The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-10-29
GRAIN AS A SUBSTITUTE.
MIR. Brabham Points Out the Difficult
ties He Sees.

To the Editor of the News and
Courier: The present deploraDle
condition OF the cotton market and
the gloomy outlook is making every
wide-awake farmer cast about for
some other money crop. a few days
ago ! wrote TO personal friend IN
Charleston to approach the grain
dealers of that city and write me
what they thought of going into oats
and corn. He did as requested, and
the tenor of his letter advises against
the shipping of either into the Char
lesion market in competition with
Western corn and oats.
also wrote the well-known house
of Molony & Carter company, and
here is their letter in full:
charleston, S. c., October 16,
1914.
"Nfr. A. ". Brabham, Olar, S. c.
Dear Sir: We have your letter OF
the 18th, and in reply beg to state as
to our handling your oats next June
through to September, if the same
is suitable for feeding purposes and
equal to Western raised crop we will
bs glad to give you the preference.
We use approximately about 10000
bushels per month, and will be glad
to take your oats at the current
Western price prevailing at this time.
I'm raising oats for consumption
it would be we'll to have all the ma
chinery necessary to make the oats
conform to the National Grain Deal
ers' association bylaws. Same ap-
plies to your corn.
There is no grain exported from
this port at present. TO do this Kind
of business it would be necessary to
have an elevator, which W, are with
out at present. We can export in
small quantities by bagging the grain,
which we expect to do if we have a
surplus above our local consumption.
Eve think that the State can take
care of all the grain raised within
it's borders at profitable prices, judg-
ing from the future prices quoted on
the Chicago board of trade.
Eve will be glad to assist you or
any other farmer or merchant with
in the State as to the disposition of
grain raised in the State, and will
give them the preference at all times,
and if there is any other informa-
ton or assistance we can render you
in this matter we will gladly do so.
Yours very truly,
"Molony & Carter company,
Patrick Carter, V. P"
At first sight this letter is encour-
aging, but notice that the grain must
be properly prepared, which, of
course, would necessitate the pur-
chase of new machinery, as we have
no such machinery on the average
cotton farm.
Then let US figure little. The cot
ton acreage of South Carolina is ap-
proximately 100000. Let us sup
pose that the reduction is half. This
would give 1,250,000 acres as sur
plus grain crop. Let us say each
acre made only 80 bushels of grain.
totalling 37,5OO,000. Now, under
existing conditions with no export
trade anywhere in the State, where
would this surplus go?
Let us figure little, more. The
South's cotton crop is grown on &c.
100000 acres. Suppose that 49,
100000 acres should be seeded to
cereals next year. Suppose that the
yield would be only 80 bushels per
acre. This would give a commercial
crop of 570,000,000 bushels for ex-
port, and, so far as I know, New Or
leans is the only port in the entire
South that exports grain, and that
comes from the Middle West down
THE Father of Waters"
Suppose that cotton could be elm
mated over the entire belt and all
the cotton fields seeded to grain.
This would throw into the lap of COM
merce over billion bushels of ex-
port grain, and such a cornucopia
would stagnate the grain trade just
as the cotton trade is now stagnated.
The whole grain world has its
eyes open as to the demand for food
in warning Europe. and never in the
history of the world was greater ef-
forts made than now to produce
grain, and year hence grain will be
begging for buyers just as cotton is
now begging for buyers.
Verify, the cotton planter is be-
tween the devil and the deep.
A. W. BRABHAM.
Olar. S. c., October 19.