Document text
Approximately 58000 Words.
SOUTH CAROLINA WRITERS' PROJECT
LIFE HI:TORY
TITLE:
FISH. HOMINY AND COTTON
Or
JULY GEDIES, NEGRO OF ETIWAN
Date of Filet Jan, 138 1939
Name of Person Interviewed George Brotm (FeLyo)
Fictitious Name jul-,; Geddes
Street Address
Edisto Island, South Carolina
Occupation Farmer and Day Laborer.
Name of Writer
Name of Reviser
Chalmers S. Murray
State Office.
Project #.4655
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island, S. C.
LIFE_ HISTORY
FISH, HOMINY AND COTTON
Or
JULY GEDDES, NEGRO OF ETIWAN
July Geddes, Negro, was born in a house made of poles,
through whiCh the cold blue wind of February whistled lustily.
He first remembers the pole shack set down an the black
dirt of his father's farm on Etiwan Island among the tall pine
trees that seemed to stick holes in the sky. Later there were
memories of a big stream of water running between banks of pluff
mud, and o-ister shells that cut his bare feet when he helped his
elder brother push the bateau off. The water was filled with
porgy, croker, trout, whiting, catfish, pincushion fish, shark
mullet, crabs and shrimp. July thought that the salt creek was
the most wonderful thing he had over seen. He liked the home
place amonL1 the Ames, but he liked the creek far better.
He attended the Seaside Colored Sehool, a bare half mile
from :is house, and there under the tutorship of a Negress who
afterwards became postmistress of Etiwan, he learned how to
write his nem., and put down figures on a slate and add the
figures up. In concert with other little black boys, he spelled
out the words in the fin:It reader. He would recite in a nervous
$j.ngsonc manner, fearful of the licking he would receive if he
missed too many words. Then he would go out and ,:lay ball with
Project #4-1685
Chalmers S. ;.Alrray
Mite 4.sland, S. C.
Page 2
the crowd.
Some of the boys knew how to knock sticks togrether„ making
a pleasing rhythmic sound that almost compelled you to dance..
You had better not let the teacher catch you dancinG, however0
tincing was one of the deadly sins, against the mtnd of the church.
Now, shoutinG, that was different4 It was all right to do those
relicious dances where you patted your Lands and shuffled around
the roam, but once you crossed your feet it was carnal dancL;g, an
abomination before the Lord.
July went to school for four years. Then he ci-J.it to help
his father an the farm. The old man was getting stiff in his
jointe and thou:ht that too mveh book learning was foolishneSs.
A boy of eleven was old enouch tc handle a shovel and guide a
mule down the furrows, for a few hours at least. he ran also old
enough to go into the woods and cut down small trees and load the
hila wheel cart with cor,post to scatter on the cotton field.
July was a tot:: litA.c fellow and didn't mind hard worL so =Ch.
Fe ran awat. and played when ,he chance offered and t'ol: hi n beat."
in( with a resigned air. Life wa:mtt half had zhen cold
steal off once in awhile and ",Lo crik".
Those days in the creek when the sun shone ho and 30a
breezes dried the /perspiration on ..;ouv face; with line overboard
and nothinc to do but to wait until a fish nibbled; a watermelon
under the bow seat and :Aybe some sweet bread for lunch; the jerk
on the line that transmitted vibrations to your fingers, and then
Project #-1655
Chalmers S. itturray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Page mi 3
the fijit to land the fish; the line cutting the water like a
razor blade, the fish floundering around in the bottom of the
boat while you are trying to take the hook out of its mouth;
later when it was so hot that you couldn't stand it a minute
longer, lumping overboard stark naked, dark copper flesh gleam-
ing, j.n the sun, rnnr form swallowed by the blue.mgreen water;
trudg1n2 home with the fish strung on a blade of marsh grass,
walkint., two miles throu6h the burniig sand, the trees easting
no shadows because it was noon, then sitting on the door steps
eatng fried bass and rice for dinner these early creek days
are what Jul- likes best to remember.
At seventeen July got tired working for his father.
William eddes was a stern parent and a very quarrelsome one.
He and his sons always seemed to be rowing. They could never do
enough to satisfy the old ilian no matter how hard they tried.
