The Johnson City comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1916-1917, 1917-07-05
FOOD AND TOBACCO


Our men in the trenches must b
well fed. 1t is a well known and es
tablished fact that an army fights OF
its stomach. 1t is also essential tina
the large majority of our boys wht
are addicted to the use of tobacco
must not be deprived of it while the!
are doing our fighting in the trench
es. Among the many small comforts
which the great Red Cross organiza.
ton has undertaken to supply to oul
boys, are pipes-tObacco pipes. Am
erica must furnish the tobacco. 1t has
| been thoroughly demonstrated that
right here in Johnson City, within the
territory embraced within a circle
with radius of 40 miles or less from
Johnson City as a center, that the fin
est quality of hurley tobacco can and
is being grown. The great Ameri-
can Tobacco company is fully cogniz-
ant of this fact, which has been prac-
tically demonstrated, both by the
yield per acre and the superior quail
ity of the hurley tobacco grown in
this territory for the past several
years, and sold on the market at
Greeneville, Tennessee.
This tobacco has the reputation of
being the finest and best hurley to-
bacco grown anywhere, and brings
the very highest market price. For
this reason, and also to overcome the
gradually decreasing supply of hurley
tobacco grown in the Blue Grass
country of Kentucky, the American
Tobacco company is exceedingly an
Xious to extend the tobacco growing
territory here.
1t has been demonstrated that John
son City is the ideal central point for
building up one of the largest leaf
tobacco markets for hurley tobacco
in the United States. Johnson City is
strategic point, having railroads
leaf tobacco from eight different di-
rections and extending into vast to-
bacco-growing area. This area in
cludes Washington, part of Greene,
Sullivan, Carter, Unicoi and Johnson
counties in Tennessee; Watauga, Nit
chell, Yancy and part of Madison
counties in North Carolina, and sew
eral counties in Southwest Virginia,
including Washington, Smythe, Gray
son, Lee and Scott.
About six months ago the tobacco
growers in the Southern portion of
our county called the attention of the
Chamber of Commerce to the posi-
bilities of Johnson City developing
this great enterprise by the building
of a tobacco warehouse here. These
farmers promised their hearty coop
Grafton and a few joint meetings of
the farmers and business men of
Johnson City were held. The Wash
ington County Tobacco Growers |
and Warehouse Association was ten
tatively organized; Mr. J. P. Snapp, of |
Tennessee, was elected |
president and a vice president was
elected for each civil district in the |
county. A large quantity Of the very |
best quality of white hurley tobacco
seed was obtained and free seeds and |
printed pamphlets of instructions as
to growing, curing, and marketing to-
bacco were distributed throughout |
these various counties. This was fol-
lowed up closely by correspondence,
with the result that there is now a
growing crop of more than 1900 acres
Of hurley tobacco in this territory.
The directors of the Chamber of
Commerce and the secretary have per-
and vigorously kept right
after this movement; the Southern
through their agricultural
department, are rendering material
aid through their special togacco
agent, and the G. c. & o., railway
is now and have been for
ong time, vigorously and energetical-
y pushing this enterprise, by the dis
.ribution of seeds and printed matter,
and by the personal, efficient aid rem
dered by their men of the industrial
and agricultural departments of this
great organization, which is always
alert and on the JOB, to develop the
atent wealth of this great section
through which their roads runs.
The building of large warehouse
and prizing rooms at Johnson City
his summer is an assured fact. Mr..
Evan S. Rees, of Springfield, Ken
lucky who is now under tentative
to operate the warehouse
here, on terms most favorable to the
owners and builders, is now making
a canvass of this tobacco growing
He canvassed two civil dis
Lricts in the lower end of this coun-
fy during four days of last week, and
found fully 600 acres of tobacco
growing there and incidentally on
this trip took subscriptions from 81
farmers for stock in the warehouse
aggregating 105 shares.
He started out yesterday to make a
canvass of Washington county, Vir-
ginia, from Abingdon. A report from