The enormous markets of the country in our great cities, make such a
heavy demand upon production, that the commonest vegetables and fruit
are brought from great distances at a high cost of transportation.
Within reach of every populous center, there is to be found vacant land
that could be made productive with very little labor, and the result
would be profitable, for the supply must keep up with the demand. But
out in the vast territories of the Mississippi Valley, there are
fortunes to be made in producing cereals, cotton, tobacco, live stock,
butter, poultry, and fruit. There is an unlimited field, and every one
who has ventured into it finds a large reward in a good bank account. A
man cannot begin and then, when he gets tired, lie down in the furrow
and expect nature to pull him out. It never has and it never will as
many know to their cost.
It is estimated, that in the Mississippi Valley and its adjoining
territory, outside of mountain tops and rivers and lakes, there are in
the markets, four hundred million acres of land as fertile as the valley
of the river Nile. It is beyond the reach of present railroad
transportation and therefore it has been left untilled.
It matters little whether this enormous quantity of land exists or
whether it is exaggerated by one-half, it is a fact that millions upon
millions of acres of land are left untilled and can be had for small
sums of money. There are lands in Texas as an illustration, which can be
purchased for from one to four dollars an acre, with forty years to pay
for it in. This is not only the case in Texas, but cheap land can be had
even in the State of Illinois, or New York. In the great corn belt, the
farmers raise corn only, and even buy and bring their butter, eggs and
fresh vegetables from Chicago or St. Louis. Whoever heard of such a
thriftless condition? It is true, corn pays, but there is such a thing
as getting too much of one thing and not enough of another.
Investigation and inquiry shows that if a man should start a small
vegetable garden anywhere, on rented land, and supply the corn barons
with vegetables, eggs and butter, he would make a good profit and get a
large trade.
The idea sought to be conveyed is, that by taking advantage of a demand
where there is no supply, there is an opportunity to be seized without
arguing about it. It is there.
The advent of the motor track, which runs into localities fifty or a
hundred miles distant, carrying from five to ten tons of a load, and
trailing as much more, offers an opportunity for several workers to club
together and carry their products to market at small expense.
Our agricultural and mechanical colleges are turning their attention in
that direction, and preparing to fill the field. But it is a large field
and can not be fully occupied in a hundred years to come.
It is worth thinking about when a Colored American is in doubt what
opportunity to seize.
The main object in every man’s life, if he has any manhood and
intelligence, is to produce something. He may use his hands or he may
use his brain, but the result is that something is produced, and
whatever is produced possesses some value.