Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1920-12-03

NOT FEARING TOO
Low TOBACCO PRICE:
Growers Expect Reduction of
Acreage Next Year-Present
Crop Weighs Out Light

= DeIleNe JnGfc VIII DC any disposition
on the part Of the big manufacturers
! to obtain the 1920 crop ''for = song
9 as some of the growers have seemed
to fear, as evidences of 4 light CROP
) throughout the hurley belt continue
I to come in to Lexingtoh in reports
! from all parts of the hurley district.
, j. Morgan Gentry, j. c. Stone aud
DE-. Samuel Ii. HALEY, large growers
) OF tobacco and Warehousemen as well,
/ expressed the conviction that the buy
ers would not care to hurt their fu-
ture source. Of supply by an unfair
I ness toward the tobacco growers this
year for temporary advantage. Half
q dozen large growers interviewed
expressed the opinion that the acre
age next year would be considerably
! reduced in any event, each tenant
planting what acTeage<hc can care
for himself, without depending on eX-
pensive and not always dependable
labor to look after the crop.
Mr.. Gentry has 100 acres. of his
own in tobacco this year and 30 acres.
! additional in which he has haif inter
est. "My weight this year viii be
i IT least 25 per cent short Of last
J, year." he said, Wren asked as to the
comparative weights of The two crops
per acre. "fhe crop is one hundred
millions to one hundred and fifty mil
\, hons pounds short OF the recent gov
! eminent estimates" he continued,
"and | asn quite sure that when the
tactual situation IS known 70 the plan-
! Gfactarers it viii have the eject of
! revising their plans for The handling
| of this years rop."
/ 81 take no stock in statements that
! there VIII be an attempt of nlanufac-
| turcFs to obtain this crop at a low
| pt.isa I..s-1..
rants. This is not good for the. fu-
| ture of the tobacco business. That
there has been no collision has been
! shown by the active bidding on the
Lexington market on the pars OF the
! big buyers for the past several wears.
Forecasts Good Prices
"lhe actual size Of the present
crop, in my opinion, will make good
| prices If the growers, handle their to-
| baccp properly All the low grades
! bought last year by brokers fol-. for
eign markets still are in their hands
Because of conditions in Europe there
| is, no demand and will be no ,emalafl
for that class of tobacco this year. !
The belief has prevailed that broker,
| fixed the price of this tobacco. Thatl
| IS all wrong. The price has been gov
| elned by the law of supply and ,ic |
mQnd just as the price OF coed tobac- |
| Co has been governed since there W. |
real competition in buying. Even
scraps brought q good price for tic
past few years. | have not been able |
to get an offer for mine this year IF |
growers dump ON the market grades |
for which they know in advance there |
is no demand, they not only cut down I
| the price Of good tobacco they offer |
but the price of everybody clsc's 20
baccO."
Mr.. Gentry said that AMONG the re-
Gently stripped crops brought to his |
warehouse was that of Milford Garter
of essamine county, and that Mr. Car
ter said that with u far better sts,nt
of tobacco than he had t;he previous
year his crop would be fourth less
than in 1919. He said that f'ayette
grower had brought in crop OF
$500 pounds grown ON land which
last year produced $500 pounds.
HALEY Sees Light Yield
DR.. HALEY said that in his q yearst
of experience in the tobacco market
he had never. seen a crop that weigh
ed up SO light as that of this. year
Dr. Haley planted 55 acres this year
and t will yield, as he figures it,
about 100 pounds to the acre, while II
last year. it produced around 1900 |
pounds.
Complaint of light weight is gen
eral," said DR.. HALEY. 81 have talked
with few growers who said their s
crops would equal the weight of lastl {
year, but it has been almost the uni
versal report that the crop is 80 to 40I
per cent lighter than that of 1919
am not of the opinion that the manu-
facutrers will attempt to beat DOWN.
prices. That is not good business for
the future, and the men in charge Of
the big manufacturing concerns are {
business men with an eye to the flu
ture of one of the greatest businesses {
of the country.
"Regardless of the result OF this |
years sales, nobody will plant next t
year as much tobacco as they did this |
year. Owners and tenants will prob {
themselves without having to depend
on expensive and inefficient Labor. toll
bring their crop to maturity"
Rodes and Adams Talk SO
Sheriff j. Waller Rodes has Is acres !
of his own tobacco and an interest in fl
"a acres besides. He thought, hei {
might get an average Of 1000 pounds
to the acre, as compared to 1900 last
year. He said the Fayette cropl
would not average 1000 pounds to /
the acre and that the average yield.
exceed, Judging by reports from
growers in various counties, 500 to
500 pounds to the acres.
Thomas B. Adams, who has % acres
Of tobacco this year, said he was fig
uring on loss of 35 per cent in
weight and that all his neighbors
had similar experience. Some OF
these were Reuben Clark, George Al y
lender, Joe Adams, John Lynch, Thos. |
Lynch and Will Lynch. He said hei
did not ,konw of any growers in his /
section of the county whose crops did
not show q heavy loss in weight
Did Not Cut SOue
Mr.. Stone. who is interested in 12Ql