWELS, all refuse
to perform their work. DYSPEPSIA, CON
STIPATION, RHEUMATISM, KIDNEY DIS
EASE, etc., are the results, unless some
thing is done to assist Na'ure in throwing
off the impurities caused by the inaction
cf a TORPID LIVER. This assistance so
necessary will be found in
PrkklSf Jbh Sitters!
It acts directly on the LIVER, STOMACH
and KIDNEYS, and by its mild and cathartic
effect and genera! tonic qualities restores
these organs to a sound, healthy condition,
and cures all diseases arising from these
causes, it PURIFIES THE BLOOD, tones
up the system, and restores perfect health.
If ydbr druggist does not keep it ask him to
order it for you. Send 2c stamp for copy of
“THE HORSE TRAINER,” published by us.
PRICKLY ASH BITTERS CO.,
Sole Proprietors, ST. LOUIS, MO.
Tutfs Pills
stimulates the torpid liver, strength
ens tSue digestive organs, regulates the
bowels, and are unequaled us an
ANTI-BILIOUS MEDICINE.
In malarial districts their virtues are
w idely recognized, as they possess pec
uliar'properties in freeing the system
from that poison. Elegantly sugar
coated. Dose small. I'rice, 25ct.
Sold Everywhere.
Office, 44 Murray St., New York.
. Dk. HENLEY’S A
ohp&ißOn.
A Most Effective Combination.
This well known Tonic and Nervine is gaining
great reputation as a cure for Debility, Dyspep
sia, and NERVOUS disorders. It relieves all
languid and debilitated conditions of the sys
tem ; strengthens the intellect, and bodily functions;
builds up worn out Nerves : aids digestion ; re
stores impaired or lost Vitality, and brings back
youthful strength and vigor. It is pleasant to the
taste, and use ' recrularly braces the System against
the depressing influence of Malaria.
Price—sl.oo per Bottle of 24 ounces.
FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS.
g G has given univer
1 satisfaction in the
ire of Gonorrhoea and
leet. I prescribe it and
g it to* an lufferers.
A. J. STONER, M.D.,
Decatur, 111.
PRICE, SI.OO.
Sold by Druggists.
BAKER & HALL,
The most extensive dealers in North Georgia iD
General Hardware,
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS,
Buggies, Wagons, Harness,. &c
Can supply anything from a Knitting
Needle to a 100-horse power Engine.
Sash, Doors and Blinds.
Engiues, Saw Mills, Blacksmith Tools,
Guns, Pistols, Powder, Shot, Etc.
The Gower Buggy.
tis still being handled bv us. Being |
made of first-class material aud a \| |
home institution, the reputation of |p|L I
which has long ago been made, we iSnj
, 7 i keep a full line of other work,
j I we fully guarantee. We also handle : I k
\7~tK/ Tennessee Wagon.
We assure the farmers that they need not go elsewhere for anything they want
in our line, tor we have everything they need in their business at prices that, can
not be beaten. In fact we are headquarters for Hardware, Agricultural Imple
ments, and Machinery for this section.
.
Raker & hall, bankers . and solicit deposits, Loans made com-
with security. BAKER & HALL, West Main Street,
O AH TERSVILIj33, OA.
G. M. MONTGOMERY. J. G. M. MONTGOMERY
GEO. H. MONTGOMERY SCO,
pSTATE GENTS
CARTERSVILLE, GA.
Buy and Sell City Property, Farm and Mineral Lands !
We have some desirable Farms and a good line of City Property, including
dweilii g, Store Houses and Unimproved Lots.
Correspondence Solicited.
THE HOWARD BANK.
CARTERSVILLE, GA.
Does a Gen era Banking Business'.
Deposits Received, Subject to Check.
Exchange Bought and Sold.
Collections Made in al parts U. S.
Discounts Desirable paper.
All Accommodations Consistent with Safety
EXTENDED TO ITS CUSTOMERS.
ROB’T F. BRADFORD & CO.
DEALERS IN
Dry Goods, oots and Shoes,
Staple * and * Fancy • ; • Groceries,
also—.
= HEAVY FARMERS’ SUPPLIES,
Texas Feed Oats, Seed Oats, Corn, Hay, Bran, &c.
Will give very lowest prices in large lots.
Cartersville, Ga., December, 1888.
JOl IN T. NORRIS,
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCEI
(UPSTAIRS.)
First Door South of Howard’s ‘Bank:
BARTOW LEAKE, “
Fire, Life and Accident tamp!
Dwellings, mercantile building and stocks, saw, planing, corn and flour mills insured at re tsoi ab
.•eats. Gin houses and contents insured in any portion of the county. Best of companies r< p •
seated. Office West Main street, 3 doors West of the old N. Gilreath oruer. 7-26-6 m
Leather and Gum Belting.
Plows, Harrows, Corn Shelters and
all kinds of
Agricultural Machinery-
Wagon and Buggy Harness, Saddles,
Bridles, etc., in great profusion at
VERY LOWEST PRICES.