The farmer and mechanic., 1915-10-26
GROWING AND MARKETING TOBACCO,
AN INDUSTRY THAT is DIFFERENT

the world.
Once in while when we are vigor-
ouSly pouring anathemaS on the heads
of the trusts we might remember that
they have scattered the name of the
United Statessover more of the world
than any other half dozen agencies
combined. The place where you can't
find a can with the name of the Stand
ard Oil Company, or a cotton bag or
tobacco box with the name OF an
American tobacco company on it you
have no business to go.
AS bright tobacco goes into the fac
tories at Durham and into other
smoking products, it also goes to some
extent to the plug factories. The
British American and the export COM
panies buy it to send abroad. All
of tho are represented at Wilson,
and the big warehouses and storage
houses here are right certain guaran-
tees that in the future Wilson is to
be more of a tobacco market than it is
yet. This is also indicated by the
expansion Of the bright leaf territory.
Bright Leaf Spreads.
This bright leaf territory is a Gu
rious discovery. Bright leaf is like
the boil weevil. It started in a limi-
ted section Of the upper part of the
State and kept spreading year by year
until it has reached out over much
Of the eastern part Of the State and
down into South Carolina, covering
lot Of the hopeless land of North
Carolina, and even including the
Sandhills country which up to the
last few years was regarded as abso
1utely worthless except like the Ford
car, to make jokes about But both
these jokes have established them
selves. Last year Raeford built a fine
big tobacco warehouse, and this year
Sanford came along with another, and
tobacco men say there is no question
| but that bright tobacco is at home in
both those sections. Only the other
day l was on the country road be-
| tween Southern Pines and Raeford
| when two men in a car stopped to ask
| about the neighborhood, and one Of
| them swept his hand around to de-
scribe the country about him. This
| is the greatest tobacco land l ever
| saw" he said. 'I don't see why it
isn't covered with tobacco FARMS
| Gradually tobacco planters are
| breaking into that sandy land, and the
| reports are that they are making salts
| factory crops. This means that Will
son will steadily find itself becoming
| bacCO man, like the rest Of us, is an
odd fish. He will sell a certain amount
of tobacco in Raeford, or Sanford, OF
| wherever he happens to be, but in the
mix up are men who cannot see any
profit in the market that is nearest
Since the days of Old Phasarius ir
Rome the far-off fields of Thrace have
looked green, and it is human instinct
| to think the pot Of gold is at the enc
of the rainbow So we follow away
to the other town to sell and buy, and
are firm in the belief that w41have
profited
At any rate a lot of tobacco come:
from the sections that have little
markets to this big market with it:
enormous sales and as there is no very
satisfactory way of telling whether
: the tobacco sold at one place would
have brought more had it been solo
some places else it is easy to believ,
l that it would and let it go at that
/ and the big market will continue t,
| draw trade from the little market
Vanity Fair Interests.
| However, the why's and the where
: fores are not part of this disgust
ton. 1t is the vanity fair ttat inter
ests me here, and the likelihood tha
, this thing is to grow bigger and NOR
| interesting and more spectacular witt
= ! each successive year. Each particuIa
product Of our common country ha
its own methods of production an
= marketing. Cotton is tumbled aroun
the platforms in terribly unromanti
8 style. Corn goes to the country buye
: in a two horse wagon ard is sol
II without much side-show adjunct.
Wheat comes into the elevators, an
is disposed Of in prosaic style. Th
e things that can be handled in ca
6 loads do not introduce the human fac
h tor SO largely. But tobacco is a poun
y proposition instead Of a car load com
i modify. and that means a lot Of pee
d pie are on hand when it is turned int
e cash. Tobacco is laid out on the f1oc
n by hand, and gathered up by hant
: and packed in the hogsheads by hant
d 1t is not dumped in a wagon load {
l. time to be hurried up an elevate
al chute, Or forwarded in bulk in til
le car. 1t is a, form of merchandise ths
n requires people at every step it take
So tobacco has a crowd with it. an
Of the crowd is an interesting one. ar