262 HUMAN FACTORS IN COTTON CULTURE 



cheap cloth and shoes. John Smith plowed his crop and his 

 wife hoed it. Together they raised a fairly good crop, and 

 marketed it. That was 26 years ago. 



They made 18 bales of cotton, for it was a good year and 

 the land was good. It was the fall of 1895, and the country 

 was recovering a little from the panic of '93. Meat had been 

 costing four cents a pound, in regular stores, and Stewart 

 had been selling it for no more than 50 per cent profit. John 

 Smith knew nothing of these things. He just went to the 

 commissary Saturday afternoon and got what they needed 

 to keep them during the week. 



At accounting time Smith had six bales of cotton up at 

 the gin. Cotton was selling for six cents a pound. He didn't 

 know how to figure it out, of course, but he felt very com- 

 fortable over his prospect. Also he had 25 bushels of corn 

 as his share. He would buy him a hog next year. His cotton 

 brought $206 and he owed the commissary just a little less 

 than $200. He was disappointed, but not grievously. He had 

 never had anything. 



The next spring his wife had a baby. She had been work- 

 ing hard in the field all spring, and the baby died. She 

 hadn't a doctor. An old negro midwife attended her. She 

 was unable to do a full year's work, and the crop suffered. 

 That year they made only five bales of cotton, and with the 

 other expenses, they came out behind the game. They owed 

 the commissary more than their cotton amounted to. They 

 had their corn, and the hog weighed more than they ex- 

 pected. 



Thirty dollars in debt to start with. Smith got discouraged. 

 He thought he could do better somewhere else. Another land- 

 owner three miles away wanted a tenant, and Smith moved 

 down there. The debt moved with him, his new landlord pay- 

 ing Stewart the $30, and adding it to the account that Smith 

 started at the commissary. That year things were a little 

 better, and Smith had $45 paid to him in actual cash money. 

 He and his wife went to town and bought a bedstead and a 