July threw a few pieces of olothuro into a battered suitcase and
took he steamer for (La le3ton. Fe stayed with his aunt for a
day or so doing nothinL, bit drinking in tha exciting life of
the city, walking the cobblestone streets and flirtin pith the
girls of Cow Aliey. Then he landed a job with a cotton factor.
He was assiiped to the task known as "cotton packing". No',
properly speaking a factor has nothinL to do with packing cotton
ths is accomplished by the Lin presses but it some that in
those days there was a lot of loose cotton haneing around the
offices of the factors and it must be collected and packed in bags
Project #-135[5
Chalmers 3. Murray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Page 4
before it was sent to the press. July explains the nature of
his job in this ways
"You know that when uh planter send he cotton to the factor
for sell, the factor always take pound or two out every bag for
sample. He t&ize uh pound fra.A me, he take ah pound from you, he
take uh pound from your pa, and the time the season over he got
plenty ai pound. Then he have all of the pound gather up and
in and send um cross the water to England :or sell. Planter
don't see none of that money no sire Factor been keen tlan.
Charge you for sell the cotton, charge interest on the oorrow you
make: buy grocery wholesale and sell um to you retail. I work
for factor and make pretty well for young man seventy-five
cent for every day I pack cotton."
As J17.1y puts it those were t,e days "when sea island cotton
been in circulation." AveraLe grades were bringing forty cents
a pound; superfine as high as one dollar. Even the poor Negro
farmers were making money almost enough to pay off the factor
at the end of the year. The cotton fa:-mers, white or black who
did not get advances from the factors were exceptions. July's
father was no exception. He would borrow a little cash in
January, but the larger part of the loan would consist of three
or four sacks of grits, a sack of rice, some sugar, a small
quantity of lard, July would come home every once in a while
to see how the old folks were faring, and generally brought a
Project #-1655
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Page 5
couple of dollars with him to "throw on Pa", because Old William
'Was getting feeble and couldn't raise enough cotton to satisfy
the needs of his large family.
July quit his job in Charleston after two years and went to
Jacksonville to work in a lumber mill. Here he was getting a
dollar a day and since food and clothing were cheap back in 1900,
he managed to save a little money. It wasn't an easy matter to
save money around a lumber mill in Florida, however, There was
gambling in the shanties every night, light brown women dressed
in scarlet garments circulated among the men, demanding treats,
telling the black bucks that there were Aeasures to be had if
they would visit the houses across the railroad tracks after dark.
Raw moonshie was beinE peddled and the stores in town offered
for sale purple pega.top trousers, red silk handkerchiefs and big
gold filled watches. July pleasured around a bit but he stuck to
his resolutions and saved enough to come home and marry Mary
Bright comely daughter of old Jonas Bright.
The black babies started to come soon after William and Mary
were married and had settled themselves on the old farm among
the pines. First to arrive was Sadie; then in rapid succession,
George Lee, William, Viola, Ernestine, Henrietta, Alberta, and
lastly Josiah, known better by the name of Bluesteel. They came
from sturdy Afro-American stock on both sides and in spite of a
diet composed largely of fat pork, hominy grits, sweet potatoes,
and rice, with an occasional fish and crab thrown in, all of them
Project 4601.655
Chalmers Murray
Edisto Island, S. C,
Page 4. 6
managed to survive.
As soon as the black babies were weaned they would sit
flat on the draughty floor and eat yellow yams, sucking contented-
ly on the tubas for hours at a time. Sometimes there was milk
in the house for when the Geddes were in funds they kept a cow,
but often there was nothing for the children to drink but water
sweetened with molasses or weak tea. Condensed milk was a
luxory, reserved for the grown folks, or the sick, The sweet
sticky stuff was ranked with candy and horse cakes. Vegetables
were rarely seen on the table and fruit was unknown except at
Christmas.
July was ambitious to &et ahead. 1:0 had a better start
than many of the island Negroes for his father and his grand
aunt had left him eighteen acres of land unencumbered, and a
house of sorts. Thirteen acres of tha tract was cleared ground,
the romander was in woods. The soil would grow cotton without
much effort, and when sufficiently pushed with fertilizcrs was
capable of producing good stands of corn, white potatoes, cabbage
and small truck. July bought a horse and went to farming in
earnest.
His wife, when she was not giving suck to an infant, or
washing clothes or cooking or scrubbing floors she scrubbed
every floor twice a week worked by h s side with a hoe, and
when cotton picking ttlie came all of the children except the
Project h61685
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island, 8. C.
