The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-03-04
THE STORYOF PUDDIN' SWAMP.
Richest Tobacco Lands in the Low
and Middla Country.

Business carried me through por-
tions of Sumter Clarendon, and
Williamsburg counties week before
last, and some surprising things oc-
CURED. ! travelled through that
portion of South Carolina where
these three counties touch and found
it very hard to realize that l was in
South Carolina. The country was
unlike the other portions of the State
that I have seen, but this is not what
struck me most forcibly. 1t seemed
that was in the heart Of the new
South Carolina tobacco lands, and l
have never seen people more deed in
earnest on this or almost any other
subject. The farm houses were more
numerous as rule than ever saw
them ''in the country" and very
many of these houses showed that
they had only recently been built.
was accompanied by Mr.. j. E.
Brockinton, of Kingstree, on this
trip and our journey was from King
stree up through the sections pre-
viously referred to.
At Kingstree, on Black River and
Broad Swamp, these wonderful to-
| bacco lands commenced and they eX
tended beyond Douglas township in
Clarendon county to the farther side
of Lynchburg and Shiloh in Sumter
county. Some of the readers of The
News and Courier and all South Car
olina tobacco men are familiar with
the celebrated "Puddin' Swamp"
grades of South Carolina to-
bacco. This famous "Puddin'
Swamp section is undoubtedly
rich in this peculiar respect.
The grade of tobacco attracts at
tention wherever it is seen and
when this 'far-away" section is visit
ed strong combination reveals
itself and one no longer marvels at
the general excellence of the tobacco.
In the first place the lands in situa
ton and soil could not well be i'm
proved upon The country generally
is low and marshy, but high ridges
fare on every side Of these low, damp
places. These ridges have the gray,
Ioamy, upper soil, the soft, large
grained, yellow sub-soil with clay
about two to four feet deep. Natu-
raj drainage is perfect, much of the
land is new, having only been cleared
during the last year or two, and new
grounds" were even more rapidly
coming in response to the axe, the
spade, the plough and the fire of the
farm owners. The farms were all
comparatively small and I saw very
few colored people. BY day and
night the smoke and fires from clear
ing up the new ground were seen in
almost every section and new tobac-
co farms were the rule.
saw numerous house and barn
neighbors met at one place and did
house with the necessary outbuild-
ings. When one was completed a
new one received their time and
labor, and very few hired hands were
seen anywhere.
Barbecued pigs and hogs of The
News and Courier prize stock of 1895
were giving great, though unwilling,
zest to the occasion, and savory odors
mingled with the work and the
smoke.
A strange thing here was the fact
that in this country section so many
new houses and farms were seen, and
l was told that five years ago some of
the well-beaten roads that we were
driving on were only a part of the
"pathless woods and the ''foreSt
primeval." Five years ago Messrs.
J. E. and R. r. Tomlinson began cul-
tivating tobacco here, having re-
ceived information and instruction
from their kinsman, Mr.. D. N. Smoot,
of Darlington. This gentleman is Il
| - r,rD0iro fnhonnn
and he did good work in the cause
when he started these live, energetic
Clarendon county pioneers to work
on the same lines.
The Messrs Tomlinson we're laughed
at at first, but only for a very short
while. On their two beautiful farms
they cultivate tobacco almost entire
lv, and their neighbors far and near
are following in their example.
Another strange thing here is that
so few Of these farmers plant cotton.
They have good homes, are frugal
and hard-working; they have fine
stock, hogs, COWS, and chickens; they
raise corn, grain and small crops, but
no cotton, and beyond any question
tobacco is the leading article Of ag-
riculture and commerce. They do
not plant large crops but only so much
as they can we'll manage, and give
proper care and attention to. This,
as almost any one who knows what
is necessary in successful tobacco
culture, in large measure accounts
for the high reputation of "Puddln'
Swamp" tobacco.
None of the local philologists knows
the origin of "Puddin' Swamp" Po-
tato puddin' was suggested, but the
oldest inhabitant smiled at the mere
mention of such dish, and said that
he did not know" 1t was further
suggested that on general principles
it was "puddin' to a man to own
such land as this. 1t will very soon
be definitely settled, because the peo-
pie with one accord will say that this
section was called "Puddin' Swamp"
because of the tobacco made there
and which proved such a bonanza to
the owners of these lands.
Speaking of tobacco lands and of
tobacco culture, Mr.. J. E. Brockinton,
of Kingstree, made an experiment
last season in curing tobacco which
will be of the greatest benefit to ev-
cry man who cultivates tobacco.
Last year he tried new tobacco fur
mace, to take the place of the ordi-
nary old-fashioned fues, heretofore
used in curing tobacco. This tlue en-
ables one to place the heat exactly
where it is most wanted, to hold it at
even temperature for ten to twelve
hours, to quickly and thoroughly
yentilate the barns and is a wonder
full improvement on the old way of
curing tobacco. As before published
in The News and Courier no finer to-
bacco was raised in South Carolina
last year than was raised, cured and |
sold by Mr.. Brockinton. The new
fues did perfect work and if they did
no more than hold a steady heat for
ten hours, thus enabling a tobacco