The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1895-07-25

notes from which could 60 on quo
ting large yields from page to page,
similar to those just given, but deem
the foregoing sufficient to show the
reader what has been done in this
particular industry.
. The reader will naturally ask what
it costs to grow crop which yields
such returns, and the answer can only
be approximated. The Granville
Tobacco Club, after experiments Of
over dozen years, places the cost per
acre at s4s-5o. One of the bes,-postrd
tobacco men in the Eastern part Of
the State, who has given the matter
much study. says the cost is S45; while
Mr.. w. w. Wood, president of the
North Carolina Tobacco Association,
places the cost at S58.75. 1t is safe
to say that $50 will cover the cost of
growing, curing, and preparing for
market an acre of tobacco, and while
with some planters the cost will be
more than with others, the average
will not 60 beyond the figures just
named.
At this cost one can easily see the
profit there is in this wonderful crop
when properly managed. Many a
planter makes clean profit of over
$3.50 per acre from year to year on all
the tobacco he grows, and in these
times of deprecated values, there are
few crops that can make such a show
ing. As a matter Of course many
farmers fail to make money growing
tobacco, even on these favored lands,
but these would become poor growing
strawberries with monopoly of the
| business in their favor, and are excep-
tions to the rule. AS stated in the
outset, tobacco is one OF the most fas-
tidious of crops. Ii requires close at
tention. 1t takes s'fancy farming" so
to speak, to make the fullest success.
The lands must be carefully prepared,
the plants tenderly set out, and then
the crop most carefully watched toget
the best results. The planter who at
tempts to grow tobacco in slip-shod
way, as he would cotton, will make a
failure; but he who gives it the atten-
ton demanded will always find the
results surprisingly satisfactory.
AS to the extent of the tobacco
lands along the Seaboard Air Line
system it is safe to say that while the
| territory covered so far is confined to
the counties of Halifax, Warren,
Franklin, Vance, Granville, Dur
ham, Wake, and Chatham, still
there are lands along the entire
system and branches which will pro-
duce tobacco of the highest quality.
The tobacco plant delights in light,
gray, sandy soil, with either clay or
a gravelly subsoil. The lands upon
which the crop fourishes are marked by
predominence of hard-woods, such
as dog-wood, oak, hickory, chinquepin,
with occasionally pine growth in the
main and the hardwood as an under
growth. Any one who travels from
Raleigh to Atlanta in the daylight
can easily see that almost the entire
country is made up of lands suitable for
tobacco growing. Tests have been
made at various points in South Caro-
lima and Georgia, and always with the
most satisfactory results. At Hamlet,
Monroe, Chester, Clinton, Greenwood,
Abbeville, Elberton, Athens, Winder,
and number OF other points on the
main line successful crops have been
grown. For several years Mr.. A. C..
Strickland, at Abbeville, S. c., has
been making fine crops Of bright to-
bacco. At Winder, Ca, Messrs. d.
Y. Hodges, D. NJ. Jackson and others
have been doing the same thing. The
low price of cotton and the fine lands
suitable for this crop make it probable
that within a few years the finest to-
bacco will be grown over the entire
length OF the Seaboard Air Line sys-
tenn, and the first experienced planters
who move in upon these lands will
secure the cream and at the lowest
prices.
At present very good lands can be
had along the Seaboard Air Line
at quite reasonable prices, but there
is steady increase in values all the
time. At Henderson good tobacco
farms sell at from SS to $40 per acre,
and from that to $50 per acre, for the
more highly-improved places. On
the D. & N. road saw a number oil
farms which could not be bought for
$40 per acre, but nearby the finest to-
bacco lands, in an uniinproved state,
could be had at $40 per acre and less.
In Wake county the prices range from
Sc to s25 per acre, and as one travels
southwark and into South Carolina
the value becomes even lower, and in
some sections land that will yield
the finest tobacco can be had at from
| s. to $40 per acre.
The country trversed by the
Seaboard Air Line is a veritable
paradise for the home seeker. Tobac,
co is only one Of the many crops
which yield such wonderful returns
have not space to mention the
vast trucking interests and possibilities
the wonderful grape vineyards abou
Southern Pines, the small fruit and
berry business along the entire line
and numbers of other industries, al
of which will soon make the territory
of the Seaboard Air Line one contin
uation of prosperous homes and hust
ling trade centres.
To the growing and sale of tobacco
alone a number of towns owe their lif
and activity. Henderson sells abou
5000, 900 pounds of bright tobacco
annually, anb pays out to the planters
for the same nearly one million dollar.