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A COMMON ERROR
MADE BY FARMERS.
Farmers Should Raise All of Their
Home Supplies On the Farm
and Not Purchase Them.
“For many years it has been the
custom of Southern farmers to make
their crop upon the ‘advance system’
and while this has been regarded as
an economic error on the side of the
farmer, by many merchants it has
been thought that it was a very prof¬
itable way of buying cotton,” says S.
A. Knapp, special agent in charge of
the Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstra¬
tion Department of the United States
Department of Agriculture.
“The farmer rea i ;ed that as a mat¬
ter of safety it was better to make
the food consumed by his family and
his stock upon the farm rather than
to purchase it and especially when he
had to promise payment out of a crop
which had not as yet been made. I
have been watching this phase of
country life in the south for many
years and have come to the conclu¬
sion that the ‘advance system’ is just
as great a mistake on the part of the
merchant as it is on the part of the
farmer, for the following reasons:
“First, the merchant takes great
risks, which, of course, he tries to
cover by increased charges. But even
though these charges are increased,
the staples of life are not such articles
as a high percentage of profit will ad¬
here to, and the merchant is practi¬
cally trading gold for a promise to
pay. If the crop fails, he is obliged
to carry and carry and carry and pos¬
sibly may ultimately, as in thousands
of cases, be obliged to take the farm,
for which he has no use, and under
boll weevil conditions is difficult to
handle profitably upon a tenant sys¬
tem.
“Under a cash system there will be a
great reduction in the sales of some
staple foods such as bacon, potatoes,
beans, lard, vegatables, canned goods,
hay, corn, etc., all articles that carry
low profits. The farmer is rarely a
hoarder of money and if he saves two
hundred dollars or more by producing
all his food supplies at home he has
that much more to spend when his
crop is made, and it is cash.
“Under a cash system the farmer
will buy with his surplus more dry
goods, clothing, shoes, furniture, etc.,
for his family, better teams, farm im¬
plements, wagons, buggies, etc., on
which there is a much greater profit
for the merchant than on staple ar¬
ticles of food. The merchant can turn
his money in thirty days, instead of a
year. Ten per cent, clear profit turn¬
ed monthly is better than 120 per cent
gain received annually. Some of the
farmers’ increased income goes into
permanent improvements to enable
the farmer to produce more and spend
more annually.
“Again, there is something about
raising cotton, tobacco etc., to pay a
debt that saps the vitality of the
farmer and affect the vitality of his
tillage. It really lowers the grade of
farming. If, upon the other hand,
the merchant will join with us in urg¬
ing farmers to raise all their food sup¬
plies and try to produce by better
tillage double the crop per acre they
now produce, the result as affects
the merchant will be this:
“If there are idle farms in the county
instead of calling meetings for the
purpose of raising funds to secure im¬
migration, call meeting to encourage
the farmers who know the country
and are loyal to it, to universally
adopt the following plan:
“First, provide their own food sup¬
plies from the farm. Second,double the
average product on every acre under
cultivation and let each worker on
the farm, by use of better teams and
tools, till three times as many acres
as at present, not in one crop, but in
a variety of diversified and profitable
crops. This would cause a demand
for more land and would provide
money to pay for it. This makes
every man on the farm more than six
times the industrial power he now is
and give him a love of the farm.
■This is better than to leave him in
discouragment and secule immigrants
to come and buy him out.
“I should not speak so positively,
only I have observed for a quarter of
a century that where the southern
merchants have changed from an ‘ad
vance system’ to a cash system they
have prospered much more than in
former years and the number of failures
is much less. Of course, it is not
meant that there should be no credits,
* •
• | We Will Mail You the ! |
• Covington News \
§ From now until January • |
| • 1st, 1910, for Fifty Cents *
Better take advantage of this offer •
but there should be little necessity
for them until the crop is ready
for the harvest then trade become a
cash transaction. Or better still the
farmer can get his money from the
bank and pay cash in all cases, if
there is a lack of ready money.
‘ ‘The advance system bears down up¬
on cotton farmers with special hard¬
ship. His crop is either sold at once
or is forced to the gin and warehouse
to secure loans. If the farmer is not
forced to sell to raise money or pay
debts he will store his crop on his
farm and market at his leisure, which
is in the interests of all parties.
“It appears to me, therefore, that the
the farmer will immeasurably gain
when he produces what he has hither¬
to bought in the way of living. He is
not compelled to sell his crop imme¬
diately upon harvest. When he does
sell he trades for cash. The greater
amount of money he has is very help¬
ful to the family, but the stimulus to
his self respect is perhaps the most
important item to be considered. The
merchant prospers by the greater vol¬
ume of business and by the quick re
turn of his money. It seems to me
that these points should be urged up¬
on all the people.”
Emory-Mercer Debate Called Off.
News was received at Emory Col¬
lege last week that the debate an¬
nounced to take place between Mer¬
cer and Emory Colleges had been
called off, and that Mercer had re¬
fused to accept Emory’s challenge for
an inter-collegiate debate.
Last year Emory arranged for a se¬
ries of debates between Wofford Col¬
lege, and won the first one of them.
