Newspaper Page Text
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THE
Official Organ of the Patrons of Husbandly-
ATLANTA, GEORGIA DECEMBER, 1874-
Written for The Georgia Grange.]
PRIZE ESSAY.
DIVERSIFIED FARMING
BY L. A. PONDER, OF MONROE COUNTY.
The cultivation of the soil is the
principal occupation of the masses of
the Southern people. It is the founda
tion on which all others rely. For this
reason, it is the interest of all that it
should be independent and self-sustain
ing. Unfortunate for the whole coun
try, this great interest is languishing ;
and instead of being the most indepen
dent, as it should be, it is, under the
v listing system, the most dependent
and helpless of all other occupations.
Let us examine, briefly, the causes
which originated these evils and their
disastrous effects on the general weal.
Foremost among the causes which
led to our present depressed condition,
may be placed the cultivation of cot
ton to the exclusion of provision and
forage crops. “ This hath been our
bane.” The high price of cotton for
several years after the war encouraged
the delusion that this crop alone would
quickly repair the ravages of war. It
showed a path out of poverty, smooth
and apparently firm on the surface,
while underneath was the treacherous
quicksand—
“ Like that Serboniou bog.
’Twixt Danrietta and Mt. Cassius Old,
Where armies whole have sunk ”
The “gilded bait” of twenty five to
forty cents per pound for cotton at
planting time induced the farmers to de
viate from the course pursued by their
fathers, of raising the supplies for their
farms at home. Therefore debts were
necessarily incurred for supplies.
These debts fell due in October and
November. Capitalists abroad under
stood the condition of affairs here, and
very naturally took advantage of our
necessities. They put down the price
of cotton below the cost of production,
until the bulk of the crop had passed
out of the hands of the producer.
Thus, the farmer was caught with the
hook set for him at gathering time. A
large proportion of them became in
volved in debt, and as they had before
planted all cotton to get suddenly rich,
they continued that system to get quick
ly out of debt. Sad experience teaches
the result.
In the meanwhile, the Legislature
passed an act allowing factors and
commission merchants special liens on
growing crops for supplies and fertili
zers furnished for the farm. This law
injured the planting interest in several
ways. It encouraged and extended the
credit system. It forced the cotton
crop to sale under summary process, at
the time to suit the designs of specula
tors. And it gave a preference to one
class of creditors over all others,
thereby driving the surplus capital of
the country, which had usually circula
ted from neighborhood to neighbor
hood, into mercantile business, or on
deposit in the banks. Heartless extor
tion and ruinous usury wrung the re
wards of toil from the hands of indus
try. The demand for farm supplies
was so great that, fora time, there was
scarcely anv competition among deal
ers, as they knew that they could put
out as much as they desired to do on
their own terms. The farmers were
obliged to have supplies to run their
farms, and this was the only way to ob
tain them. So, when the heat of sum
mer ha-> Died up the running streams
in the jungles of India, the beasts of
prey station themselves along the paths
which 1 -ad down to the few remaining
pools of water, and confidently await
the coming of their victims, to assuage
their thirst. *'Moneyed rings” were
f'rm ‘d n New York, and Wall street
gambl s': with the cotton bales of the
South. The panic, last fall, cost the
South millions of dollars, which might
have been saved by raising our supplies
at home. It remains to be seen whether
republican institutions can bear the
strain which moneyed monopolies are
bringing to bear upon them.
Having examined some of the causes
which led to the present embarrassment
of the Southern planter ami the evils
resulting therefrom. 1 next proceed to
point out the remedy.
Here we are n't left to grope in
d.ukue." The ni.i>s-meeting of Pat
rons f H isl n. In and farm »rs, h 1
in Atlanta last November, pointed out
a remedy which is, at once, simple and
efficacious. The Georgia State Grange
endorsed it in its last session in Janua
ry. That remedy is, to “sow down
one-third of the available lands in
small grain and grapes, and plant one
third in corn and one-third in cotton.”
