THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER, DECEMBER 8, 1887.
SOUTHERN FARMERS MUST OR
GANIZE.
Extract from a Speech of C J J'. Macune,
Presi'hnt of the Farmers National Alli
ance, Delivered hefore the Inter-States
Convention of Farmers in Atlanta,
Anijust, 18S7. J.
We must either quit buying to
satisfy a stage of material progress
that necessitates all-cash transactions,
or we must adopt a course of action
that will enable us to produce accord
ing to a more advanced stage of ma
terial progress than the one in which
barter is essential. Do not misunder
stand this proposition. It is not in
tended to preach economy to the most
economical people in the union, it is
not intended to insult the farmers of
the South by saying you must work
harder and spend less. Xb. no ! They
already work harder and spend loss
than any class in America ; and it is
the most hollow mockery on earth to
preach economy, frugality and indus
try to the class that most excel in
those virtues, and who are supporting
in ease and luxury manv who can lav
no claim to either one of those virtues,
and to very few others.
We must pursue one of two courses.
"We must either devise some plan by
which with some exchange of products
we can render our farms self-supporting
and raise only so much of the cash
crops as may be needed to satisfy our
necessary relations with the rest of the
world. This will be very hard to do
much harder than it would have
been a few vears aro because in
ml O
taking the step we plant ourselves
fairly and squarely in the track of a
material progress that requires the all
cash transactions and say, wait, stop
till we catchup : we are going to make
our own tricks ; we can make and
raise our own supplies until we get out
of debt. Bv so doinor we will an
tagonize certain interest that will in
self-defence offer our individual mem
bers such extraordinary induce
ments, accompanied with such seduc
tive sophistry, that many will be de
c"'i ! i-reby, and the plan, in the
future, as it has alreadv been in the
past, will be almost a complete failure.
I can see but one way to make it a
probable success, and even that is sub
ject to some doubt. It is organization.
If we decide to raise what we will
consume at home, the effort will be a
stroke in the dark, unless it is the re
sult of a wise consideration of the
question and all its surroundings ; and
unless co-operated in by all of our
class as can onlv be done bv a closer
union and bv a lirm bond of orjjaniza
tion. if it is decided to reduce the
acreage of any given crop, organiza
tion, is a vital necessitv to the end that
ml
no mistake Is made and that all will
co-operate, and a strong organization,
so that we may have some assurance
that all will stick, and that we, our
selues, as well as others, mav have
some confidence in the compact, in
short, you cannot hope to succeed in
any innovation upon the existing
order of things and the tendency of
the times, without concert of action,
that will enable you to withstand the
attact of the antagonizers that must
necessarily follow, and in proportion
to the magnitude of the undertaking,
the compact should be made more
close and binding.
The second great remedy is in an
entirely dilferent or opposite direction.
Instead of calling upon material pro
gress to wait for us to catch up on a
plane of all cash or money transac
tions, simply step upon that plane and
say we will deal with you according
to the development of material pro
gress in your section ; and we have
raised our products to meet the emer
gencies and conditions of the same
stage, hut how may we do that ? Let
us see. The cotton belt of America
is a circumscribed country, and I am
told that in no other place in the wide
world does. the same quality of cotton
grow to the same degree of perfection.
At this time we are growing about
seven millions of bales per annum.
And I offer you as a proof of the fact
that there is not an over-production,
the evidence that there is no accumu
lation. I have no means of estimating
the proportion of the area of these
States, but with the present increase
of population throughout the world,
and the increased uses to which the
staple is applied, it can be relatively
but a few years, when the demands of
the world will necessitate that every
acre of land that will raise cotton be
planted in cotton. Beyond that time
the necessities of demand and the limit
of supply will insure a gradual increase
in the value of the product and the
value of the only land upon which it,
the product can be raised. And here
m this connection arises a very im
portant question, and one well worthy
the most careful consideration by our
wisest heads. Cannot we of the cotton
belt meet these conditions of the dim
future which promise to so certainly
raise the price of cotton and cotton
lands, with more certainty and satis
faction today, by an enlightened
method of co-operation ? Can we who
own the cotton lands, both used and
unused, by a closer union and a more
enlightened understanding, organize
ourselves for business purposes, strict
ly, and so manage the amount c f cotton
offered for sale each year, that it will
pay fair wages for the labor expended
in making it, and a: just interest on the
money invested ? I think we most
certainly can, but it will take a firm
and strong organization.
