The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-02-08

Dug Last week VIC E0C0tV6O - 40bSoE
from a gentleman at Liberty stating
that Director Redding and jackson
were personal enemies, and this &C
counted for Redding's statements. The
gentleman also stated that he had a
photograph of the patch; heard a man
who saw the cotton say it was as rep
resented by Jackson, and enclosed q
report of the Cotton Growers Associa-
ton. He stated also that he was in
formed that Director ReddinS planted
the cotton 8 to 8 feet apart, and this
accounted for it's failure to yield as
much as Jackson claimed. This lettor
and the report mention ed, we sent to
Director Redding. HE reply, which
we give below, should forever set at
rest all doubts as to the truth Of the
statement that the cotton is a humbug.
In regard to the points made by Mr..
J. o. Overman, Liberty, N. O.,
I wish to say that the test of
the 81 varieties Of cotton made
on this Station Farm last year
were mad esolely in the interest
and for the protection of the farmers of
the South. AS q public official, I feel
that it is my bounden duty to discover
and publish all the information in my
power for the benefit of farmers, and
especially give such information as
will protect them from any scheme to
take their hard earned dollars into the
pockets of a set of scheming men,
tehOSe only object is to secure these dol
lars. On the one side / have no per
sonal interest or motive to serve; on
the other are those who hope to make
money out of the combining and un
suspecting farmer, by telling great
stories about this Welborn's Pet, alias
African Limbless, and selling the seed
at fabulous prices. Mr.. Overman
says he has letters from Geor-
gia stating that "Redding and
Jackson are personal enemies, and
have been for sometime" This state
ment is absolutely false, so far Gs my
feelings are concerned. / have known
Mr.. Jackson for 90 years, and we have
always been friends, and have always
met in q friendly way. If he has any
thing against me it can only be at
tributed to the fact that / have endeav-
ored to expose the pretensions of this
so called African variety of cotton. and
have probably prevented him from
making some sales of seed at the exor
bitant prices he and his agents and
lessees m asking for them. / like Mr..
Jackson very well. He is quite ageniai,
clever, hospitable man, but is fond OF
exploiting some new and wonderful
seeds, and generally locates their
origin in some far distant cline. I
have exploded some of his previous
plans of this sort; but my expose of
this last and most outrageous scheme
of all has probably nettled him, and he
wishes it understood that I am mad
with him, or prejudiced against him,
There ia nothing of the sort. I would
be glad TO do him a favor, although I
do not like his ways in the matter of
exploiting seeds. He knows very well
that if there is any feeling az all it is
all on his side.
Mr.. Overman, should bear in mind
that I have never intimated that
the Welborp's Pet, alias slack
sons Limbless, is not a good cotton.
What I wrote to Mr.. Stewart is
also printed in Press Bulletin No. 81.
I there say that it is agood varie.
ty; that sit is entitled to rank
among the best, but that it falls very
far short Of what it's promoters claim
for it. And the truth of the matter is
that these promoters know what Ihave
published about the cotton is true.
They know, at least Jackson knows,
that that six-acre patch did MOI make
four bales to the acre, nor the third of
four bales lin my judgment, and /
saw it, Jackson knows the seed did
not come from Africa, and that they
were not brought from that distant
cline by a Wandering jew" I have
good reason to believe that he knew
when he planted the seed the past year
thatthey were otthe old variety known
in the West as "Welborn's Pet" for
he replanted a portion of that cele.
brated patch with seed of Welborn's
Pet, according to his own admission to
Hon. Jas. W. Armstrong, Washington,
Georgia.
The statement that I planted the
Jackson seed '3 to 5 feet apart" is
simply and markedly false, ( had 5
rows eros an acre 900 feet long, in