The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1902-02-13

Htl '1t VI tnS fJJJ crop WAS less lnhi
that Of the 1899 crop by less than Is
per cent. and the price advanced over
) per cent, winch advance wnul'!.
without doubt, have been muvit
greater had it moi b~en for The enor-
mou- surplus which all mannf 'cturtr~
and dealers accumulated from tue
1893 crop. This surplus. however.
was partly consumed on account OF
the decreased quantity in 1899. Ther,
fore prices cuutinu.d to advance a.
the trade real zed the scarcity Of
stock. The 1901 crop i estimated To
! ne ten per cent. short Of 1870. while
pIres have advanced over - per
cent.
Rocky Mount, which handles as
fine, if not the finest. bright leaf to-
| barcO that is grown In the wnrld,
s"lI ont Of the 1899 crop ll.75o, D0l
pounds for $7l3,OD). F. January l,
1892. She has Sold 1850. 200 pounds Of
the 1871 crop for $9l3,OOJ, which
shows that since 1899 the poundS
have be-n reduced about 80 per cent.
while prices have advanced nearly loo
per cent.
These figures and facts should. ac-
cordng to my idea, prove concluslvely
| and to the entire satisfaction Of every
man who has any brains in his head,
| that the only safe and sensible thing
| for him to do. is To reduce bis tobacco
| acreage this year instead OF increa>-
ing it.
| am aware of the fact that this
| advice does not c,incide with the mar
| row, biased, little. selfish views of
some warehousemen. leaf dealers,
manufacturers and guano trusts, who
say that seven cents per pound is
enough for you to get for Your tobacco
| and that more than thai price make,
ven an uncomfortable, cXtravagant
| fool. That gang of adviser, aud pre-
| tended good wiehers are either your
euemie>, entirely ignorant Of the leaf
| tobacco situation, or belong to the big
| | and little Won clique, whose advice
should not, and, | trust, will not, be
| adhered to.
| Warehou>emen advise an in
creased tobacco acreage can have no
| other than selfish, iniividual-gain
motives. The leaf dealer would have
| you increase your crop in order that
he may run steam plant 10 its utmost
capacity with low-priccd tobacco.
thus increasing his profit at your tx
pensc. The small manufactured and
his sympa,hizer> would have you
raise surplus Of tobacco in order
that he might supply his little wants
without creating the sli. est compe-
tilion and thus carry prices down To
a lhrre or four dollar level. The big
manufacturer. or trust, would have
| YOU plant the face of the earth in to-
baccO in order that he may gobble i,
up at whatever price hr may see III.
while the guano trust sits back with
an air of full satisfaction, laughing in
their sleeve at the long profits, and
nSequenlly blg monty. they are
going to make this year out of the
thousands of tons of guano you are
going To bury under tobacco. And
might adj that the owners OF printing
presses are no less ubilant over the
prospects of extra profits for printing
extra mortgages to cover your extra
Indebtedness, should you plant an
extra large crop Of tobacco. Will you
do it? Surely, surely not.
Let me entreat Won not 10 increase
your crop uf tobacco this year. for, in
my humble opinion, the condition
herein above lie >crihed will he yours
if the acreage is increased To any con
siderable extent. just as sure a
profitable prices are the result oi
snort crops OF tohacc" (and no sane ol
well informed man will dispute it,
lust so sure will financial disaster
and destruction to you follow a bi4
increase Of tobacco. These are in
evitable and unIi>puted facts which
are borne out by the history Of lea
tobacco since you or your forefathers
laid down their worn out muSkets a
Appnmattox on the 9th day of April
1868.
Why is it that those who advise al
increased acreage do not give some
reasons for such advice? Why die
they not advise YOU to decrease YOU
crop when your tobacco was selling
so low that il would not pay for th'
fertilizer you put under it? Whenc.
cometh all this special interest which
such advisers would have you bcliev'
they feel in your success? They tel
YOU that they have information t
su>tain the belief that there will be
greater demand for tobacco the com
in. year than ever before. but the,
fail to divulge that information
They may have information SUSTAIN
ing the belief that they will max
more money by vonr planting hi!
crop than they will make if you re
luce the acreage I'll tell YOU wha
they say-it may he unintent "nall
but truthfully-anhi it is this: the III
'mand has become greater than TIL