Again, of "the seven and one-half
millions bales of cotton made yearly in
this country, a little over five millions
bales go to Europe, principally to
England. The price of cotton hi
America is regulated by the English
market. Consequently England buys
two-thirds of our crop and fixes nil our
prices, and still we do not let her. fur
nish us a yard of cotton cloth without
a duty of," I believe on the average
about 00 per cent., and as a conse
quence she would buy none of our cot
ton if she could supply herself else
where, and that being the case, it
would seem that the price should not
be governed bv her dictum. The
cotton raisers are great sufferers by a
tariff that reduces the price of the
staple and increases the price of the
cloth ; but should we tie ourselves to
a tariff reduction as the remedy for
our ills ? I think not. Large interests
would be rendered almost useless by
the removal of the tariff. I think we
should, in an organized capacity, call
upon the cotton factories to cease
calling upon the U. S. Government
for protection at our expense, which
we are no longer able to stand, and
adopt a gradual system of tariff reduc
tion that will reach the consummation
to be desired with injustice to no in
terest ; if they are not willing to adopt
and conform to this just demand, and
no unjust demand should ever be
made, they should be notified that we
will be compelled to build factories in
our own defense, to the end that we
may divide some of the government
protection. If it should be decided to
build factories, the necessity for or
ganization would again be imperative
in order to co-operate, in insuring a
diversity of commodities as the result
of our effort, and in order to pledge
our cotton crop and borrow foreign
mono v with which to build our fac
tories. as it would be folly to use
money worth S or 10 per cent, when
by giving good security we could get
it at fouv. Again, shall we tie on to
any political effort ? To this 1 want
to say God save us from any farmers1
party or a party composed of any one
class. Here we are fighting class
legislation, and some cry for a class
party. Let every man preserve his
own individual independence; freely
and fully let us unite in a business
sense and in that sense only. Let
harmonious and united political action
result from a proper conception of
self-interest ; from an enlightened,
and liberal judgment ; from an honest
heart, and I had nearly said a full
stomach and, sir, it would have been
appropriate, because 1 have just come
from a farmers' meeting in Texas
where one man traveled over two
hundred miles to be with us ; stayed
five days on one meal a day so that he
would have money enough to get home
on. I offered to loan him money and
he refused and said he would walk
home before he would submit to a loan
or a collection. This is the kind of
devotion to principle that exists in the
rural districts, and it will do to tie to,
but woe be to him both in this world
and the next, that would disappoint
such devotion with the hope of relief
in partisan politics. Relief must come
by action, guided by an enlightened
understanding of the principles that
underlie our system of government.
Men do not learn principles in po
litical caucuses or conventions. They
imbibe principles around the hearth
stone and at the mother's knee, and
these our system of education must
commmence, and if it does it will end
in victory.
In conclusion, it is desired to im
press upon the" attention of all, that of
all the great troubles that farmers'
organizations have to combat, the con
stant preaching of would-be leaders
who take extreme views and have a
panacea for all our ills, are the most
to be dreaded. There are tariff re
formers who offer that for every
trouble in existence. The same may
be said of the money xeformer ; the
railroad reformer, and the land re
former. Xow we grant that reform
is demanded in each, but that no one
is adequate to produce complete relief ;
it will take all, and in our efforts to
get all let us take pattern after capital.