Page 7
babies in arms, were called out to the fields, They never seemed
to mind it much. Picking cotton generally was a lark. They
would start in to work when the de* was heavy on the grass, and
kept going until near eleven. Later in the afternoon when the sun
had lost some of its power, the tribe would return to the field.
The evening meal was served at dusk dark after the cotton had been
weighed and stored in the garret,
July worked his children by spurts, sometimes driving them
until their tongues hung auto but often he let them follow their
own devices. The boys went and came as they chose. They played
hookey from school. The older ones spent nights out and hung
around with a Gang of loafers who walked the road every Saturday
in search of whiskey and women. The girls he petted and spoiled.
Above all July wanted his children to get an education. Unlike
his father he never made his boys leave school to help on the
farm. "Education is valuable for chillun and all human being to
have. Education is the capital of the world," he says.
For awhile things went well with July. He planted every
available acre in sea island cotton, and worked it with loving
care. Little attention was paid to corn or vegetables. LonL
staple cotton represented real money. You could always buy corn
and oats for the horse and the cow
Chickens could be raised on scraps
hogs on slops. He thought that it
could eat grass and wild herbs,
and what they picked up, and
would always be this way ie
Project #-1655
Chalmers S. ourray
Edisto Island, S. C.
PRz,;11 !ID 8
borrowing from the factor in January, planting cotton in April,
harvestinE the crop in the fall, paying the factor in December
and in January starting all over again.
"IAlring that time I make as noel as four five hundred
dollars uh year," he recalls. "That ain't so .oluch but I manage
to scrape flonc and feed my wife and chillun after Oh fashion,
Sometimes T. pick p.p uh day labor job wf*Gh. old Mr. Murray and may
be I fime. uh few job assist carpenter. I ph kind of jack leg
carpenter myself, you know. In them year you ain't got for use
much fertil'oer. Now you have to lace am in the Lrourd it you
'speck to :oake crop."
One by one the boys drifted off all but i-auesteel. They
were tired of the little farm which could never at tne best pro-
vide a Tiviao for iore than two or three people. Occasionally
jobs cold be had on Etiwan plantations that paid :rift': cents
a day if 7011 worked :tTOM sonrise to sunset, but the Lcddoc boys
did not want those kirds
of jobs. Their minds were 41 the city.
One of t:.em was ca .,ht stealin,, from a local shopkeeper and July
spirited him away at .,ht. Inen all hut Bluestcel wan ed to
leave, George offered no objections. Ile was afraid that more
trouble was store for his sons if they continued to walk the
roads of Etiwan with hungry eyes.
In 191/' the hon.-weevil came and sea island cotton died.
July went on planting but his heart was not in it. He knew next
Project #-1665
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Alge 9
to nothing about upland cotton or diversified farming. There
was talk in the air about planting larger food crops and grow
in: more vegetables. July listened but was slow in taking
action. He didn't have much faith in corn, and vegetables to
him were "buckra food." In 1924 he became disgusted with con-
ditions and left for Yew York City.
July had never earned as much money in his life. It was
almost unbelievable. He had landed a job as a stevadore down
at the Tari-le docks and for every hour he worked he drew ninety,.
six cents. He lived close and bean sending money home. re
knew little of New York but Harlem and the docks on Last iver.
Once he nought that 71e would explore Broadway and he started
out bravely at the Battery and walked as far as Tenth street.
But the suiEing crowds and the biare of automobile horns and
the policemen frightened him and he dodged int( a side street.
He never walked on Broadway aain.
After nine months he returned to Ltiwan. he liked hew
York well enough but he said that he was homesick for is
family and te Airn, and he creek fined with good free food.
He was only forty-six then 11.t he felt that he was too old to
uproot himself from Etiwan and move to 1iianhattan with Lary and
the children1 wkly fax been need my Itention," he explains,
wit been all I got and I sure God say I fool if I let um grow
up in grass and bush,"
He has never left Etiwan since except for brief visits to
Project ilis1655
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Page ei 10
his sister in Charleston. 'My traveling day done over," be
says. "I too old for flutter 'round now. I rather stay
gradually and nicely at home."
