286 THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 



&quot;Certainly,&quot; said I. &quot; Growing cotton is just like any 

 other business. Some men who have capital and skill will 

 go into it and prosper, and others will fail, for the same 

 reasons that they would fail in any thing. It does not re 

 quire any more intelligence to manage a cotton plantation 

 than it does to work a northern form, and hardly so much. 

 It has always been done by the rudest kind of labor. 

 There is no doubt that the skill acquired in growing the 

 dozen or more crops we raise here in Hookertown will 

 come to a good market in the South.&quot; 



&quot; How much capital is required to raise cotton ?&quot; 



&quot; Just as much as to raise corn or potatoes, and the 

 more one has the better he can make it pay, up to the 

 point where he can command all the labor he can see to. 

 There is no difficulty in growing cotton in a small way, if 

 you are where you can use another s gin and press. But 

 the better way is to have a large plantation, and use your 

 own gin and press.&quot; 



&quot; I like the notion of using your own gin, Squire, for I 

 don t think I should stand much of a chance of borrowing, 

 unless folks down there are different from the Hookertown 

 people.&quot; 



&quot; Very likely. But the gin you have in mind wont 

 help the cotton harvest any more than it does the hay.&quot; 



&quot; Well, I don t see,&quot; said Jake despondingly, &quot; as 

 there s going to be any chance for me down there. Kier 

 is going, and pretty much all the folks in the White Oaks, 

 and I thought I might as well go along, but if it takes 

 such a heap of money, I shall have to give it up.&quot; 



I could not encourage neighbor Frink to join the expe 

 dition, for he and the class of men to which he belongs 

 will not succeed either North or South. They are a good 

 way past their prime, and their habits are bad. 



But young men of good habits need not hesitate to go, 

 even though they have small capital. Skillful labor will 

 for a long time command a good price there, if labor is all 