Capital is wise, conservative and never
makes any mistakes; and capital when
it wants legislation, commences to
make friends with the party in power;
and the first thing you know the prin
ciple for which capital contends is en
grafted in the platform of the domi
nant party.
Mr. McCune concluded as follows:
Xow, Mr. President, when it was
announced that we would discuss the
subject of organization at three o'clock,
I retired to get up this paper. 1 re
gret that I did not have time to make
it more complete. The subject neces
sarily demands going over very much
ground
without
going over any, par
ticular point thoroughly. It is as
good as T could do in the limited time
I had, and as 1 did not quite get
through, I wish to say a word for our
Texas delegation a word of explana
tion. We have strong farmers1 organiza
tions there, and the immediate neces
sity for this explanation was on ac
count of what was said last night.
Our organization is a strictly business
organization. We eschew partisan
politics. As long as the members that
now belong to the organization have
control of it, we never will dabble in
politics. We are united for business
purposes. It is a secret organization,
and is called '-The Farmers' Alliance.11
The gentleman who addressed you last
night belongs to the " Farmers1 Alli
ance of the United States," which is a
non-secret organization. 1 make this
explanation in order that there may
be no confusion. The two orders are
distinct. Ours is the Farmers' Xa
tional Alliance and Co-operative
Union of Ameria." The objects of
the organization are directed to the
ills that exist in the cotton States, and
it is the intention of those who have
been working the organization not to
extend it beyond the cotton States. It
wras intended purely as a business en
terprise between cotton raisers. I
simply want to make the plain state
ment that the two orders are entirely
different. I do not want to advertise
it or anything of that sort. I thank
you, gentlemen.
HOGS FOR MEAT.
The hog should be regarded and
treated as an animal machine for the
conversion of cheap vegetable matter
into more valuable pork converting
bulky and unsalable products into com
pact and readily marketable substan
ces. A home market is thus secured
for crops and much waste matter on
the farm. Instead of desiring that
these machines may consume as little
raw material as possible, the more they
consume the better, provided it is pro
fitably converted into meat. By ar
ranging a number of lots, adapted in
size to the number of swine to be kept,
so that they will each open a Bermuda
pasture from which swine may be
turned at will into any of the crops,
and to which they may be withdrawn
to prevent injury to the land in wet
spells, a succession of crops may be
grown," especially for their consump
tion, as follows: 1 . Rye to be grazed
in winter, allowed to seed, gleaned and
followed by sweet potatoes. A mixture
of corn, peas, sweet potatoes ayd dec
orated cotton seed fed during the latter
part of winter and spring with collard
leaves to add to the variety. 2. Oats
to be gathered by hogs and followed
by speckled peas. 3. Early planted
speckled peas to be gathered by hogs
and followed by fall oats or rye. 4.
Early crop of sweet potatoes to be fol
lowed by rye. 5. Ground peas be
tween corn raws, both to be gathered
by hogs or the corn harvested for use
later. 6. Speckled peas between rows
of sorghum. 7. Chufas for late win
ter use for stock hogs after finishing
up those to be butchered. Xone of
these crops are costly the hogs do
the harvesting and together with the
usual small grain fields and pea fields
will produce pork as cheaply as it can
be grown anywhere. There is always
a home market for Southern smoke
house cured bacon at prices above
Western meat of the same class. It
would not necessarily exclude cotton
from the farm, nor indeed should it
do so, but it would reduce to arce and
increase the per acreage production.
Under proper management the pork
can be sold at twice the cost of pro
duction, while cotton often brings less
than it cost to produce it. Without
intelligent personal supervision neither
this nor any other agricultural enter
prise will succeed. Atlanta Ga.7 South
ern Cultivator.
r 9 W 1
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POULTRY DEPARTMENT.
(We are pleased to announce to the readers of
The Progressive Farmer that we have been so
fortunate as to secure the efficient services of Mr. K.
