EASIER WORK FOR FARM WOMEN Page 16.
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A Farm and Horn Weekly For the Carolinas, Virginia,
Gevna and Tennessee.
Vol. XXVIII. No. 10.
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1913.
FOUNDED?. AT RALEIGH, N. C.
Weekly : $1 a Year.
The Rational Way to Keep Down the Cotton Acreage.
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WE ARE publishing this week Col. E. J. Watson's appeal to the
farmers of the South to hold their cotton acreage down to a
reasonable size this year, and not to go "cotton crazy" again and
force prices down below the level of a fair and reasonable profit
We agree with all
that Col. Watson says,
and believe that his
advice should be heed
ed; but, brethren, it is
just this same old story
every spring.
Thihk of itorgan
izations and speech
making and resolu
tions and newspaper
articles almost every
year to impress urJon
Southern farmers the
fact that if they plant
too much cotton they
will suffer for it!
It is little less than
ridiculous that such
things should be
thought necessary ;and
it is altogether ridicu
lous that any man
should imagine that
all these efforts, laud
able as they are, can
bring any real or per
manent relief from the danger of "a cotton crop big enough to break
us."
Cotton is not a perishable crop. A bale of cotton properly stored
will keep almost indefinitely. Why, then, is a 10 per cent increase in the
crop likely to result in a 20 per cent decrease in the price, and why
does a 13,000,000 bale crop bring less than an 11,000,000 bale crop?
We all know why simply because the cotton growers are depend
ent upon the cotton crop for practically everything and, whether prices
are high or low, a large part of the cotton must be sold in the fall.
With a big crop and abundant supplies assured for all the mills, the
buyers do not need to pay high prices for cotton. No matter how low
the prices may go, the "distressed" cotton will still be trickling into
market. Wouldn't the mills be foolish not to get supplies as cheaply
as possible; and are farmers not foolish to blame the mills and specula
tors for the low prices?
We believe with all our hearts in organization and co-operation
among farmers, and in the right of the producer to help fix the prices
for his products; but there is no use dodging the plain fact that until
the Southern farmers get their business on a firmer basis than a single
sale crop can give, no amount of organization, no efforts at controlled
marketing or reduced acreage can put them on an equal footing with
the buyers of their products.
Keep the cotton acreage down to a reasonable sizenot only this
year but every year. You can do it, or at least do your part toward
it, and in anv case assure yourself that you will not have to sell at a
GdT)D HOGS WILL HELP MAKE YOU INDEPENDENT.
Tamworth Boar, Dean 3999. Winner of many prizes. Owned by.Arcadia Farms, Columbus, Ga.
price that gives you no profit and scanty pay for your labor.
You can do it by planning a rotation of crops that will reduce your
own cotton acreage to what it should be, and then sticking to that ro
tation; by growing corn, and hay, and pasture crops, and garden crops,
and all the things that
should be grown on a
well managed farm ;
by gradually getting
more livestock and
sticking to it as a reg
ular part of your
farming.
Lop-sided farming
is what ails the South
that and the un
thoughted haste to
rush into a thing when
prices are high and
drop it when prices go
down. High prices
for cotton one year
mean a big crop the
next, A slump comes
in the prices of hogs,
and breeders fall over
each other in their
eagerness to get out of
the business.
Brethren, it is time
for a change. No one
of you can make cer
tain that the South will not go "cotton crazy" this year; but each one of
you can make certain that he will not. And if you keep your cotton
acreage down by following the only practical plan that of giving cot
ton a fixed place in your rotation and keeping it there, you will be
able to profit by good prices if they come and to hold out against low
prices if others do not follow your example.
FEATURES OF THIS ISSUE.
BEES ON THE-FARM More Should be Kept 25
BUYING COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS How to Know if You Are
Getting Your Money's Worth v. 5
CABBAGE WORMS How the Worm Changes to a Butterfly 14
DON'T GO COTTON CRAZY A Warning From. President Watson. . 5
DYNAMITE ON THE FARM Two Experiences 6
"EDUCATION, CO-OPERATION, LEGISLATION"--Our New Depart-
partment and Its Purposes ' 19
HOG CHOLERA SERUM Its Use, Its Dangers and Its Virtues 22
LITTLE CORN TALKS Letters From Farmers 10
OVERHEARD ON THE TRAIN Some Northern Comm'ent on South
ern Farming 12
SWEET POTATO TALK Varieties, Bedding, Soils, Fertilization. . . 23
TIMELY ORCHARD WORK Get the. Heaters Ready and Prepare
for Summer Crops . . 26
TIMELY SUGGESTIONS FOR STOCKMEN Ten Things You Ought
to Do Now 20
WHEN LEGUMES DO NOT INCREASE FERTILITY When They
Are All Taken Off the Land 3
WHAT YOUR COUNTY NEEDS A County Fair and a County Im
provement Society . . . . 1 8
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