The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1920-02-18

|
| hundred thousand pounds of this kind
and today l have as result of this
| nigh order more than one hundred
thousand pounds that spoiled. This
| would not likely have happened in
North Carolina, as the farmers are
well up on how much order to let the
| weather put into the tobacco.-Mon-
| days News and Courier.
r. d. Cothran,
February 16 1920.
| Editor of The News and Courier,
| Charleston, S. G.
Dear Sir:
have been interested in reading
this morning an article in your paper
on Our Tobacco Market" by my good
friend r. ID. Cothran. Mr.. Cothran
is probably one of the best posted to-
bacco men in the State and | am glad
that he has written this article, be
cause there are some things in con-
nection with the South Carolina to-
bacco market that the growers of to-
bacco would like to know about. Mr..
Cothran does not make these points
! clear in his article, but | am quite
| sure that he has the information AMI
| being warchouscman acting as the
agent of the farmer in selling his to-
bacco, he is naturally Interested in
| everything that affects the South
Carolina market
Mr.. Cothran give. two reasons why
South Carolina tobacco does not sell
as high as North Carolina ind Viz
Elnla tobacco. The first reason is that
North Carolina and Virginia tobacco
IS graded and tied and the second rca-
! son is that the tobacco grown i'm these
two states is a better quality than the
tobacco grown IN South Carolina. Mr..
Cothran is probably correct in this
but we are not particularly interested
iii this phase of the question. We
wish Mr.. COthran to tell us why South
Carolina tobacco sells so much higher
ON the North Carolina market after
It has been bought up and shipped
there by warehouscmen or other
spectators. than it does on our own
warehouse floors. He draws a truly
pathetic picture Of the poor North
Carolina and Virginia farmer gather
ing his little family about his knees
m humid grading pit toiling away
to help daddy get another load Of to
bacco graded and tied so that he can
take it to market and sell it for 81 90
per pound, but he does not tell us
about the North Carolina and Virginia
spectators who buy up large stocks
or South Carolina tobacco during the
few weeks that our warehouses are
open. and then ship this tobacco to
the North Carolina markets to be sold
at profit of anywhere from twenty
iiVe to one hundred per cent Certainly
shipping South Carolina tobacco
across the state line cannot improve
1t to that extent, and doubt very
much if the spcculator gathers his
little family around his knees to grade
and tie his purchases.
| am glad that Mr.. rothran did not
neglect to mention thu. terrible wet
spell in July that knocked hundreds
of thousands Of dollars out Of the
South Carolina crop. 1t is currently
reported that during this awful. wet
spell. the warchouscmeu of our State
bought up large stocks of the COM
mon grades at an average cost around
SIX cents per pound and that after the
season closed they sold these stocks at
an average price around Is cents per
pound. None of this tobacco was
graded or tied either but was thrown
INTO hogs heads with pitch fork and
NV 'i'"'N NSilt was ldkpIl Oh IL tnan
would be taken with hay or fodder. If
this report is true the warchouscmcn
made more net profit after paying for
their hogshcads and other shipping
expenses than the farmer received for
the tobacco No one knows how much
the other spcculators made who
bought the better grades but it is said
that their profits were enormous.
Mr.. Cothran was unfortunate in
that he failed to keep his tobacco stir
red and allowed a good part Of it to
spoil, but no other warchouscman that
know of lost any apprcciablc amount
Of his purchases in this way.
| do not vouch for the accuracy Of
the above statements as I am only
interested in tobacco from the stand
point of the grower, but these reports
Of huge profits being made on South
Carolina tobacco is common talk in
the tobacco trade, especially in North
Carolina.
A