The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-09-04
TOBACCO CULTURE.
THE GOLDEN WEED THE TRUE
"PEARL OF THE PEE DEE"

PEARL Or ! ne TCC OSC.
How the Planters of This Section Out.
strip Their Fellows--Two "Breaks" IN
Elorence--Facts and Figures on Tobacco
Culture.
FLORENCE, S. c., Aug. 29.-There
is now no longer the shadow of q
doubt that South Carolina soil Is
among the best adapted in the world
for the cultivation of fine tobacco and
that The States advice so often and
emphatically given, that improbable
crops be cast aside and that attention
be given to the cultivation of tobacco
has been taken. The ball has been
set in motion; the Pee Dee section IS
now recognized as valuable tobacco
raising country, and the record made
this year is calculated to astonlsh the
natives. I wish the horde Of South
Carolina cottontots could have been
here today to witness the break =
the opening of the season-at this city,
the natural heart of the tobacco grow
ing section of the State.
Tobacco is a new commodity IN
South Carolina. For years 1t was
thought that it could be raised on
South Carolina soil, and the present
condition proves this surmise correct,
but its cultivation was attended by so
many peculiarities, the tobacco plant
being very tender, that no one dared
experiment
Finally about ten years ago, Mr.. +.
NJ. Rogers, the tobacco farming pio-
neer of South Carolina, planter llv-
ing ten miles from the city of Darling
ton, began temperament with tobacco,
hoping to find a staple crop that would
take the place of cotton, for cotton S
prices were rapidly falling Oft. Ills
experiment proved that the soil OF the
Pee Dee country would produce to-
bacco said to be finer in color, charac-
ter and texture than any section OF the
bright tobacco belt Of North Carolina
or Virginia; that no tobacco was finer
for smoking purposes, though the
''mahogony" tobacco needed for plug
manufacture was not forthcoming.
He had not solved the problem of
cheap production, however, and the
farmers were chary of embarklng in
the cnlture of the weed. They did not
wish to cultivate anything at loss;
Mr.. Rogers lost money. But the seed
was sown, and in 1889, when plant
er, Mr.. D. NJ. Smoot, planted FIVE acres,
the culture of tobacco took fresh I'M
petus, the proper method OF cultlva-
tion, drying and curing by heat, hav-
ing been hit upon, and in the last few
years the growth of the tobacco indus
try in this section has been without
parallel in the history Of the State.
When all the talk came about the re-
duction OF the cotton acreage the
farmers hereabouts remained quiet and
instead of talking only quietly plant
ed tobacco.
The principal towns in this section
have been recognized by the American
Tobacco Company and other big con-
.ceras as valuable markets-partlcuIar-
: " this place, which IS the reaf uiistFfo-
utins market on account Of its loca-
ton and railroad faciities-and they
have stationed buyers here to. conduct
their leaf transactions. In July So
226, ,0O5 pounds were bought IN Dan
vile, and it seems strange, but this
market is close behind the noted and
established one. The American Tobac-
co Company has even erected here a
three story leaf factory, where its pur-
chases are stored, graded and shipped
bv the company's efficient manager,
Mr.. w. F. Glare. There are upwards
of thirty buyers here now, and ten
other leaf factories are open for the
use of these buyers. They have been
as hard at work for several days IN
Darlington, Timmonsville and Flor
ence as so many Trojans, with coats
discarded.
I am told that between ten and ff-
teen million pounds of leaf tobacco
will be harvested and put on the
market in the Pee Dee tobacco region
this season. The average yield per
acre is said to be very nearly 1000
pounds, while the average yield per
acre in North Carolina and Virginia
IS about $50 pounds less. The per cent.
of increase In the tobacco crop this
wear will be enormous IN Florence
county. It is a noteworthy fact, so
tobacco growers from other points say,
that a town that is a tobacco market
quickly increases in population, and
when It becomes the market of Sec
ton, the population quickly double.
Florence seems certain to become IN
short order the central distributing
market for the Pee Dee sections for the
reasons given above. In the Pee Dee
tobacco raising section are the coun-
ties of Florence, Darlington, Williams
burg, Marlboro, Clarendon, Marion,
Sumter and Horny. There is in the
warehouses today, tobacco from five
counties and some from ontside the
State. Florence is the very centre of
the district, and at least two-thirds of
the territory is tributary to it. In
other words, that much of the crops
must pass through Florence to gain
any market at all.
Florence has two magnificent tobac-
co warehouses. It should be stated
that all leaf tobacco sold to buyers in
local market has to be placed in a
pile On the floor of such warehouse,
and sold at auction When ware
house has been stocked and opens its
business for the season, the opening
dav is called s'break" and thousands
of pounds Of tobacco are disposed of.
This was what Timmonsville has had
for two days, and what Florence has
had in her two big warehouses today.
It has been kind of gala day here
in consequence.
The two warehouses here were erect
ed by stock companies of citizens Ex-
pert tobacco handlers are placed in
charge, and tobacco auctioneers ex-