July is now sixty...one, but still sturdy and able to do a
full day's work behind the plow on in the ditch, He walks with
a slight limp the result of an injury sustained at the lumber
mill in Jacksonville but this does not handicap him. He.
thinks nothing of walking five miles to church or an equal
die-
tarice to visit a sick neighbor, "It uh good thing for Uh man
to stir he limb," he will tell you, "God going to take way your
leg if you don't use um."
He continuea to plant cotton. Now it is the short staple
variety that he once so thoroughly despised. He has increased
his corn and peas acreage, and he even cultivates a vegetable
garden for he says that it would be a living shame to throw
away the seed that the government gives him. July keeps a few
hogs and one cow, and with the proceeds of the WPA wages that
he drew for several years, he has almost finished paying for a
mule.
He manages to keep the mule in good condition, but the cow
has to find her own food most of the time. As a consequence he
only gets two quarts of milk from her a day at the very best.
The Negroes of Etiwan do not believe in petting their cows.
It would be considered the height of foolishness to feed them
regularly, or to shelter them from the weather or to milk them
Project /1-1655
:Thalmeps 3. Wiurray
Ldiso Islnrd, C.
Pate .0 11
more than once in twenty-four nours.
Durin the cominc, year, July expects to plant five acres
of cot'.on, eiht of corn and two acres in Irish potatoes and
small trick. There will also be peas, kaanted in the corn al...
leys, a _atch c) sweet potatoes, and a few rows of tomatoes.
311a Fe rib, okra and aciu.•sh.
Fe Ls tliat iLe !la7 ct enoujl out of the cotton to pay
to buy a dress for MaJ7, shoes for the children
rrd a Teil' of trousers for himself. The food wil_ have to
oomc frrla co.'- of the i,:round or from the creek that is the
stLAje Artieles. he wth by su6ar„ coffee, salt and 1--ke
1.ems with he money earns on odd jobs. If he is lucky he
can "catch e few das work" on t:le truck farms of istiwan,
but ti will only ,lean a matter of some twelve dollars.
"When I was married first on. start in 1904," July says,
"I been makin6 much as four hundred dollar uh year as I done
ten jou Now I scarcely Aake one hundred and fifty and
clothes hit -,11 on the shelf. It look like I
oughter teen able !'or save Crir.j the tl-tirty-eiht year I
been marr70 family coeleration keep me down."
Jul:fiures that if he could earn six hundred dollars
a year he ijht make ends meet. With this sum he could pay
ta:ces„ nsulrance„ church dues, and the most pressinc doctor
bills, buy proper food and the necessary clothing, and keep
the house in some sort of repairs. He says that he would feel
A
Project #-1G5F
Chalrlors S. vAlrray
Edisto Island, C.
Pa6e 41. 12
more comfortable, however, if he was assured a ti-,ousand dollar
income "because ycu never can ter. when God to throw afflios.
tior on the use."
July would like to awn an automobile so that he and :'ary
ceuld "take uh ride out once In uh while and co to church in bad
weather." Ent heknows that a car is beyond his reac7'. and he makes
himself content with his mule and cart. "Some people ain't even
got cart. I thank God for what I ,otio" July says.
He has been :,oinz downhill financially since he returned from
New Yerk and the end is not 7 -et in siL;ht. TryinL, to stretch one
hundred and f:Ifty dollars to meet a six hundred dollar budcet has
him worried considerably. "I can't see no way for me to recruit
up," July tells s w1.15_te Criends. "Everybody kn-w -here aln't
nethI a alia17_ CottwL scarcely brin ten cen,
and jut try for I round this 011.11 nov, I -0C.Ck in ray
tax, and. jod onl: :now when uh new sut or yhen gut on
new Cress, GL117Hn 'rInd, can rl:r. fro •nd almost naked LA the s Prier,
but the need r;Cthj. for cover teir Lido cos w'ter. All of
um need cle'thes."
The Geddes on the wLole have neL been i slokly Zamjly ht
they have had t::eir share of Illness, and the ,roblem of prov:7_ding
adaquate medical care for the croup has always been a press in one.
Unless one of them becomes desperately ills a doctor is never
°ailed. The nearest physician is across the river, eiGhteen miles
aways and charges f've dollars a visits exclusive of Cruji. The
Project #.4655
Chalmers S. Murray
Ediato Island, S. C.
PaGe 13
Geddes' budget will not take care of this. A doctor cannot be
suMmoned by telePhone. There is no telephone on the island.
