The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-12-17
THE ADVERTISER.
LAURENs. q. c.. Dec. IA. 1909.
Shall We Raise Tobaccog


visibility of attempting to produce to-
could not risk an opinion az to whether
or not the experiment ought to be
made Such an experiment was made
on an elaborate scale in ~Spartanburg
county Is or 20 years ago. 1t failed.
Later the people of the Peedee planted
tobacco. Many of them lost money.
Some lost q great deal. Nevertheless,
the Peedee people p~erseyered. Now
and then q man would be successful.
Several succeeded from the first. At
last these Darlipgton; Florence and
Sumter farmers mastered the business
and now 1t may fairly be sa d that the
Peedee Is a lourishing tobacco region
with the industry fairly established.
This year the tobacco planters have re-
ceived' handsome prices for their crops
and they are son velvet" However,
one of the best informed gentlemen In
Darlington told The ADVERTISER last
summer that probably the aggregate
losses in tobacco in Darlington county
would equal the gains up to that time.
The experimental period is past now,
the farmers nave "learr . tobacco"
and there are only such losses as are iu-
cidental to bad seasons, poor prices,
sto., which are incidental moro or less
to all crops.
The tobacco crop is a source OF great
wealth. The Darlington farmer who
made twenty bales of cotton this year
cultivated four acres of tabacco and
out Of it's proceeds paid the whole ex-
penses of his farm and bad his cotton
as profit-at least such stories are COM
mon in the Peedee and must be true.
Additionally, the tobacco crop comes
OF the market in the summer Put
money into circulation at the dullest
period of the year and merchants,
bankers newspaper men and all sorts
of business men are helped.
We have only to say hat our farmers
need not attempt this experiment un.
less they are prepared to be ~disappoint-
ed and to suffer loss temporarily. This
must be their fate even if they succeed
in the end. If they + ready to spend
some money and to stick to the trial
four or five years they may succeed as
we'll as the Peedee people or they may
discover that the Piedmont is no place
for tobacco growing.
On the whole we are inclined to
think that the farmer in Laurens who
raises the many crops and many An
imals that can be raised easily and
ohnor1r In ,,J ,uh1 fl1or,.
good business methods can come out
better at the years end than the cotton
n tobacco man of Darlington. We be-
lieve that Mr.. Robert Abercrombie
will find that his red polls are a paying
investment Ia spite Of the ruinous
freight that he had to pay on them,
because beef cattle always command q
good price and good beeves can be
raised in Laurens. Beef is better than
tobacco, even in this country of ours.
Hay, grain, many fruits, even rice,
dozens of grasses, COOLERS, peas, are
all safe crops in Lsurens and all bring
wealth. Hogs are worth eight cents
the'ponnd on their feet today and we
have in mind a lady not q mile from
this Office who lives on a little farm
and who. has fifty dollars worth of ba-
con which cost not over eight dollars
to produce.
Mind, we do not advise against the TO-
bacco experiment. We should like to see
1T made, especially by the men who are
talking about making it, because we
know they will make 1t thoroughly.
The tobacco industry in this coun-
ty, once established would make "the
July grade" a vast deal easier for The
LAURENS ADVERTISER = indeed, we
think the July grade wonld be leveled
by 1T. But we think it right to say
chat the mastering OF the details of
producing and selling SO difficult a
crop as tobacco will cost time and pa
thence and much money-and 1T may
be that climatic and soil conditions
will prelude the possibility Of success.
Meanwhile, tobacco Ia not a last resort
and opportunities are plentiful for the
ambitious farmer who is up and doing.
~
Wasted Compassion.
Every day or two some South Caro-
lima newspaper weeps an editorial
about the town of Charleston. The
latest to emit a groan about Charles
toms condition is the Spartanburg
Herald. Now THE ADVERTISER knows
something about Charleston and The
Spartanburg newspaper is giving itself
needless pain. There are also voices in
Columbia that cry out in misspent COM