The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-03-18
STATE NOW LEADS
IN AGRICULTURE
LONG SAYS NO NEED FOR PESSI-
MYSTIC THOUGHTS.
Gives Man yFacts.
Forced to Become Hopeless OptimIst.
Figures on Products and
Live Stock.

mist, says w. W. AonS' "itNo'oA
extension work at Clemson college.
Mr.. Long is proud of the state and Its
rapid strides forward along agricul-
tural. live stock and other indus
tries. A South Carolinian travelling
in the west and north hears farmers
and experienced agriculturists speak
tlisparagingly of the soil in this state,
but this is not true to any degree
whatever, says the extension direc-
or.
In an address before the recon
struction assembly here last Tues
day Mr.. Long pointed out some very
interesting facts about agriculture
in South Carolina. Below are ex-
tracts from his talk that contain in
teresting reading:
s.AIl of US in our travels nave
heard our Western and Eastern
friends speak disparagingly OF our So
+, il and our agriculture. That at times
has been the most exasperating, but
this was ignorance on their part, as
{, the great majority $of Western and
Eastern people haveAnever come IN
contact with the type of soil we nave
in South Carolina, and they know
nothing of our agriculture. This IS
unfortunate for us and accounts IN
a measure for 95 per cent. OF the
failures of settlers who come from
the East and West to locate on our
farming lands.
s.Take the farmer from the east
going into the west and his agrlcul-
ture is practically the same as the
Western agriculture-grain, clover
alfalfa and live stock and other cui-
tural methods are the same; but
when he comes into the south ana
chances are he has never seen stalk
of cotton, knows nothing of our for
age crops of cow peas and sorghum
and is perfectly ignorant OF our Gull
tural methods of corn. The hrst
wear he has an air of superior knoWi-
edge and attempts to apply western
and eastern methods to southern con-
ditions. The result is he soon re-
turns to his home disgusted with his
experience.
Settlers Won't Stay.
81 have simply mentioned incident
ally. this matter of settlers and point
ed out briefly the question of their
failure in the south, for under boil
weeyil conditions if our labor be-
comes demoralized and an exodus
should take place this question OF
bringing in settlers will become more
acute than ever, so thought it wise
in this paper to at least throw out
some aggestions in order that we
might be giving some thought to this
problem.
esstudents of agriculture who ap-
preciate our soils and our crop con-
ditions, are loud in praise for them,
such men as DR.. Seaman A. Knapp
and Bonsteal, the great soil expert,
and others. 1 was travelling with
DR.. Knapp some years before | To-
Gated in South Carolina and he made
this statement to me: 4 have travel
ed the world over studying agricul-
tural conditions, peoples and climates
and if I were a young man going to
locate and raise a family would
settle somewhere in the immediate
vicinity we are now travelling. we
were somewhere between Seneca
and spartanburg. 1n another oc-
casion I was talking with Mr. Bon
steal and I put this question to him.
which he answered at once: In
what part of the country do you find
the soil responds most rapidly to in
teIligent treatment Without mo-
ment's hesitation he replied, the
coastal plain of the Carolinas.' Let
us see if statistics bear out the state
ments of these two men, noted in
their line.
.'The BEST evidence of far sight
edness of these students is that South
Carolina stood sixth in the per capt.
ia wealth produced in 1919 and
stood second in wealth produced per
acre. The average income per farm
of 80 acres in South Carolina for
: 1919, according to the report of the
bureau of crop estimates, was ST.
$500.
cit is probable, therefore, that the
total farm income for the average
farm family in 1919 was certainly
not below $4,000. I do not believe
that such a showing can be made in
any of the western or eastern states
that are usually referred to as the
great agricultural states.