These were specified, because they are
the leading crops of the Southern
States. Os course, it was not intended
to exclude other useful crops, such as
potatoes, turnips, etc. This recommen
dation will lead the farmers “out of
the laud of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage.” It is fortunate for the
country that the Order of Patrons of
Husbandry possessed the moral power
to secure a compliance with this recom
mendation. Already, green fields of
■wheat and oats greet the eye on every
side, promising a bounteous harvest.
Broad acres in corn bid the husband
man to rejoice in the prospect of over
flowing barns. It may be reasonably
hoped that the benefits of this diversi
ty of crops, once observed, will widen
and extend until every crop which is
necessary for the sustenance of man, or
the domestic animals which he may re
quire food or service, may be grown
on our own farms.
It is expected that the “Direct Trade
Union of the Patrons of Husbandry”
and the “Liverpool, Savannah and
Great Western Transportation Line”
will exercise a powerful influence in in
ducing immigration to this section.
The great want of the South is more
white population. Experience has
shown us the diffi alty of obtaining
immigrants, and the greater difficulty
of retaining them. After the first year,
they go West, where food is cheaper
and more abundant. The best popula
tions of the Old World, the Scandina
vian, the Celtic and Teutonic will never
migrate to this section in any consider
able numbers while the scarcity, uncer
tainty and consequent high price of
food prevails here. From the early
dawn of h story the march of civiliza
tion has been along the rich alluvious
bordering the large rivers, where an
abundant and cheap supply of food
could be obtained. In such places,
magnificent cities sprung up and be
came the seats of learning and the
arts. A stinted supply of food, obtain
ed under difficulties, dwarfs both body
and mind, while a generous and nour
ishing diet expands and strengthens
the physical and intellectual faculties
of man. The salubrity of our climate
and the fruitfulness of our scil will
avail us nothing, so long as all-cotton
cropping is allowed to impoverish the
soil and its owners.
We want a homogeneous population.
The natural increase of the negro race
will be nearly pari passu with the white.
In “The History of Civilization in
England” it will be observed that the
science of statistics has demonstrated
the fact that the number of marriages
and births in that country was affected
by the price of corn —the population
increasing more rapidly when food was
abundant, ami consequently cheap.
The spontaneity with which our agri
cultural population have gone into “di
versified farming” promises an abun
dant supply of food to feed such immi
grants as may arrive on our shores.
The times seem to be ripe for a great
popular movement. Let us devoutly
hope that we are about to enter on the
inarch to a higher civilization.
A rotation of crops is impossible
under the all-cotton system of agricul
ture. Bv diversifying, we, to some
extent, necessitate rotation. When,
during the late war. the Legislature
passed a law prohibiting the planting of
mor? than three acres to the hand in
cotton, it was doubted by many wheth
er the grain crop was increased by it
the successive cropping in corn dimin
ishing the production, both in quantity
and quality. In some eases nearly, it
not quite, one-third of the corn was
rotten and wholly unfit for use, in con
sequence of this successive cropping
for four or five years. Thus, nature
rebuked the outrage. Continued crop
ping in cotton, of late, has violated the
same natural laws. Costly fertilizers
were brought in to reinforce the soil in
the production of cotton in successive
crops. This was a violation of finan
cial laws. It would not pay. “lhe
penalty trod on the heel of the trans
gression." The increase of the crop
decreased the price.
Th-'diversity of our soil adapts it
to the production of a great variety of
crops. C in, cotton, wheat, rye. oats,
barley. Irish a-.-i sweet potatoes, sor
ghum and saccharum <. .me, rice*'tur
THE GEORGIA GRANGE.
nips, melons, fruits, etc., etc., all grow
in perfection here. Observation, aided
by experience, will soon teach the farm
er to what character of soil each is
specially adapted. By a proper econo
my of time and a wise management of
his laboring forces, he may so arrange
the planting, cultivation and harvesting
of a large variety of these crops, as not
to let them seriously interfere with
each other. Where they necessarily
interfere, they are worth a few days’
quickened effort —
“They will reward the greedy peasant’s pains,
And burst the crowded barns with more than
promised gains.”