H. Weathers as Editor of this Depart mem. lie 1
one of the best informed men on this subject m the
South. He desires that "all communications and
quest ions designed for his Department be addressed:
Poultiv Column. -Progressive Farmer, Paleiidi.
X. (V JIe will most cheerfully answer-all ques
tions relating to poultry through this column.
Write him. Editor Progressive Farmer.)
Cross-Bred Fowls.
It is often asserted by some that
cross-bred fowls are superior to pure
bred, for market purposes. The cross
ing of the Plymouth Rock on the
Asiatic varieties, the Crown Leghorn
on the Partridge Cochin, and the
Houdan on the DarR Brahma is recom
mended, and the experiment is now
going on among those who favor
commercial poultry keeping and the
hatching and rearing of fowls by arti
ficial means. We cannot see the sub
stantial advantage of using cross-bred
fowls for eggs or flesh. It will not do
to brood much from them, as they
will soon run down and become no
better than dung-hills, although the
first cross may give a stronger and
hardier oh'spring on the average, they
will in time come of all sorts. We
can see no serious objection to judicious
crossing between pure-bred fows that
are delicate, if the object is to give
tone, vigor ain hardiness to the off
spring. This is some times practiced
among Bantams which have been
elosolv bred and brought t o the highest
ml -
points of excellence and beauty by
artificial skill. But we are inclined
to believe that the most profitable
fowls for eggs and flesh are pure-bred
such as Leghorns, Wyandottes,
Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas. Langshans,
Cochins and Houdans. Among any
of these pure-breeds, there will always
be found marketable fowls that will
pay much better for their keeping
than will mongrels or ordinary dung
hill fowls. The pure-bred hens will,
in a season, lay one-third, and in some
cases half as many more eggs in num
ber, make better and heavier broilers
at a much earlier age, and are far
more valuable at maturity than any
mongrel fowd ever raised.
If we pay a high price for fine stock
and take upon ourselves the responsi
bility of caring for them, wTe cannot
avoid the duty of watching them daily,
feeding them well with a variety of
food giving them a dry warm house
for winter, and seeing to their wants.
LET THE FARMERS LOOK TO IT
It will be remembered that during
the closing days of the last Congress,
an act was passed appropriating
$1.1.000 annually to each State and
Territory, for the purpose of maintain
ing agricultural experiment stations,
the general function of which should
be to investigate the various problems
related to agriculture, such as diseases
of plants and animals, methods of cul
ture, insect pests, etc., etc., and to
diffuse the results of the same among
the people. Owing to the haste with
which final action upon the bill was
taken, a technicality was overlooked
which, in the opinion of the Controller
of the Treasury, rendered further ac
tion by Congress necessary before the
funds appropriated could become
available, and consequently the various
stations have thus far been able to take
only such preliminary steps of organ
ization as required no outlay of money
Congress will meet again early in De
cember, and the Controller and Secre
tary of the Treasury have promised to
recommend early action upon this
matter, in order that the stations mav
mi
be organized, ready for work by the
opening of spring. There will be
many other questions pressing upon
the attention of Congress, however,
and there is danger that action on this
matter will be delaved unless the farm-
ml
ers of the country take interest enough
in the matter to urge upon their rep
resentatives the necessity for prompt
ness. The bill appropriating this fund for
agricultural research passed through
Congress by an almost unanimous
vote, and there is no reasonable doubt
that this unanimity was largely due to
the fact that members of Congress
realize that farmers pay more than
their just share of taxes, and are
therefore entitled to special considera
tion in the disbursement of the enor
mous accumulations of the treasury.
