FEATURE ARTICLE
The Madisonian, Madison, GA, 8 Feb. 1924:
J. T. SIDWELL LIVE-AT-HOME FARMER
For 10 years we have been in the midst of boll weevil trouble. We watched him in Alabama before the Georgia farmer believed there was such a "varmint." We were in Southwest Georgia when he made his first appearance on this side of the Alabama line and we have seen his work almost by counties as he has moved up the state. We have seen many farmers fall out of line and take other work but there is one type of farmer that has never yet worried much about the weevil. He is the fellow who always has something good to eat when you visit him; he has apples, peaches, grapes of all kinds, pears, quince, plums in his orchard. He is the fellow whose smoke house always smells good and is never empty. You will always find a surplus of corn, hay, oats, wheat, potatoes and other feeds in his barn. His pantry shelves are never empty. He has something to sell every time he wants to buy. He grows some cotton, but sells it himself when he wants to. This farmer practices DIVERSIFICATION. He really diversifies. Changing from all cotton to all grain is anything but diversifying.
About a year ago we drove up to the home of Mr. J. T. Sidwell, who lives near Apalachee, and before we left we found that he was one of these fellows who believes in living at home first. He had corn, hay, oats, wheat, cotton, potatoes, a fine bunch of pure bred Poland China hogs, a yard full of chickens, and accidentally discovered that he had the cash to pay for his wants. He was not worried much about things and he is not today. he does his own work and pays as he goes. He always has something to sell and knows how to sell it. He farms during the week and runs a market at Apalachee on Saturday afternoon.
On about 70 acres of land in 1923 he and his family produced 150 bushels oats, 96 bushels wheat, 30 bushels rye, 20 tons peavine hay, 6 tons alfalfa hay, 300 bushels corn, 150 bushels peas, 50 bushels sweet potatoes, 2,000 pounds fine pork, all the chickens and eggs the family wanted with some to sell, all the milk and butter they could consume, had a fine garden and a good orchard and then for amusement he experimented on 13 acres of cotton producing 3,708 pounds of lint.
He paid out a little money for pure bred seed and about $100 for fertilizer. He paid for the few things which were bought with money which came from the sale of surplus crops other than cotton together with the cash from the week-end market.
How are you going to keep a man like this down? In the first place you cannot get him down.
L. S. WATSON, Agent.
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