For instance, the harvest of wheat
and oats, though it comes in the thick
est of the struggle, is secured by a few
days’ energetic labor; and this, too, at
a time when a little ready money and
a fresh supply of food are so much
needed. They are the reserves which
come to the front when the fiercest tide
of battle is raging. The implements
and machinery used in the cultivation
and the preparation of a variety of
crops would give employment to the
mechanics and machinists in our midst,
and contribute to the building up of a
diversified industry, which is essential to
our permanent prosperity and indepen
dence as a people. We have already
felt the penalty of the violation of the
laws of true economy in the cultivation
of our farms. If “the fear of punish
ment is not sufficient to prevent the
repetition of the follies of the past, the
rewards which the future promises for
the observance of the laws of a sound
plantation economy, beckon us forward
with a renewed zeal in the accomplish
ment of the noblest aims of life.”
GEORGIA FARMING.
Some Facts for Texas Crazy PeopJe to
Ponder Over.
The Atlanta jfferald of Saturday, has
a column or so of statistics con
cerning what was done last year by cer
tain Georgia farmers, and which are
found in the books of the Secretary of
the State Agricultural Society. We
think it good reading, and therefore
summarize as follows :
Mr. J. L. Boynton, of Calhoun coun
ty, grew 97 bushels of corn, 21 bushels
of peas, 2,100 pounds of fodder, and
1,000 pounds pea vine hay upon one
acre of upland —his net profits being
$lB3 25.
Mr. Richard Peters, jr., grew 14 tons
and 200 pounds of lucern hay upon
four acres.
Mr. John J. Parker, of Thomasville,
produced 6941 gallons of pure syrup
from one acre. The gross proceeds of
the acre was $453 10, the whole expenses
$lO 10, leaving a net profit of $443.
Upon one acre of upland Mr. P. S.
Brown, of Thomasville, made 92 bush
els of rice, and a net profit of $262 70.
For the best crop made by a boy
under twenty-one years of age, E. C.
Nesbitt, of Jonesboro, took the prize,
lie made by his own labor $656 worth
of corn, wheat, cotton, etc., which he
sold, besides supporting himself.
Jesse R. Cox, of Greene county, a
boy of sixteen, made 55 bushels of corn
on one acre, and a bale and a half of cot
ton on another acre.
On a one-horse farm, Mr. J. L. Boyn
ton, of Calhoun county, made products
that sold in gross for $2,940 33. The
total expenses of running his farm was
$449. This left him as the clean net
profit of a one-horse farm, $2,491 33.
This result cannot be beat any where.
Mr. W. W. Groover, of Brooks coun
ty, on a two-horse farm, raised $3,-
217 50 worth of crops. His expenses
were $1,005, which left him $2,012 50
as a clear profit. This beats any busi
ness in the world.
How four Acres Supported Eight
Pers 'Ns- —Forth? premiums of $2lO
offered for the best support made for a
family of eight white people off the
smallest number of acres. Mr. J. Cox. of
Greene county, won it. On four acres,
be supported his family well and gen
erously. giving them more to cat than
a citv t'amilv would eat in two years.
This is a temple for Georgia, and we
present his description of how it was
done. It is worth reading:
Your exhibitor would state that he
has eight white per*ons in family, viz .