The debate this year will take place
at Wofford College, and in case Em¬
ory loses, the third debate will come
off in Atlanta.
The announcement that the debate
had been called off by Mercer proved
a source of regret to the students and
faculty of Emory, as the students
have wanted to meet Mercer in a de¬
bate for some time. It was Emory’s
intention to arrange a series of de¬
bates with Mercer.
Livingston High School.
---
On January 4th school at this place
opened for the Spring term, with an
enrollment of ninety-eight pupils, and
an attendance of ninety, and also a
new assistant teacher, Miss Annie
Cowan.
We have one of the largest ninth
grades for a rural school in the State,
and also a very large seventh grade.
The ninth has eighteen pupils and the
seventh seventeen, and we have four
teachers among the best in the State.
We are doing some work on the
grounds and are going to try to make
them the most attractive school
grounds in the State, but we still have
much w'ork to make them so.
We realize that this term is an op¬
portunity of our lives and are deter¬
mined to make better progress this
term than ever before. x x x
School at Dixie.
School was opened last week at
Dixie with Miss Mae White, of this
city, as principal, and the first week
proved to be better than was at any
time expected. Miss White has been
in training at the Normal School at
Milledgeville, and is a thoroughly
competent teacher. This fact to¬
gether with her sunny disposition will
make her one of the most efficient
and lovable teachers in the county.
Dixie is one of our most prominent
rural sections and many of our most
prosperous citizens live there, among
them is Mr. D. J. Adams, than whom
there is no more intelligent and sub¬
stantial man in the county. They
believe in education there and we
feel sure that with Miss White at the
head of the local school they will have
a very profitable one.
Mineral Water Found.
While digging the excavation for
the big dam to be erected on Ocmul
gee river one day last week the Cen¬
tral Georgia Power Company struck a
stream of mineral water. This water
is said to contain strong sulphuric
properties, resembling that of the fa¬
mous Indian Spring, near Jackson.
This section of Georgia is famous for
its mineral deposits, and the people
of that part of Butts county are very
much interested in the outcome of the
new springs, and it is not known yet
what the result will be.
THE COVINGTON NEWS
Negroes Hold Farmers’ Institute.
President Jones called the meeting
together at 2 o’clock p. m. in the
court house, at Covington.
This was the most successful and
interesting meeting we have held
since the Farmers’ Institute was or¬
ganized a year ago.
Subjects discussed were, deep plow¬
ing, more intelligent use of commer¬
cial fertilizers, making and using more
home made manure, selecting and
planting better seed.
P. D. Johnson urged the importance
of the farmers of the county adopting
more improve method in their farming
operation and their cooperation in the
Farmers’ Demonstration Work.
Prof. P. C. Parks, of Clark Univer¬
sity, discussed the yield of corn per
acre in Newton county. Said he in
part: There are 224,260 farms in the
State planting 3,479,684 acres in corn.
This will make an average of 11 acres
per farm; and the average yield for
the State per acre is 10.1 bushels. The
average yield per acre for Newton
county 7 1-2 per acre. What we want
to do, as farmers of this county, is to
raise the yield per acre. We can do
it by carefully selecting our seed and
preparing a good seed bed in which
to plant.
The negro farmers of Newton coun¬
ty feel very grateful to the white cit¬
izens for the use of the court house
for holding this meeting.
Adjourned to meet again the 15th
of February.
N. D. G. Jones, President.
[NOTE.—The above was handed us
by P. D. Johnson, a prosperous negro
farmer of this county, who is doing a
lot of work among the people of his
race, to make them attend to their
business and as he says, make good
citizens.
Buggy Company Applies For Charter.
Elsewhere in this issue of The News
The Norman Vehicle and Manufac¬
turing Company makes application
for charter. This company will oc¬
cupy the building recently vacated by
the Norman Buggy Co. The proposed
capital stock of the new company is
$6,000.00 and the promoters are among
! our most progressive citizens. Oper¬
ation will begin at once.
Fumigating Library Books.
The library subscriber sniffed suspi¬
ciously at the copy of “The Three
Musketeers” which she was about to
take home. “Carbolic acid,” she said.
“Have you been fumigating the
books?”
“No, we haven’t,” said the librarian,
“but some subscriber has. Many of
our patrons like to do their own fumi¬
gating. Usually they use carbolic acid.
At times when a good deal of sickness
Is reported the fumigating craze is es¬
pecially severe and one-third of the
books brought into the library smell to
heaven with carbolic acid.”—New York
Press.
A Birdseye View.
The following incident occurred dur¬
ing a terrific thunderstorm at the home
of a contractor who lives in the vicini¬
ty of Tampa, Fla. The contractor and
his family were sitting on the veranda
watching the storm when a bolt of
lightning struck a tree not fifteen feet
from where they were sitting.
The shock was terrific, but no one
was injured, although they were all
badly frightened. The young son, with
great excitement, was telling that he
jumped two feet high.
“How do you know you Jumped so
high?” said his father.
“Why,” said Johnnie, “I looked down
while I was up.”—Youth's Companion.
