The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-20

Florida. The Department experts say that. The red lands of Perry, on which the topacco does so well, are similar to muse m Supa, where the finest tobacco In the world Is grown, It is said that these clay lands are the end and break ing up of ridge which runs across the State. 'i'
 Some of the land is in Dallas countv where tobacco of a fine grade is aIso successmuily grown. Chiffon County. so the experts say, has lands fit for this me tobacco. but nothing has been done towards growing it.
 Ihe Marion crop of tobacco last year was sold In lump at Is cents a pound. !. Nas worth more than that. A better price will be had this year. In the iob pers market. where it Is distributed among the cigar manufacturers, the to- oacco is said to bring 60 and 65 cents a pound' An acre of ground, too, pro- ouces more of tobacco than it can pro- duee pounds of cotton.
 Saturated With Knowledge,
 rms tobacco naturally brings good price, said Editor Greer who has sat urated himself with tobacco knowladpe The import duty on this class is so cents pound. Even with that duty. sSeo.ooo,ooo worth of this cigar filler to- bacco was imported into the United States last year"
 You mean s3,000. GOO worth or sso.- oeo.oo0 worth don't your"
 No. replied Mir Greer emphatical4 ly T mean BOO GOO, 900 worth That much had to be imported to supply the cigar business in the United States raw material for the cigar manufacturers rms cigar tobacco is grown only in a limited amount inside the United States There is not enough of this class of to- paceo grown in the whole country to supply the State of Alabama with it's cigars. Now. with an import duty of thirty cents pound on 1t. with an unlimited demand for it, you can easily see what chance there is here in Per ry County where the tobacco can be srown so easily"
 There are very few places where this cigar filler tobacco can be grown successfully. The government tried the same experiments it has been making here in Perry County in Virginia. They failed. It tried them again in North Carolina. They failed. Theland like the land of Virginia was not suitable Nor was the Georgia land suitable and the industry could not be launched in that State.
 Tn Texas the experts met with better encouragement. There is a ridge of red land in that State where the tobac- co has done we'll The principal crop l But the Perry County lands make better grade of tobacco. That's what the experts say.
 Great Industry.
 If proper care and attention is giv- en the crop tobacco can at least be grown successfully in some parts of Dallas and Chiffon Counties. They are already growing it In Dallas. But Per " Is the pioneer and we are growing rfear filler fnha0oA ofh CT county outside of Florida. I firmly believe that a great industry has been inaugurated. I firmly believe that this industry will bring us A financial pros perfty that we would not have known without it. I believe that it means more for this particular section of Ala bama than any agricultural enterprise inaugurated in recent years"
 Mir Greer's opinion Is shared by the gentlemen of the Agricultural Depart ment who have been In charge of tho experiments. No two opinions could be entertained as to the quality of the Perry County tobacco and the experts believe that the farmers who grow tobacco carefully and intel1igently will reap a financial reward.
 The most encouraging feature of the situation, however. is the fact that the old fashioned cotton and corn farmers took no stock whatever, In the exper- iments have become convinced and are now participating in the financial ad vantages the industry has brought.
 The movement has. progressed so far that some of the Marion farmers are growing shade tobacco, a tobacco of the very highest brand. This is grown under canvas covering and requires very delicate care. But 1t is worth more than fifty cents a pound in the raw.
 Cigar mapufacturers in Cincinnati and Cleveland have become interested in the Perry County tobacco industry. Their representatives negotiated with the Perry County tobacco growers and persuaded them to grow shade tobac- co" on halves. It pays better than any other kind.
 The whole town of Marion is now en- thusiastic on the tobacco growing prop osition and each year the acreage de- voted to tobacco steadily grows and widens.