Self and wife,three sons and three daugh
ters; that he hires no help ; that he has
selected four acres of his crop, cultivated
by himself and family the present year,
from the results of which he bases his
entry for the premium in question ; the
said four acres being cultivated in corn,
one a- re of which has measu r ed out
-■;_il.:y-"ne bushels, and presents certi
ficates from lisinterested persons, who
state that the other three acres are
comparatively equally as good as th e
acre measured. He therefore safely
estimates the four acres at seventy-five
bushels per acre yield, or three hundred
bushels of corn, besides shucks, fodder,
hay, etc., enumerated below. This in
connection with his small garden, pota
to and turnip patches, not over one acre
more, makes the land on which the re
sult below is based, five acres. The
four acres of corn is bottom land, and
cultivated in the manner as set forth
in the statement made by me in the
entry for premium 126, best acre low
land corn, to which I refer, the prepa
ration and expense of cultivation being
identically the same :
By yield four acres corn 75 bushels per
acre, 300 bushels, $1 per bushel,.... §3OO 00
By yield 8,000 lbs. shucks, 50c. cwt.... 40 00
By yield 4,000 lbs. fodder, §1 cwt 40 00
By yield 6,000 lbs. pea vine hay, 60 00
By yield half acre sweet potatoes, 75 bu. 37 50
By three beeves, §l2 each, 36 00
By three sheep, §2 each, 6 00
By ten hogs, 150 lbs. each, 75 00
By chickens, butter, eggs, etc , 501 d,.... 50 00
Total aggregate sold, §614 50
Not including garden trucks, vegeta
bles, chickens, eggs, butter, milk, etc.,
consumed by the family.
The expense of cultivation, paid for
manure, etc., is estimated at §24 per acre
as per statement, as set forth in entry
for' premium 126, indetail to which I
refer, making for the four acres, at §24, §96 00
Leaving as money value, net §548 50
Your exhibitor would state that he
had three milk cows, fourteen head
dry cattle, two horses, and twenty-seven
head stock hogs, sows, shoats and pigs,
and submits that in his judgment the
products of the five acres, as above
stated, is full, to maintain in an ample
and generous manner, the family of
eight persons, besides the whole of the
stock, above enumerated, and more be
sides, if he had it.
No estimate could be given of the
garden truck, fruits, butter, milk, eggs,
chickens, etc., consumed by the family,
the same being bountiful and ample, and
only the amounts sold of same is es
timated. All of which is respectfully
submitted. Geo. N. Boswell,
James Davidson.
Industrial Education.
We are indebted to the Prairie Far
mer for the following interesting items
on the subject of “ Industrial Educa
tion,” compiled from the report of the
Commissioner of Agriculture :
“The Department of Agriculture Re
port for 1873, just sent out, hasa com
prehensive article upon the Progress
of Industrial Education. We learn
from it that twenty-six of the States
have disposed of all the land script
that they received from the Govern
ment. lowa, Kansas, Illinois, Michi
gan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York
and Wisconsin, have sold only in part;
and Nebraska, Nevada and Oregon
hehl at that time all of theirs. Recent
sales have not been less than ninety
cents per acre, while some have been
made in Kansas and Minnesota as high
as $4 ami 85 45 per acre. New York
sold 100,000 acres at $4, and 12,000 at
$4 70 per acre. The estimated amount
these colleges have received as dona
tions from the States, counties, towns
and individuals, is $7,292,841 aside
from appropriations for current ex
penses. Cornell University has re
ceived $1,500,000 from individuals.
For every SIOO given to these institu
tions by the government, the people
have contributed $69. The entire
property of all the colleges is valued
at $17,535,475.
“Colleges have been established in
ail the Stat ,‘s except Louisiana and Ne
vada. In thirty-five States there are
thirty-eight distinct college-, and if'
we count two additional for the States
of Georgia and Missouri, which have
each two colleges m different parts of
the Suite, but connected with one uni
versity and under one government, the
number will be increased to forty. A'l
the colleges are in operation except in
Florida, Indiana, Not th Carolina and
Texas. The number of Professors and
assistants at present employed in them
is 389, and the number of students in .
attendance is 3,917. In fifteen of the ■
colleges students occupy a portion of
the time each day in manual labor on
the farm or in the workshop. Atten- ■
tion is giveu by twenty-one of the col
leges to raising thoroughbred stock for
the purpose of giving practical instruc-,
tion to students in this department of !
study, and also for aiding farmers in
the several States in supplying them
selves with the most approved breeds.
•'The stock is compose! of cattle,
horses, sheep, and swine, an! numbers
in al’. 1.618, valued at $82,146. The
farm implem -nts >:i th- sam- are val
; -d at $47,047.
