Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-05-04
BOOMING TOBACCO CROP
EFFECT OF HIGH PRICES
Virginia Growers of the Weed AL.
ytscd to Go Slow, but Tall Figures
2 ScduCc Them.
SLIGHT INCREASE IN ACREAGE
Disappointed Sun-CurcrS will Cur
ftaiI Their Crups-Growcrs of
Bright Tobacco I'm Virginia and
North Carolina Will Set Out Moro.

- tobacco dealers all over tho country
;gare Watching the operations of the
eSto form an idea OF the size ana the
IL character Of the crop that Will be at
s tempted this Year This subject is
4fyear than usual for the reason that
"a there arc so many difcrcn, opinions
rTgrowcrS.
IS There has been fear in some sec
"a tons that the high prices most types
gsoS tobacco have been bringing for the
g pnst two Years viii turn the heads OF
~ tho growers and cause them to plant
& out tobacco this year TO the exclusion
sGof sra'n ana other food crops. and thus
sSnot only make more tobacco than
& Unnecessary to meet the demaud. but
- IN that event. il is claimed, they will
g realize less money on the tobacco crop
= weed. and nave TO 30 10 the grocery
"a stores all Of next year for their foo!
u supplies.
81 Taking this view. the Agricultural
- tobacco have been urging the farmers
~ 10 grow less or the weed this year than
S. at good profits on n small crop are
sssnuch better ;Ean little or no pro;is OH
sssa largo one.
s. On tho other hand it is claimed in
- o3cSo AZ over the world has grown
Sss $50 rapidly iii the past few years that
,@it,iS now utterly impossible. with labor
Al still short, FOR the farmers to produce
- enouGh to crowd the markets and that
S& while last years crops were the largest
saevcr grown in this country there is
sSi danger OF OVERRIDING the thing this
a aSs.Near;. for the demand. especially for
81 the Virginia and North Carolina bright
q rear Is sim growing more rapidly than
@evcr before.
81 The growers have been furnished
with all kinds of advice as to the best
.sstninE TO be done. and now that the
asplanting-out season is near ut hand
s =, lS, dealers and manufacturers
- their plans and figure out their pro-
sIS rams for the coming season. are seek
fsirE all the Information ohtainnhlc upon
SsWhlch TO base estimates of the CROP
Ssof 1919.
81 The Information gathered by Tho
~ grimes Dispatch from the virginia and
~ carolina fields may be briefly sum-
70 married. The growers OF the sun
S.cured leaf which is used exclusively
eEfor chewing have been disappointed this
g year IN the prices that type of leaf
" brought. The sun-cured * the only
Sstyne that sold for less this season than
salast, and the farmers arc attrihutin"
g@@that TO the fact that they grew 5000. O0O
sIpounds more sun-cured in 1918 than in
sSstot TINS type being limited they over
ssupplied the demand. Hence each
.ssslnond will probably aim this year to
" curtail his tobacco acreage and in
- creaso his grain acreage accordingly
ES Now that ii is pretty certain that
-, the German and Austrian markets viii
g-SDe open for the dark Shipping fire
sscurcd leaf by the time the crop of this
rssyear has been made the growers of this
S1typc in Southside Virginia will probably
L~act out more plants This year than last
.sts rhey are encouraged TO do this by the
go Dront-payinG prices they received for
S-slhe large crop of 1918 and the probable
IT. Increased demand that will be caused
lIby the reopening of the large foreign
50 markets that for four years past have
~ been cut off by war.
$50 All the reports Indicate that tho
~ bright crop of this year, seasons and
* labor conditions being favorable, Will
essbe the largest in the history OF the
~ weed. In South Carolina and Eastern
50 North Carolina, known now as the new
Upright belt, the acreage has been in
ssscreased and the effort will be made TO
~ harvest the biggest crops those sec
iTlions have ever known. North Georgia
ssasstoo, has caught the tobacco growing
-gfeNcr ana many farmers in that cion
- VINO never before raised tobacco will
SSIl.lrS their hands ut il this year. The
.srGrowers OF the brights in Eastern
y. Carolina have already had n setback
- The planting -out season comes much
-,- earlier there than in the old belt
.9@and the bulk of the crop has already
~ been set out. Last week there came n
>. Hing frost which greatly damaged
NE the plants in various sections Of
C course. this rost-visited territory will
aA be reset and the second setting will
- bring tobacco. but not as good or as
- colory as the earlier paintings thar
r. escaped the frosts. The brief reports
~ below VIII prove interesting