The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1920-03-03
TOBACCO IN THIS STATE
Mr.. COthran Discusses Further Some
Phases Of Subject.

NNNhiSh ~ 10 NV lHy llIcllIlOll, as Nl T.
Sprott has stated, to continue this dis
cussion about what my friend terms
tobacco evils. But since Mn. Sprott no
longer assumes the attitude of iurist
and since he no longer puts his az
tlcles under the caption of hypotheti-
cal questions, since he now assumes
the attitude of a layman and launches
out and discusses real tobacco funda-
mentals, or reforms, think | can give
the public some real information about
what my friend advocates or terms
much needed reforms.
l want to be as brief as possible. "a
the public will doubtless get tired of
reading what my frienQ and / have to
say from time to time through the
columns of this splendid paper. Mr.,
Sprott launches out and advocates the
grading of tobacco from what he
claims that he saw in visiting several
North Carolina bright tobacco markets
last fall. He tells us about seeing TO-
bacco bring from ninety cents to ST
per pound. What Mr.. Sprott states is
true he visited some of the finest
bright tobacco sections IN the whole
world. North Carolina leads all other
States when it comes to producing
bright cigarette tobacco. Mr.. Sprott
tells us that he heard the same rain
complaint up there that we had down
here. am glad that he mentioned this.
as IL gives me chance to show the
puollc the difference in what really
happened here and what took place in
North Carolina After the excessive
rainfalls of last July which caught us
at time when it did the most possible
damage, our tobacco was caught bv
the rains just as it reached maturity
ana what was the result? WHY it
washed out and drowned. This wasn't
the case in North Carolina where thew
nave better rainage Of lands. I was
porn and reared in North Carolina and
Know where of / speak. The excessive
rams, of course, Injuries tobacco anv
whore, but in North Carolina It usual
", stands rains better than it does
with us down here where the lands arc
low and fiat. But some one will saw
what about the eastern part of North
Carolina? They are not as low as we
are and they certainly have a better
drainage system.
l Will say right here that this is
needed more in eastern South Carolina
than any other Improvement that I
Know of or can think of. The rains
that hit North Carolina had more of a
tendency to wash the fertilizer from
thc tobacco and reduce The weight
than any thing else. will give the
facts directly. Now gong back again
to what happened here IN 1913 Mr..
HDrott and | both raised good crops
OF tobacco. 1t was currently reported
mat Mr.. Sprott realized more than
$4,000 for his crop, or we will say an
estimated value Of $40O per acre. This
ls what realized for mine. ] bad the
same land in tobacco this past season
l"l9 ana made 500 per acre | had
a much better crop than | had in 1916
what was the trouble? 1t is easily
answered: my tobacco simply drowned.
I got one curing before this that
averaged me $53 per hundred which
was what the old North State aver
aged. / am taking my own tobacco
for an illustration. I would have made
at least 1000 pounds per acre, had
not the rains drowned it. and I Ger
talniy would have averaged easily $53
Fer hundred. We had growers all
over the tobacco bet of South Caro-
hna thousands and tens of thousands
that made more money this season out
OF tobacco than the much talked about
North Carolinas, and these same far
mers made cotton, pea vine hay corn
and many other crops, and raised hogs
and cattle in abundance. I do not
mean to say that North Carolina
doesn't raise some Of the things men
toned, but certainly she does not grow
crops, and raise as many cattle and
hogs as we do, and especially is this
true through the old tobacco belts of
North Carolina and Virginia. Any one
with common sense knows fully we'll
that farmer can not have as much
time to grow these things mentioned
,hht we are enjoying in South Caro-
INA and be tied down from four to
SIX months grading and tieing tobac-
co: We are doing we'll. Do we know
it? Well let's see.
Mr.. Sprott says that we are the onlv
state that do not grade tobacco. +
THINK l can give my frieni some point
crs that ne hasn't thought of: we are
the only State that grades tobacco as
we cure it, mean this we .arc the
only State that prims tobacco exclu-
sivelv. If we GROW our tobacco mi
formly and take it off the stalk one
curing at time. we are classinc it as
we cure it. This fact had as much or
nor" to do with the companies adopt-
ing the method of buying ungraded as
anything else. We first cure the sand
luGs, and then what is known as the
s. >o"d ln"s. Hnh then our leaf or mid
o. OF III" sta'k and so on until wa
h re concluded the performance. If
W G"HW o"r tobacco uniformly as r.
h""n already stated why it is already
cl $50" when it comes to the ware
hose for sale. And what Mr.. Sprott
81 IS "bOut some one having. to finely
q. ndc it he is mistaken ohodt this
Tho comnany that buys this tobacco
BIS it by grade, puts his grade on it