350 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
I.OW PRICE OF SOUTHERN HANDS — ITS 
Causes and Remedy. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — In the May number 
of the Southern Cultivator, an inquiry was propounded 
by a correspondent as to the cause of the low price of 
lands^at the South, I also notice an excellent contribution 
in the August number of the Cultivator, from an Arkan- 
sas correspondent, upon the same question, assigning its 
causes and remedy. 
While endorsing fully the views of the last correspon- 
dent referred to, I propose offering other views, embrac- 
ing’different causes which have a greater influence upon 
the question. I am glad that the inquiry has been made 
and hope to see the viev/s of other men of more experi- 
ence, observation and abdity than myself. 
It is, doubtless, known to every one that the Southern 
planter does not realize as large profits from his lands per 
acre as the Northern farmer. This fact being conceded, 
it will be necessary to inquire into the causes operating to 
produce this difference. In the first place, there is a dif- 
ference in the class of operatives, or persons who culti- 
vate the soils of the two sections. At the North the lands 
are cultivated (particularly the large farms) by hired la- 
bor. The large comparative number of poor white peo- 
ple, and the ever increasing tide of foreign immigration, 
that settle in the Northern States, who are most of them 
by force of necessity, compelled to perform farm labor, 
are^the two causes that make farm labor cheap to the 
landed proprietor of the North. And it is an obvious fact, 
that the less the labor, or rather the cheaper the labor that 
will produce a given amount of corn wheat or cotton, the 
greater profits will result to the farmer; consequently, en- 
hance the value of the land in that ratio. At the South, 
the planter has a permanent interest or capital in his ope- 
ratives, or slaves ; consequerjtly, all losses from death, 
sickness, or wearing out of land is a discount from the 
profits of the farm. Such is not the case, however, with 
the Northern farmer. If one of his operatives die he can 
supply his place with another “hired servant” from that 
very numerous class around him, and there is no less of 
•apital, no deduction from the profits of the farm. We 
see, then, that the farmer at the North has greatly the ad- 
vantage in the comparative cheapness of labor and, as a 
consequence, greater profits per acre, which is one of the 
eauses that make lands at the North more valuable than 
Southern lands. 
Another cause of the great value of Northern lands 
lies in the difference of the products of the two sections. 
The principal staples of the North are corn, the smaller 
cereals and, we might add, hay. These staples can be 
produced with one- half, or, perhaps, one fouth ofthe laoor 
per acre that the great staple ofthe South can. 
It is a remarkable fact that the Northern farmer realizes 
more money from his hay crop than the Southern planter 
does from his cotton crop. See the vast difference in point 
of labor required to produae these two commodities. The 
hay crop needs no sowing nor plowing — the only labor ex- 
pended is in reaping and carrying to market. It is no 
unusual thing at the North (and particularly in the North- 
west) for the hay crop to net the farmer S20 to $30 per 
acre, if mowed and sent to market, while the oest lands 
are reserved for corn and the small cereals. 
Now let us compare these results with cotton planting. 
The Southern planter who expects to make money from 
raising cotton, cannot plants more •'orn or wheat than will 
barely do for the support of his amilj and s ock, because 
the wheat crop especially comes it: conflio with hi cot- 
ton. Then, cotton must be taken as the star.av.rd lo com- 
pare the pecuniary results of farming at the Nortn and 
South. 
1 would not fall far short of the truth, if I were to put 
the average yield of the cotton crop in the entire Southern 
States, at 700 lbs. seed cotton per acre; putting it at 9 cents 
as an average price for the last 5 years, we have only about 
$16 per acre, to compare v/iih at least $20 per acre for 
the hay crop, 
, Your esteemed correspondent, in the August number, 
spoke of the exhausting influences of cotton culture upon 
the soil as compared with any other product. I will not 
enlarge upon this point, but will add another fact, show 
ing the greater expense attending cotton culture. The 
cotton planter raises no mules, and the extravagant prices 
he pays Kentuckians, coupled with the fact that if he tends 
a large cotton crop he must have almost as many mules 
as hands, carries up farming expenses considerably. We 
are one of those that believe that cotton planting is not 
remunerative, and we further believe that the fact of cot- 
ton not bringing its real value, is the prime cause of lands 
at the South not bringing their intrinsic worth. The ex- 
hausting influence ofthe system of cotton culture and the 
greater comparative amount of labor required to produce 
it, makes it, on the whole, less remunerative than any- 
thing the farmer can raise. Had we the time and you the 
space to furnish us in your columns, we could show, by 
occular process of reasoning, based upon solid facts, that 
cotton will not pay short of 15 cents. 
Let Southern farmers plant less cotton, until they force 
speculators and manufacturers to give something in the 
neighborhood of the worth of their cotton. By doing this, 
the increased value on cotton would more than compen- 
sate them for the diminution in the amount made, while 
an additional amount of corn and wheat would find a 
healthy market, or improve greatly the condition and 
number of stock and hogs, the latter of which is greatly 
under par in some of the planting States, so much so that 
numbers of planters, are supplied with bacon from the 
grain growing States. There are other causes operating 
upon the question, but our time and your patience, doubt- 
less, will not permit of their discussion. 
J. R. R. 
Russellville, Ga., August, 1859. 
Signs OF Prosperity.— T he following lines contain as 
much truth as poetry : 
Where spades grow bright, and idle swords grow dull; 
Where jails are empty, and where barns are full ; 
Where church paths are with frequent feet outworn ; 
Law courtyards weedy, silent and forlorn ; 
Where doctors foot it, and where farmers ride ; 
Where age abounds and youth is multiplied ; 
Where these signs are, they clearly indicate 
A happy people and a well-governed State. * 
Galls or Gullies made by Water , — Planting willows in 
“galls” and gullies, to hide their nakedness, and prevent 
their enlargement, as well as render them profitable, is 
strongly recommended. The Osier may be used for this 
purpose profitably, because it may be cut for basket manu- 
facture, and will, at the same time, be an ornament to the 
field, if kept within bounds properly. 
Louisiana Sugar . — The New Orleans Crescent srys, re- 
garding sugar the talk is, that the present prospects are 
highly flattering. With the same season, or rather the 
same kind of weather from this time until November, that 
we had last year, a crop of 440,000 hogsheads is confi- 
dently expected. We agree in the expectutioas, and with 
a very late season 444,000 hogsheads may bo expecte<i 
^^It is a beautiful custom in some Oriental lands to 
leave untouched the fruits that are shaken from the trees 
by tbe wind ; these being regarded as sacred to the poor 
an i the stranger. 