*Only thing for do is to put the sick in uh ear and send
um to Adams Run village, and the boy who run the line charge
whole dollar for the trip. You visit the doctor and he charge
another dollar and that ain't say nothing /bout the physic. And
time you take for get the siok to the village, you done 'moat
knock the breath out he body with the joggling. Yes sir, a clinic
hold over in the village on certain day a fine thing if you can
use um. But when slinic close you cot for see doctor. I study on
this matter sone night 'till my mind 'most get 'way from me.*
George will talk for hours on this subject if encouraged.
He says that during his narried life hehas spent two hundred
and fifty dollars on doctor Lills and drugs. He hates to think
what miht happen any member of his family should need hospital-
ization. If he is extremely Lzoky he may get the sick person in
the free ward of the Roper Hospital in CYarlestons but the Chancey
of admittance are /aim. First he irrust go armed with letters from
white citizens stating that he is a pauper, and then secure a
doctor's certificate. The hospital is 6enerally overcrowded, and
there is no ass7:rance that t e ailing Geddes will be Given a bed
even though all of the red tape requirements are satisfied.
The Geddes have never .Autrd of a balanced diet. They buy
what their appetites call for if they have the money. If the
money is lackinL they make out with the second or third choice.
?reject n;..1655
Chalmers S. Yurray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Face 14
It is as simple as that. One car 2ive a ion L tirle on sweet
potPtoes, Lone Lro,And rite, coffee sweetnned with molasses,
anC fish or oysters.
"Fomlny is the Lead attle oi the Louse," says July.
"Can't do without hoJliny for breakfast, eat um for dinner too
if we ain't ot rice. VoLetcle kind yes we ,r)lace ve,ota:le
Ipon the table if the or the weather ain't destroy the oar
den. Rary Is
uh Lo d can:-.er•
She out 112 plenty of peach, okra,
to ato and so :.ortl! lar -,Jear, for C-od send uh ,Good season.
Ain't see uch fruit except what .ary ar and that the cir.un
send w 5 frorl -;evi York."
"Rice, now we never et we ;ill
for dinno
uh one •Go
Ju 6ahat
what :%s set Leo.i...e
chf.10ron.
"A117as want en car!
)oue.
's wife tries to
0.• rice. Alwayv cook um
_ary cock uh --t and
ter stew
_ake her 01J.'ins eat
for e Cocr, Lot wl.nu se f -:soy
orth tLcit, 4" he caciaains.
cake." They like ::Lch stew
welf. secale but oae little or reon ve.:otales in
less Y., 1.1ed down Lnfat teat.
;Ar: has ioknoAil d e la.ced diet it sc mown 'row
to"decorate" a tables acordin,.: to July. She will gut a pitcher
of milk on one corner, and a dish of butts on the other, and a
pot of rice in the center, "it look real pretty when she vet
Project #.1655
Chalmers S. Murray
Edistc Island, S. C.
Page 15
through*" Jay comments.
The head of the house is a cook in his own right. "I can
cook uh pot of stew that will make you bite your tongue," says
July with pride in his voice. "I take some butts meat and slice
um thin and brown um over and let um boil 'long with uh mess of
shrimp and okra and tomatoes, When it done you going to overeat
yourself if you don't watch out."
July generally arises at six, winter mornings* unless it is
Sunday* when he sleeps a little later, He throws water over his
face and then goes out and feeds the mule and the chickens. If
thc:re are any potatoes on hand he gives a few to the cow. Around
seven he eats a hearty breakfast, consisting of hominy, corn bread,
butts and coffee. He goes to the field immediately after break-
fast and remains there until the noon day meal is put on the table.
An hour later he is back in the field. He knocks off at four
ol clock. This allows him time to feed the animals and bring in
wood before sunset. If there are no visitors or no church meeting
to attend, he goes to bed soon after supper,
July is particular about taking a "wash off" before retiring.
This wash off consists chiefly of bathing his feet. He looks with
scorn at anybody who will co to bed with dirty feet.
The pole shanty was replaced some years ago by a four room
frame dwelling that stands in a small enclosure just off a neighbor.
hood road. The back yard is shaded by a young live oak with white.
Project #.4686
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Page 16
washed trunk. On one side is found the shod that houses the
mule and the cart. Adjoining the shed is a pig pen and a "fowl
house". A potato bank rises in the rear of the dwelling* a mound
of black dirt reinforced with corn stalks. Oyster shells, bleach-
ed milk white in the sun, are scattered about. A combinatign pole
and wire fence cuts the yard off from the fields, and gives the
curtiledge the effect of compactness and security.