In addition to this is the fact that all
our industries depend for their pros
perity, in the long run, upon the pros
perity of agriculture. If times are
" hard '? upon the farm, all other indus
tries must eventually experience de
pression, and anything that tends to
make farming more profitable tends
also to improve the condition of the
masses. To those farmers whose in
tellectual ability enables them to over
look the general level of their nv -.
tion, the fact has long been eyM.'t
that one great cause of the h'(.;,.;( '
which now pervades our aricn1
might be largely or wholly eme?ii,'d
by a better knowledge of" the ini';;,!v
details of the business ainonu; Tarn
themselves. In many branchc ' ,.f
manufacture the saving of ci-iitm
waste products which were fori-.,
considered worthless, now coiii
the chief profits of the business ; ,
to this fact is largely due the re;-;
cheapness of many articles as e
pared with their prices a few v, .
ago. In agriculture the perlec:;'. ,:;
machinery has wonderfully U-- .
the cost of production within a .
eration past; but we cannot. hope ...
the next generation will witi:--... -,
further perfection of such mac!;;.:,. -at
all commensurate with that of
past. The time has now conic. ;":
fore, when we must look to a u-tt
understanding of the forces of ,
rather than to a further imnrovi".
of mechanical appliances for lu;- ..
progress in agriculture, and it i ;
understanding which it is the pr. , :
of the agricultural experiment .
to give. That the experiment
can and will give the help thu.v ;
dicated. there is abundant pro- :, ;.; ;
it therefore behooves every . v...
awake farmer to use his in'h;. ;;it.
promptly and vigorously in
port of these stations. Farm ai '.'...
sale.
THE TIME TO APPLY MANURE.
The proper time to apply niaiunc '
in the late fall or winter. Our gmnd
lcitneis ubuu io uniiK mere v:
liO
time to spread manure but in the
spring. They were right then, hut if
we think so now we are wronu;. Why?
Thino-s
have changed since ;!
t .':!).
They had more snow in winter and
more rain in summer, both of which
have a great effect upon the soil.
Then the winter was a very busy time
of the year ; besides their chores, they
had husking and threshing to do,
which was done with the old-fashioned
flail. There was wood to chop, and
countless other things to do by hand,
which are now done by machinery.
Very many objections will be raised
to winter application. Some say
manure spread in the fall loses a great
part of its strength. How can it V It
is soon covered with snow, and what
would evaporate does not amount to
much anyway. Plant food does not
evaporate. Then you say perhaps on
some soils it mav leach. 1 do not
think you ever knew of a case of the
kind, in land that was tilled. It may
leach if left in piles, or in a barnyard,
or under the eaves. Those are the
places where leaching occurs. Then
you say, if spread in the snow the best
part of the manure will wash off in
the spring. This very seldom happens.
The snow melts gradually, and the
ground is thawing at the same time,
and it takes up the plant food as fast
as it conies in contact with it. 1
should not advise anv one to spread
mt -L
manure on a steep hillside in the win
ter, neither would I advise you to
spread land that was very much slop
ing on top of a hard crust of snow ;
there are exceptions to all things. But,
brother farmers, you will make money
in more than one way by spreading
the manure in the fall or winter. In
the first place you will save leaching
and other wrastes in the barnyard, you
will save time, which is money, and
your crops . will be enough better to
pay for all the trouble. Ex.
A MISTAKE SOME
MAKE.
FARMERS
Too many who start out as farmers
make the mistake of going too largely
in debt. One of the requisites for
safe and profitable agriculture is a
floating capital in addition to the fixed
one invested in land and buildings. If
a man has 150 acres of land clear and
no money besid es, as a rule it would
be better for him to sell the 50 acres
for cash simply to use the money so
obtained in the business, for the farmer
is handicapped who cannot buy
enough of good tools, is not able to
furnish his house with labor-saving
implements, nor get the cash prices for
what he must buy, such as seed, stock,
etc. And he should be above the
necessity of selling his crops until he
is sure they are going to the best
market.
This lack of capital hampers many
besides poor farmers. It hinders as
well the comparatively wealthy who
invest all they have in land and fail to
provide ready money for use in emer
gencies and in daily business. Better,
much better, have less land and more
floating capital. E. City Carolinian.