The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1921-12-08

"a syrup pot. Mr.. Hartzog makes
very fine quality of ribbon cane sy-
rup. He does it by givins it his per-
sonal attention. "Well," said Mr..
Hartzog, Let go up to the house."
Arriving at the house he took me to
an clubhouse where he showed me
1900 gallons OF pure ribbon cane
syrup put up in gallon cans and bar
reis. Here, try some OF these paper
shell pecans," said Mr.. Hartzog ''they
came OFF my private tree" AT this
moment Farm Demonstration Agent
Brandon pulled out a telegram call
lES for 200 pounds of pecans and an
enquiry for prices on several hundred
gallons of syrup which he turned over
TO Mr.. Hartzog. In the outtouse l
saw some lye soap and remarked
that IT had been long time since
had seen any of the old-time, lye
soap. Mr.. Hartzog went down into
box and took out several cakes 20
years old. He had quantities of it
representing different years of manu-
facture. In his commissary he had
hundreds of jars and cans OF fruit and
other foodstuffs all made at home.
lc showed me jar of blackberries
he and his wife put up just after
they were married, some 20 years
ago. From the house we went to the
let where he showed us pen Of fine
hogs averaging 400 pounds, ready
for the slaughter. Down in his pas
ture he had many other fine hogs
ready for shipping. They were fatten-
ing on the pulp from his cane mill:
From the lot we went to field where
We found grazing on the cut over
cane field of little more than two
acres ten head of horses and mules,
some six or eight of which were
home-raised. In his barn and stables
we found six jacks. '9Did you make
al. that syrup on that small patch of
land?' | enquired. "Yes, SIR" was
the reply, and the stand was not
very good, either" 81 understand you
are not very large cotton planter,
you plant next year?" Il may plant
three or four acres, or l may not
plant any at ALL" was the reply. Il
dC not think much OF cotton" he
continued. ''There are so many more
things farmer can raise that will
turn him out bigger profit that it
is an actual loss TO neglect those
things for cotton" Mr.. Hartzog lives
il, the heart of the weevil infested
section, but he is one of the most in
dependent men in the state. He has
something 20 sell the year round.
The boil weevil never has and does
not give him a moments uneasiness.
H is always ahead of the world, has
30 worries, lives at home and takes
great pride in his farm. Mr.. Hart
zogs methods of farming are bound
to become universal throughout the
south.
And so this is the brief story OF
how a cotton community is passing
through its worst year with the boil
weevil. L do not wish to make COM
parison but L will draw a parallel be-
tween the two counties. To summar-
iZc briefly: Bamberg faces another
year Of uncertainty with plenty of
food and feedstuffs. with many debts
unpaid. with only 1000 bales of cot
ton on hand and large colored ten
ant population TO care for and still
the people are confident they will
overcome these conditions. Optimism
runs high And on the other hand
here is Dillon county with its $4,000
bales of unsold cotton still on hand,
most of which is unpledged. with the
bills payable of it's nine banks al
most wiped out, with it's small per
capita indebtedness, with a record
breaking food crop safely tucked
away in storage houses, with it's an
nual production of 100000 pounds
Of tobacco to fall back upon as a
second money crop in the event its
next cotton crop is a failure, with
only a small colored tenant popula-
tion to care for and yet we are liv-
ing in wilderness of fear and doubt
and suspicion and uncertainty, all
of which is of our own making.
There is every reason why we should
be happy and contented.
A. B. JORDAN.