The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-11-19
PLANT TOBACCO.

be stimulus to our farmers to
prepare their lands now for the
golden weed. Tobacco is mon
ey crop, and comes in away
ahead of cotton, it brings, even
when prices are low, better
profit than cotton, takes less
land, and no more labor. We
would advise every farmer hay
inc suitable land to plant tobac-
co the coming year. To give an
idea of the results Of the tobacco
culture, We will relate an instan-
ce which came under our person
al observation last August. We
spent the night with a friend,
and in the course Of our CONVEX
sation with him, he told US, that
he planted eight acres of tobac-
co, had already sold for the cash
S14O0 worth, and he supposed he
had at least on hand about $500
more. Here was a crop grown
on eight acres Of land yielding
$1,000 gross, and as the man and
his family did all the work, his
outlay was scarcely anything.
This is what we would consider
profitable farming.
If our farmers can so arrange
their lands, that several kinds OF
crops will be grown thereon,
they will soon be independent of
cotton, and will only make that
staple side issue. We have ex-
cellent lands in this county for
the culture of tobacco, in fact
the soil in certain sections is so
well adapted that the weed
grown thereon is Of an exceed
ingly fine quality and brings a
very high price. Tobacco is
different from cotton or most
any other kind Of crop, because
it can be grown on lands that
heretofore were considered not
worth planting, and because it IS
a crop that cannot be stacked
away into warehouses to keep
it must be worked up, or it rots,
therefore the chances for over
production are small, and the
prices are always likely to be
profitable. Cotton on the other
hand can be kept for years, and
when ever the crop is full, spec
lators take advantage of it to
buy,cheap, so as to be in good
shape when a short Gropis made,
which makes it hard for the
farmer to get actual value. To
a close observer, the cultivation
of tobabco commends itself, and
we hope that our farmers
throughout this entire section
will plant it. We do not mean
to encourage anything like ex-
cessive planting, for to plant too
much, it would lack for atten-
ton, but what we wish to advo-
cate, is for every farmer having
suitable soil, to plant what he
knows he can handle with safety.
Tobacco growing in this coun-
ty was unknown afew years ago;
it started in the Salem section,
which at the time was regarded
a very crude section of the cOun-
ty, away behind the other por-
tions; the houses were nothing
but log huts, no school houses,
and the church buildings were
old log structures, the whole
section reminded the traveller of
the days of the country's first
settlers we read about in the
books. Today trip through
this same section, is a revela-
ton, a complete Transformation
from the old to the new; in the
place Of the log huts, stand
neatly and modernly built farm
houses, one and two stories, the
inside furnished plentifully and
well, from within comes the
strains of music from piano or
organ, and the Salem farm
house and it's surroundings is up
to-date. The school houses are
large, comfortable, and well
equipped, with a corps of the
best of teachers, and the church
es cannot be excelled anywhere.
The whole country has taken on
a new life, and gone to work
with intelligence and vim. What
has done this? Tobacco is the
main source. The people were
tired Of the everlasting grinding
down from cotton planting
and they looked about for
something to come out from
under the burden of debt;
they fell upon tobacco, and to
them it was like the discovery of
gold; they sowed, and they har
vested, at first the results were
meagre, but they kept on and in
short time they could laugh
debt in the face and bid it leave
their farms, and now we know
of no section more prosperous,
or more advanced in learning,
thrift, enterprise, public spirit or
religion. ''Truly howlin 6
wilderness has been transformed
into a garden" and a noble
people have shaken off a yoke of
oppression, and are now the
main stays Of our county. This
condition is largely attributable
to the culture Of tobacco, and we
urge all Of our farmers having