The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-07-26
THE OUTLOOK FOR
VIRGINIA TOBACCO
Growers of the Dark Shipping
Weed at Mercy of For
eign Buyers.
GREAT DAY FOR THE BRIGHTS
Men Who Know How to Grow
and Flue Cure Brights
Ale 1T"

me tiIne vas wneu tho TOBACCO IN
terest was the special and particular
inoney-making interest IN Virginia. and
IL iH right much that way yet. no far
az certain sections of the old State are
concerned. 1t is true that In time
other interests came along to dispute
the supremacy OF tobacco. Some of the
counties down near tho seashore got
to raising cotton on ground that form
erly produced tho tobacco. and the weed
hunted more salubrious grounds to the
westward. Then came the trucking
: business. and that was followed by
peanuts. and in time tobacco was run
out altogether, that lH. go far as the
extreme eastern part OF Virginia was
concerned.
But up In the Piedmont section the
good folks learned some things about
tobacco growing and tobacco market
Ing and tobacco usaEes that tho East
ern Virginia folks never dreamed Of.
Up there In Pittsylvania and Halifax
and Charlotte and Henry and Franklin
and some other counties In Virginia
that might be named. to say nothing OF
Caswell and Rockingham and Alamance
and some other bright tobacco growing
counties In North Carolina. that look
TO the Virginia markets for selling
purposes. the people simply live on to-
bacco.
Therefore. this latest propaganda
that the State wide proposition, TO
the sale of liquor. may in tho near
future also take In tobacco. and seek
10 prohibit it's sale and Its use in all
OF It's phases. is causing q great many
people 60 prick up their ears and take
notice.
But that is not the subject am
called upon to deal with just now. !
am just surmising just little bit by
the waysidc. guessing. AS II were. AS
to what might be the effect on the in
dustrtal development or old Virginia II
tho tobacco interest were entirely
wiped out by n vote of the people or
I'm any other way. Doubtless II this
thing goes oh. II would be easy enough
TO get. 20 per GENT. Of the voting popu-
ton to vote out tobacco. And then
what? The tobacco growing section
OF Virginia Is little less than third
OF the area OF the State. IT would be
very easy matter. after the fanatics
got In the saddle, to vote tobacco out.
And then what? Well take tobacco
out of the industrial equation Of vi,'-
Sinia. and there will he very little Vir-
ginia LETT, This talk is just by the
xayside, and re kind of Introductory
to some further thoughts on the to-
tacco interest and the outlook. az the
latter appears on the horizon close on
TO the nrst Of August OF this good
TifE pAn,A po>rr PAY:
BItIGIITS IN THE SWIM
The growers OF the dark shipping
tobaccos have had Il hard time for the
past several years, IL their tales OF
woe are to be believed. and think
they are. What is known az the dark
shipping tobacco IN grown In but few
counties of Virginia. mainly over in
the Southside section. This peculiar
grade OF the weed liz consumed only in
foreign lnnds notably just now. Aus-
tria and Italy. In those countries the
governments control the tobacco mar
OF the buying ana All OF the manufac-
turing and all OF ;he selling. Hence
YOU must sell 10 the government or no
body. Hence. further, the government
can naturally name the price it shall
pay for the raw material, and If the
good farmers OF Southside Virginia are
to be believcG-and think they arc
they tthe governments. or their agents)
have for the past several years been
naming a figure that is below the cost
of production. That is to say. the
Southeide Virginia farmers say they
cannot grow the dark tobacco for less
than about 10 cents per pound, and
that those cruel Austrian and Italian
governments and their terrible agents
Will not pay over cents per pound
for ita Some OF these farmers have
been wasting n lot Of good time and
some right good money rushing up to
Washington trying to persuade the
United States government TO try to
compel the Austrians and the Italians
to pay higher prices for the Virginia
dark shipping weed. These same
Southside. Virginia farmers have been
advised to discontinue the growing OF
the dark shipping goods IL they are
losing money on its cultivation. and
grow corn and hay and hogs and some
other things that do pay.
GROWERS OF BnIGITTS ARE
COMING MONEY RIGHT ALONG
From the bright tobacco bel! there
comes no complaint. Tor the past i've
years the bright tobacco growers have
boen making money hanG over fist.
as the expression is The cause OF
this Is that there is now a greater de-
mand for the bright tobaccos than WAS
ever known before since John Smith
hrst landed in America. The cause Of
tho demand Is that the great suok-
Ing tobacco industries and the great
cigarette industries OF the country
have been for &; decade past introduc-
Ing their goods and the use OF them
In foreign lands, notably, Asia and
largely Eastern Europe. China is to-
day consuming as many cigarettes as
America. RUSSIA IL consuming quite as
many more, and Japan is just sweeping
tho deck. Egypt and Arabia are be-
coming cigarette and smoking tobacco
customers OF America and the business
is growing every day in the year And
oo 'fI' a." NV ~ e9't Nt'S 10 SouCcTIicI. All
OF tho consumers OF all of the earth
have to come right here to Virginia
and North Carolina TO get the bright
tobacco to make the things Of
For this reason. or FOR these reasons.
II may be set down ;is il casLiron fact
that the bright tobacco growing bust
ness In old Virginia and i'm North Car
olina is TO be :, big thing for many
years, very many years to como. I'M
less the thing gets Ia he forbidden un-
der a Statewide prohibition" law
and OF that guess there Is nothing
likely to haprcn i?i some years yet
to come
Anyhow, I am not afraid to advise
ell OF my good young agricultural
friends In the bright tobacco growing
regions to keep on preparing for big
crops OF the golden yellow leaf: and