Buying on Time Has Ruined Many a Cotton Grower, 1901

“Harry Farmer’s Talk” from The Progressive Farmer, Dec. 10, 1901

Mr. D.L. Gore’s article of Nov. 5^th was calculated to put some of us to thinking along new lines. When we notice the difference between the cash and the credit systems, we ought to study out some plan to avoid buying so much on time. This has been the ruin of our cotton growers in the South. Someone is ready to say that it makes the merchants rich. This is a mistake. They have to pay high for their goods and there is always more or less loss. Many farmers get more off their farms than many country merchants make who seem to do a large business. If you want to see how many make money at this business, just notice and see the number that fail. If 5 per cent succeed, 95 per cent will fail. So that the number is too small for any one ot base any hopes on making wealth that way. It not only ruins the merchants who engage in the business, but it will ruin 75 per cent of the farmers.

Many farmers throw away more on their farms that some merchants require to live on. When you count the cost of what you use when you make it at home, it will not appear very large, but just try to buy it on 6 to 8 months’ time and see what it would amount to. Let me itemize a few articles and compare the difference in price and then we can draw our own conclusions.

	Cash	Credit
Meat	.09	.12 ½
Corn	.75	1.25
Lard	.10	.15
Flour	4.50	6.50
Soap	.03 ½	.05
Lye	.08 1/3	.10
Matches	.10	.12
Coffee	.10	.15
Sugar	.06	.08 1/3
Guano	19.00	25.00
Clothing	2.50	5.00
Notions	1.00	3.00

Any many other things in proportion. Now we figure on these prices and find that we pay about 40 per cent. Now if we buy to the amount of $140 and only make cotton enough to pay $106, we are in debt $34, and must either sell our corn or something else to pay the debt or get the merchant to carry it over to next year, which is frequently done. Suppose we do this for three years; then we must give a mortgage on our land. After this comes the sale of our home, and then we become renters or move away to work at something else for a living. Now if we are compelled to have help, it is far better to borrow money and pay the interest than to buy goods at high prices on crop time. When you borrow money you should be very careful how you buy. Do not buy any more than you can possibly help. In some parts of Georgia the farmers borrow money at 8 per cent per annum to buy fertilizers and supplies. The banks furnish the money, but do not lend directly to the farmers, but have some of the directors to take the farmers’ notes secured by mortgage and deposit these in the banks as collateral. The farmers pay the cost of executing the papers, which never exceeds $1, and often not more than 50 cents. It is said that the farmers who follow this plan are very prosperous.

If changing the laws of the State will help farmers, then let us have the change. While farmers are in trouble on account of short crops, it is a good time to do some hard thinking and prepare for the future.