The dwelling does not satisfy July. He added a porch a few
years ago and now he is planning to build two rooms on the rear
of the house. He has part of the lumber but may have to wait
long months before he can buy the rest.
The house is not nearly large enough for five persons. He
and Mary sleep downstairs and Bluesteel* the youngest daughter,
and a granddaughter named Susan sleep in the garret roams.
The kitchen, a little box like affair that clings to the back
of the dwell:ng, looks as tholzb it might topple over in the next
gust of wind. The family it, eat and bathe in one of the rooms
on the main floor. Here is located the only fireplace in the
house. There is no way of heating the garret.
The furnishings are simple four straight back chairs,
two rockers with arms and rockers gone* two rickety tibles, two
iron bedsteads and a cot, a handmade cupboard, a second hand
stove that often refuses to work, and a large foot Itub. Each
child has a blanket and a quilt apiece; July and Mary* two old
SnIt #•165b
re 8, Murray
Edisto Islands S. C.
ilk.A 17
blankets* The mattresses are stuffed with straw*
The family is never quite comfortable on cold winter
nights, July says. "That little net -much covering we Got
ain't sufficient to keep *till downs" he comments* Right now
we badly in need of four or five new blanket* Quilt and com-
fort don't hold the heat."
no is also a class loader* Under his Just/illation are
eightoen young peoples who look to him for spiritual Guidance*
Mary also hold an important office in the church* She is what
is known as "Church Mother". Her chief dutiss are to care for
the communion silver* She polishes it until it shines like a
mirror* Nothln;; short of a hurricane or a cloudburst will
keep July and his wife away from church services.
July recalls the time, when he was not a child of the
church* Ho sported with the go: womens he dancods he went on
drunken frolics* Drinkin6s it 'memos was his bosottinc sin*
When he was in his cups he was ready to fight anybody even
a whito Aan* He manajods however, to keep out of serious
trouLles and except for bilin;L: hailed before the mitt istrats a
time or twos he has had no conflict with the 1Rw*
All of that is over for July now* It is not seemly for
man holdint., a hiji office in the Baptist Church to consort
with worldly people or take part to worldly pleasures, he
says* "I want to live at 1)euce with God and man and do my
duty by my family* I i;ot for make heaven when I die and I
Project #4.1655
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island, S. C.
Page a. 18
going to miss um if I sport 'bout like the ungodly* I soarcely
ever move out my house at night except to 'tend church supper or
see the sick* One of them piccolo joint right near home* I
hear the bang4bang music from here* You don't catch me visit
um though, not July Geddes*" He says this with an emphatic tone*
He is not strict with the children however* They can c,o to
dances when they wish and"throw" 'way nlekles on the piccolo,
if they got fickle to throw 'way*' July says that the government
does not approve of parents being too strict with young people*
"I hear that the government want the young folks to have Uh
good, nice sociable time," says July, "and I ain't one for raise
objection fgainet the law*"
He takes no part in polities* "The white people got Uh
Governor and uh Presidentj we colored folks ain't got nobody to
represent we in that line," he will say when questioned on the
subject. He knows there is little use for him to apply for a
certificate entitling him to cast his ballot* The constitution
of South Carolina rules that before a person can secure a re-
gistration ticket he must prove that he owns property assessed
at three hundred dollars or more, on which taxes have been paid,
or else be able to read and interpret a clause of the oonstitui•
tione July cannot qualify on either ground*
He has other things to think about now except the way the
government is rune and what the white people are doing in
Columbia* Six months of hard work stretch ahead of him* White
Project #.4655
Chalmers S. Murray
Edisto Island,
Pae 19
potatoes must be planted within a few weeks; soon he will be
plowinE cotton land and scattering fertilizers BO much to do
and so little help. The fields are cold dreary places in late
January. He dreads to think about the frost laden winds of
February cutting him in the face as he follows the mule down
the furrows.
July longs for lay-by time in August. Then he can put the
plow in the sheds lay the hoe aside and take a two week's vaca-
tion, Most of the holiday will be spent in the creek. It will
be hot then. Watermelons will be ripe and channel bass hungry
for shrimp.