Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-12-27

[B. S. W. in Hampton County Guardian.

(B. S. w. in Hampton County Guardian
The summer is past, the harvest is
about ended, the yield of our great
staple crop is fairly good, the prices
fairly remunerative, and with all
other crops good, we feel that God
has blessed US with peace, plenty and
prosperity.
We are now beginning to look
forward to another season and t. the
production of other crops. Although
our Southern Cotton Growers Asso-
citation, standing in almost solid
phalanx and with firmer organization
and broader concert of action than
the farmers of the South have ever
before preserved, has fixed and main
tanned the price of cotton at ten
cents and more. To reap the benefit
of this great work or before any real
benefit can accrue, we must have
margin between the cost of produc-
tion and the market price sufficient
to warrant our engaging in this in
dustry, for that is our profit. In the
surrounding conditions this matter
of production is forcing itself more
and more upon us and demands
serious thought. Essential to the
production Of cotton in our section,
beside the God-given soil and sea-
sons, are labor and fertilizers. 1t is
not my purpose in this article to dis
cuss the increasing scarcity and un-
reliability of negro labor and the
proposed supplanting of same with
immigrant labor, but l want to call
the attention of our people to the
matter of fertilizers, for as our supply
of labor, and consequently our acre
age planted decreases, our fertiliza-
tion of planted acreage should be in
creased and so the purchase and use
of commercial fertilizers is becom-
ing more and more matter of in
terest and consideration to the farm
ers. OF such Importance is it be-
coming, at the next session of our
General Assembly important legisla-
tion may occur on the question,
hence agitation now is proper and
appropriate.
We want good grade of fertilizer
at fair price, olive and let live"
price, and want what we pay for. |
think farmers have been about as
greatly cheated by the manufacturers
from whom they have bought their
fertilizers to make cotton as they
have been hugely swindled by the
speculators to whom they have sold
their cotton when made.
The average cost to us of a ton of
acid is about $12. The cost of
manufacturing same is about $5; the
average cost to us of "Higrade" is
about $21 ton. The cost of manu-
featuring same is about $9-more
than 100 per cent profit to the manu-
facturer. We buy ton of fertilizer
weighing 1000 pounds and there
are only 1000 pounds of plant food
in it, while the other 400 pounds are
cinders, rock, dirt, mud or sand, the
"real estate" part of it doing us no
good as plant food and costing US
about as much as real estate is worth
on the most fashionable sites of
Broadway, New York. The guam
tity of fertilizer sold in South Caro-
lima last year amounted to about
100000 tons about one-fifth of this,
or 100000 tons, was cinders, rock,
mud or sand. The average cost of
fir light is about $3.50 per ton there
tore farmers are paying about $780,
600 freight annually on worthless
substance.
For hauling, handling and putting
out this stuff a conservative estimate
would be about 80 per ton-$200,-
600; making $450,000 paid out an
nually by the farmers for freight,
handling and putting out substance
of no earthly use to them as fer
tilizer of their land or food for their
crops-enough money to run the
State government-out of the pock-
cts of the buyer of fertilizers.
There should be some relief, some
protection from this species of
''graft." l am pleased to say that
our Legislature has the matter under
consideration. They have mea-
surs on foot looking to the advisa-
bllity of the State Of South Carolina
manufacturing fertilizers for sale to
the farmers. At the last session
committee was appointed to take
into consideration and report on the
proposition.
This committee consisted of Sena-
tors Warren of Hampton, Earle of
Oconee, Stackhouse of Marion,
Johnston of Fairfield, and Peurifoy
of Colleton. The committee re-
l,nrfod -, - Il