The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-11-20
Peanuts Profitable Crop
To Beat The Boil WeeUil
Mr.. J. A. Wyman Gives Summary of Valuable Informa
tion Gathered on Trip Through Weev Territory
of Georgia and Alabama.-Peanut Plant
ers Are Happy and Prosperous
in Spite of Weevil. .

ing with dozens of farmers, bankers,
and other business men, to obtain an
insight into conditions, and to gather
a great deal of information about
farming practices and methods.
Anyone visiting Enterprise will
hear the following story from dozens
Of people, with more or less detail,
and probably this incident had more
to do with bringing about the pres
ent satisfactory (probably enviable)
condition Of the people of Coffee coun-
ty and other counties in Alabama,
than any other one factor that may
be named.
Mr.. H. was a farmer, owning a
medium sized farm of fair fertility
on which cotton and corn had been
planted for some years, making av-
erage crops, and yielding a moderate
income. In 1914 good crop of cot
ton was gathered, but with the be-
ginning of hostilities in Europe, the
price was only four to seven cents
per pound, and the returns from the
sale of this crop left Mr.. H. still in
debted to his banker, Mr.. S., for sew
eral thousands of dollars, greater
amount than the farm and equipment
were worth. Realizing his serious
financial condition, Mr.. H. placed his
property at the command of his bank
er, requesting advice. An engage
ment was made for an afternoons
discussion of the situation At this
conference the banker, Mr.. S., told
Mr. H. that the first thing he wanted
done was for Mr.. H. to surrender his
automobile, and take credit for it.
This done, Mr.: S. outlined the plan
that he advised Mr.. H. to follow
He reviewed the past history of cot
ton farming. and told Mr. H. that
even with good seasons and full crops,
it might be years before he could
pay up his Indebtedness. and par
ticularly was this true as the boil
weevil had made it's appearance that
(1914) fall in Coffee county. In
stead of planting cotton in 1915 Mr..
H. was advised to put his usual cot
ton acreage in peanuts, the money
for seed to be furnished by Mr.. S.,
and if fair crop seemed likely, Mr..
S. agreed also to furnish the money
for purchasing a peanut picker. In
order to assure Mr.. Fl. of a market
for the peanuts, Mr.. S. contracted to
buy the whole crop for go cents a
bushel, which was about $4,000 per
ton.
The plan was carried out, and in
the fall of 1915 Mr. H. commenced
to harvest and deliver the peanuts
to Mr.. S. The outcome was that at
the end of the season Mr.. H. had
paid up all of his debts, had bought
another automobile, and had some
money in the bank. A tremendous
crop of peanuts had been made, and
instead of being bankrupt Mr.. H.
was ready to go forward with cour-
age, with faith in himself, and with
out dread for the future. He has
continued to succeed, and al
though his system of farming now
includes other crops than peanuts,
the foundation of his prosperity was
built upon the humble "guber."
The profound impression made
upon the people of that section by
the unexpected and wonderful sue
cess of Mr.. H. will be understood
better when it is recalled that in the
same year in which he made a kill
ing" in peanuts, the other farmers
were badly injured financially, as the
boil weevil had destroyed, in part,
their cotton crop. It was but natural,
therefore, that in 1916, many farm
ers planted the new crop of peanuts,
for it had been demonstrated that
other crops than cotton would pay,
and pay we'll. The planting Of pea
nuts was also emphasized by the
banks and merchants, since credit
was refused to the farmer who want
ed to continue planting "all cotton"
In 1916 a large acreage was planted
in peanuts, but cotton was not aban-
doned. The peanut crop was a sue
cess and paid very we'll evidently, for
in 1917 an immense acreage was
planted, and the whole of that Sec
ton made a killing" just as Mr.. H.
had done in 1915.
Another incident OF success after
failure was related, the actors be-