Wagner's Swan.
What interests me about Wagner,
says a writer in London Opinion, is his
affection for live beasts and animals.
In “Siegfried” we have a dragon, and
in “Lohengrin,” as you are all aware,
there is a very beautiful swan. When
the late Sir Augustus Harris produced
this latter opera something went
wrong with the bird. Just before the
rise of the curtain, therefore, the au¬
dience was considerably surprised and
startled to hear the indignant voice of
one of the stage hands resounding
fnjni the realms behind inquiring with
characteristic vigor, “What’s the mat¬
ter with that infernal duck?”
A Blissful Supposition.
Miss Black—Mr. Brown, does you
know whut a bird of paradise is? Mr.
Brown—Well, of co’se I doesn’t know
fob sure, but when 1 gits ter de nex’
work I wouldn’t be a bit surprise ter
dtskuvah dat it was a spring chicken.
—Illustrated Bits.
A Hummer.
“Morning, morning!” said paterfa¬
milias genially as he entered the break¬
fast room. “I’ve had a splendid night
Slept like a top!”
His wife agreed with him. “You
did,” she responded grimly—“like a
humming top!”—Philippines Gossip.
A flan of Letters.
“Did your friend make a hit at the
literary club?”
“I guess he did. He pronounced ‘Les
Miserables’ in a brand new way and
then alluded to it as Victor Herbert's
masterpiece.”—Washington Herald.
“So you enjoy reading all the extrav¬
agant praise that is printed about that
opera singer?”
“Yes,” answered Mr. Cumrox. “It
kind of helps me to feel that maybe
those tickets were worth what I paid
for ’em.”—Washington Star.
A PIAN O AT AUCTION.
You Are The Bidder And Auctioneer
The M. SCHULZ CO., of Chicago, 111., has placed with
R. E. Everilt, Covington, Ga.
A beautiful high grade and artistic Schulz Piano which retails
at $450.00 by the host of dealers representing the M. Schulz
Co., throughout America. They positively offer this piano to
the highest bidder, and you are permitted to make either a
time bid or a cash hid which may be mailed or left at
R. E. Everts Furniture Store
as explained below. This is one of their unique methods em¬
ployed to introduce Schulz Pianos in unrepresented territory.
An agency for Schulz Pianos once placed, means permanency.
The
Schulz
is the
Acme of
Perfection.
In this age of evolution old methods have been discarded for new and better ones which tend to¬
ward improvement and refinement. The founder of the Schulz Piano and his successors have
by years of incessant study improved this piano in many ways, and step by step they have
brought it to a height of refinement and musical possibilities undreamed of. They have express¬
ed in their actions a permanent and logical law that the need of a thing developes creative force
to produce it. The increased demand for quality and purity of tone caused their scale draftsman
to delve into the laws of acoustics, and scientific research has proven to him that strings do not
vibrate theii full length but vibrate in nodes. The combination of these nodes form the funda
mendal tone. The essential to produce perfect node vibration is the correct point of impact of
the hammer on the string. The irregular lines of the scale of the piano will show you the intra
casies in accomplishing this. The principle of graduation of the sounding board is another scien¬
tific find. Each sounding board used in the M. Schulz Piano is tested before it is put into the
Piano. There is naturally some dead surface in each sounding board which is detrimental to the
balance of it. This is eliminated by the use of their laminated acoustic rim which is formed of
fifteen segments. This separates the dead surface from the live surface which is thereby made
more sensitive to the vibration of the strings and produces a tone to please the most esthetic ear.
These are the two escential points on which we claim an art production.
Design - Finish - Construction.
The piano is also a magnificent instrument, massive in appearance, beautifully carved and hand¬
somely finished both inside and out. It represents a form of architecture with the lines clear
cut, of pleasing contrast and will harmonize in any surrounding. The case is made from the
choicest figured wood, and the finest quality of varnish is applied and polished after the most
approved methods known to the trade. It is full standard size. Height, 4 feet, 8 inches; width
5 feet 4 inches; depth 2 feet 2 inches.
The Purpose of This Sale.
The sale of this one piano is of no importance except to establish a permanent business in your locali¬
ty. We invite you to give this instrument a most careful inspection, then make up your mind how
much you will bid for it as indicated on the form attached to this circular. Remember this is Positively 3
$450.00 Piano. Tear off the attached coupon and mail it, or place it in a sealed envelope and leave it
at the above named store. You will have nothing to lose by making a bid, and you may get the
piano for only $250.00 or $275.00 or even less. All bids will be opened February 22nd and the
piano will be awarded to the highest bidder.
COUPON. Date.
R. E. EVERITT, Covington, Ga.
I have examined the SCHULZ PIANO at your store and am willing to give you $ ........
Cash and my Notes for $ ......................... , due as follows: ...........................
If this bid is acceptable to you please notify me, and upon receipt of a written Ten Year Guarantee
from the M. Schulz Co. I will take the piano.
Signed.................................................................
P- O..................................................County..........................................State.................
ALL BIDS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO PIANO DEPARTMENT, EVERITT'S FURNITURE STORE.