232 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



«-ance and deplore your past follies, do not sup- , 

 pose for a moment that I wish you now to be- < 

 come a sordid miser and close your heart to ev- i 

 ery feeling of charity and generosity. Far, very 1 

 far from it. I wish to see you avoid the char- 

 acter of a miser as well as that of spendthrift — 1 

 to convince you that without economy, as well as I 

 industry, you cannot pay your debts — to urge '. 

 you to remain in Virginia, and exert your pow- : 

 era in elevating her agriculture — to induce you 

 to cherish a proper self-respect, and seek an 

 honest independence. 



You ask me whether I think farmers ought 

 to buy goods, &c. upon credit, and in anticipa- 

 tion of large crops and high prices. The prac- 

 tice is, I think, very reprehensible. As a gen- 

 eral principle, farmers and planters ought not 

 to buy upon credit, but adhere to the cash sys- 

 tem. Young and inexperienced farmers, and 

 especially those of a sanguine temperament, 

 sometimes make ludicrous blunders, besides 

 contracting very large debts upon the faith of 

 large crops which they certainly intended to 

 make, and high prices which they resolved to 

 obtain. The last few months have afforded 

 many illustrations of the latter. Some farmers 

 who were offered $2 30 for their wheat, refused 

 the offer, demanded $3 per bushel, and finally 

 accepted $1 50. The amount of the crop is 

 dependent upon many contingences, and varies 

 from year to year, as well as the price. Hence 

 the hazard and impropriety of contracting debts 

 in anticipation of large crops and high prices. 

 Some farmers make large crops by arith- 



metic, but are nevertheless surpassed by others 

 who never like to cipher until after their crops 

 are sold and the money paid. Whenever you 

 see a man con vince himself by arithmetical cal- 

 culations that he will make large crops and sell 

 them at high prices, be assured that he is par- 

 tially deranged. The credit system has at dif- 

 ferent periods inflicted immense injury. For 

 some time past, agricultural products have com- 

 manded good prices, and there are, no doubt, 

 more farmers now dealing upon the cash sys- 

 tem than formerly. Ere long, I trust, it will 

 prevail almost universally. When that time 

 arrives, we shall hear less said about "hard 

 times" and going t:) Texas, Kansas, Missouri 

 or the Moon. 



I am sorry to say, Christopher, that there are 

 several other farmers who have "progressed" 

 in extravagance and fashionable follies nearly 

 or quite as much as yourself. The sun has its 

 dark spots, and it can excite no wonder, that 

 the great agricultural class should exhibit a few 

 peculiar specimens of humanity. Some few 

 farmers refuse to expend their money to accom- 

 plish purposes plainly useful, in order that they 

 may indulge their imaginary wants, or servile- 

 ly obey the behests of fashion. A few illustra- 

 tions may be given. 



Mr. A. makes very good Tobacco, and is an 

 excessive smoker, but thinks a pipe is not gen- 

 teel, lie spends $300 annually in Havana ci- 



gars, has draw-bars instead of gates to the sev- 

 eral fields of his plantation ; acknowledges the 

 superiority of gates, but says he cannot afford 

 to pay for them. 



Mr. B. cannot tell one tune from another, but 

 professes intense love for fashionable music. — 

 So soon as Jenny Lind arrived in New York, 

 Mr. B., his wife and daughters took the cars 

 and soon reached the Astor House. Of course, 

 they were enraptured by Jenny's unsurpassed 

 and heavenly music. The ladies did not find 

 any book-store in New York, but were compen- 

 sated by the China stores and jewelry shops 

 which they pronounced to be equally charming 

 and splendid. The young ladies helped them- 

 selves freely to jewelry, but their considerate 

 mother determined to spend her money usefully, 

 so she bought a fine set of dinner China at one 

 thousand dollars. This trip of pleasure cost 

 Mr. B. only three thousand five hundred dollars. 

 Mr. B. has no apple trees or peach trees upon 

 his farm, laments this, but says he will not sub- 

 mit to imposition and stoutly refuses to give 25 

 cents each for young trees. He and his family 

 are fond of fruit, and in addition to all the fruit 

 they beg from their poor neighbours, Mr. B. 

 sends to town every winter and purchases ten 

 barrels of Northern apples. 



Mr. C. built a large dwelling-house five years 

 ago, but it has no shutters and has never been 

 painted, merely because he "has no money to 

 spare." Last year he said he was resolved to 

 have the finest equipage in his neighbourhood. 

 Accordingly he went to Philadelphia where he 

 bought a carriage for $1,000, and then to New 

 Jersey where he purchased a pair of fine trot- 

 ters for another $1,000. When he went North 

 he saw so many painted houses along the route, 

 that he thinks his house looks best without any 

 paint at all, and that he will save his money 

 for some better purpose. 



Mr. D. is unwilling to give $30 for a corn- 

 sheller, although his negroes consume thirty 

 bushels of meal a week. But he is willing 

 enough and able enough to spend, and has ac- 

 tually paid five thousand dollars for the educa- 

 tion and clothing of his two daughters during 

 the three years these fashionable and accom- 

 plished young ladies attended a celebrated fe- 

 male school in Philadelphia. While there they 

 : attended the theatre and opera, acquired a su- 

 perficial knowledge of French and Italian, 

 learned to dance most beautifully and to play 

 i admirably upon the piano, guitar and harp.— 

 :» Unfortunately their knowledge of books is not 

 extraordinary. The one says that the history 



• of Robinson Crusoe, by the historian, David 



■ Hume, is the most interesting and valuable his- 



- tory recently published : the other maintains 



• that the "Children of the Abbey" was never 



- published until 1855, and is by far the most 

 powerful novel ever written by the pious Wm. 



i Cobbett of England ! With the history of Vir- 



■ ginia, they are as thoroughly acquainted as 



- with the interior of Japan. Their mother is 



