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2 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. »