“TheCommLWoner re’> rts at the 11- .
linois Industrial University, thirteen
Professors and seven instructors. We
believe this force has been considerably
reduced since this report was written.
The entire property of the University
is valued at $886,308. The fund of
the Indian Institution is about $340,-
000. The property of the lowa col
lege is valued at $968,899. Kansas
claims the value of her college at $458,-
782.”
The subjoined review of the report
of the Postmaster General contains
facts and figures of interest to the
general reader :
The report of the Postmaster Gen
eral is completed. The revenues for
the year ending June 30, 1874, were
$24,596,568, and the expenditure $32,-
126,414. The estimated expenditures
fur the year ending June 30, 1876, are
$36,964,034; total estimated revenue,
$29,148,156, leaving a deficiency to be
appropriated out of the general Treas
ury of $7,815,878. These estimates
do not include appropriations for steam
ship service and stamps amounting to
$2,098,500. The use of the registered
letter system is steadily increasing.
There has been a marked gain in the
time of transporting through mails, an
average gain from New York to San
Francisco of five hours and thirty-two
minutes, and a gain for mails to New
Orleans of two hours and fifty-seven
minutes, and, going north, of one hour
aud fifty minutes, and a perceptible
gain on all through routes in regulari
ty and certainty. The foreign mail
system is in better condition than ever
before. The number of post-offices in
operation June 30, 1874, was 34,294 ;
total number of appointments during
the year, 9,428. The results of the ex
tensions of the letter-carrier system
are of the most gratifying character
There has been a gain of over 30 per
cent, in the amount of fees received
from money-orders. There has been
only one erroneous payment in 59,677
payments, and only seventy-four in all.
The increase in money exchanges with
Great Britian and Switzerland has been
very marked.
Practical Hints.
The following paragraph is clipped
from an article on “help,” in the Wes
tern Rural. The writer takes a proper
view of the subject. We have often
compared the rushing, pushing laborer
with the steady sure one, and we have
had good reasons, as a general rule, to
prefer the latter to the former :
That there is a vast difference be
tween hired men, I think none will de
ny. It is not always the one that does
the most work that is worth the most.
For me, the man that will see after
things and take some interest in having
the work go along, and is not ah eye
servant, is far preferable to the one
that will do a big day’s work when I
am with him, but has to be watched to
get anything like a fair day’s work out
of him. It is the little things that
count in favor of a good hand, and with
most men they are not overlooked or
forgotten.
We do not remember to have met
with an instance which so clearly illus
trates the immediate advantages of
properly manuring land as that fur
nished in tbe subjoined paragraph.
One hundred and four bushels produced
on land which the proprietor admits
would not have yielded ten bushels
without manure, is certainly a most as
tonishing result. Will not our farmers
who now make from ten to twenty-five
bushels of corn to the acre follow the
example of Mr. Norwood ?
“C. W. Norwood, of Cokesbury, South
Carolina, grew one hundred and four
bushels of shelled corn to the acre, on a
poor sandy soil, with a sand and clay
subsoil. He says he never suffers sun
or rain on his manure, and he mixes it
with the subsoil; deep and thorough
preparation, and light, clean culture are 1
necessary afterwards; never lacerate 1
the roots by deep ploughing after the '
corn makes a stand. As a supplement
to his farm-yard manure, he added a
thoroughly mixed compost of ten bush- ,
els of ashes, ten of clay, ten of cotton i
seed, five of bone dust, and one bushel i
of ground plaster; before the corn be
gan to tassel, one hundred and twenty j
pounds of guano was hoed into the i
drills; it was thinned to one stalk every |
two feet in the drill. He says the land ]
would not have yielded ten bushels of '
corn to the acre without the manure.
The latest Sunday-school prodigy,
having listened to a discourse on the 1
necessity, of offering a firm front to
the evil < ne. .-aid he’d “be scared of
th-- lev-., mt if h ■ came acr- ss on.- of
tm- ittle ones ue <1 -in ck the stu,!.n?
out of him.”
The Prohibitory Law.
We at length reached the hotel again,
and I proposed a glass of brandy and ,
water. My friend looked at me and
then at the landlord ; and then the
landlord looked at my friend and then
at me. Perplexity overspread the coun
tenances of both.
“ Such a thing as a drop of liquor is
not to be had in the place,” said the
landlord.
“ Bought, you mean,” retorted my
friend.
“Bought, I mean,” was the answer.
Then both eyed me significantly.
“ Does anybody give it ?” I inquired,
greatly puzzled by the mystery that
appeared bn both their countenances.
“ Not exactly. You see the State
constables would be after me in no
time if I sold liquor,” explained the
landlord. “Do you want some very
badly ?”
I could not explain how badly I
wanted it, and could only give vent to
my feelings in a sigh.
Without a word the landlord disap
peared within the recesses of a small
room behind the office desk, and pres
ently came forth with two empty tum
blers in his hand. These he placed on
the desk.
“But where’s the liquor ?” I inquired.
“ The law forbids me to sell it,” he
said. “I dare not disobey the law. If
you can find any here you are welcome
to it,” saying which he accidentally
turned back the breast of his coat. Tbe
neck of a bottle peeped forth from the
inside pocket. He winked his eye at
me and I winked my eye at him, after
which I drew forth the bottle. He
faintly struggled with me to prevent the
daring robbery upon which I was bent,
but I proved inexorable.
My private bottle, kept tor medicinal
purposes, and not tor sale, he moaned,
as he poured out the liquor for myself
and the worthy chairman of the parish
committee. “Have some water, gentle
men ?” ho added with alacrity.
We drank, and I replaced the bottle
in the repository whence I had taken it.
Then I put a dollar in his hands.
“ What is this for ?” he asked, as he
deposited it in his waistcoat pocket
and gave me a half a dollar in change.
“ For a half bushel of oats,” I an
swered. “ Keep them until I send for
them.”
“ Ah, sir,” said the landlord, with
an air of virtuous resignation, “ the
Prohibitory law has done a world of
good in stopping the sale of liquors.
It’s a severe law, but a good one.”
Sanwicli Inland Women.
A lady writing from Honolulu, thus
discourses upon the native women and
their free and easy manners : “They are
erect, wide in the shoulders, and carry
their heads like queens. Many of them
are truly handsome, wearing their hair
falling over their shoulders in curls,
and surmounted with little straw hats,
garlanded with wreaths of lovely native
flowers. They clothe themselves mod
estly and prettily, wearing the dress to
cover neck and arms, and falling loosely
from the .shoulders to the the feet,
which are often bare. Not being civil
ized like us, they have not been enlight
ened into compressing their ribs with
iron and whalebone corsets ; nor to dis
turb and torture their feet with over
tight shoes ; nor to put bonnets on their
heads running up into turrets of silk
and artificial flowers, and leaving the
ears at the mercy of bitter winds ; nor
to make up forty-five yards of steel wire
into cages and fasten themselves within
them ; nor carry an extra half yard of
i dress stuff bravely after them over the
pavement through thick and thin. Yes,
these women have the advantage of us,
for are we not forced, by the exigencies
of custom, when we come with our long
garments upon any impurities of the
pathway, to shut our eyes and clench
our teeth and rush blindly over them,
whereas, those Kansas women, will, at
the sight even of a spot of water, lift
their garments gingerly, and pass over,
j clean and unsullied from its contact.
Can this be barbarism ?”
Hebe is a new game very popular
lin the country just now : “ A young
I man takes a chestnut, cuts round the
I hull with a sharp knife, and then takes
one-half of the chestnut in his mouth,
J and a pretty girl the other half in her
1 mouth, and the hull comes off.” There
may be quicker methods of hulling ,
■ chestnuts, but none more soothing to .
the feelings of the young folks ; and
they don’t get mad and dance wildly,
•.round if the hull don’t come off for *
live minutes or so. C .untry games are <
not to be despised after all. »