The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-11-05

AS a matter of fact, this neigh
bor's business is not selling crops.
His business is growing crops.
About 365 days in the year he IS
giving all his time and thought and
attention to making crops. That
is his busineSS-his regular year
in-and-year-out business. Then
there are three or four days in tEe
wear when, under present condl-
tions, he is up against the necessity
of trying to sell the product OF his
business profitahly. Eut this mat
ter of crop marketing is not MS
business" There are other men
who are making it their business
year il anu year out-365 days IN
the year. Consequently when the
farmer few days in the year goes
into the crop-narketing business
and puts his ability up against that
Of men who are in that business all
the time, he is at a disadvantage.
He is playing game which is now
to him, which is outside his feGu-
lar line, which is not his business,
and he fails for that reason.
No doubt the average stockhold-
er in cotton factory or tobacco
factory is just as intelligent and
Just as we'll informed as the aver
age cotton-grower or tobacco
grower. Nevertheless you could
not persuade the stockholders IN
the cotton factory or tobacco fac
tory to try to sell their proportion
ate part of the factorys output
each man for himself. They know
that selling is not their business.
Their main business is producing
manufactured cotton or tobacco
and they hire experts to sell the
product for them. Is it not a
sensible plan for the growers OF
tobacco and cotton to adopt the
same policy?
Here is one proposition which
nobody can dispute:
A farmer must either Cd make
no effort to sell his crops at the
right time. but just blindly dump
them on the market regardless OF
how glutted, denoraliZcd, or un-
fair the market must be; or CD he
must try to inform himself about
market conditions SO as to try to
sell at such times as will give hlm
most profits.
l do not believe anybody will Say
that the farmer should follow
Course No. .1-blindly dump his
cotton or tobacco on the market
regardless of conditions. Certain
ly no manufacturer Of cotton or
tobacco would keep on selling the
same quantity Of manufactured
cotton or tobacco regardless of
market conditions; nor should
farmers act any less intelliSently.
All right then; let us grant that
cotton and tobacco ought to be sold
with some regard for market con-
ditions; that market already full
ought not to be glutted by the sale
of big unwanted surplus: that
demoralized market should not be
forced to absorb so large an offer
ing as q steady market; that COM
mercial and financial conditions the
world over ought to be studied in
connection with the sale of cotton
and tobacco.
Well, now, if farmers Individual
ly try to sell crops intelligently, we
have several million farmers. each
man for himself, imperfectly, un-
satisfactorily, clumsi1y, blunderinS-
lys trying to inform himself about
market conditions--and failing af-
ter all. 1 might give all the time
I can spare from my editorial
work and every farmer might give
all the time he can spare from his
farm work, trying to set informa-
ton about commercial, financial,
and other world affect
ing the market, a@d with millions
Of us studying the prof len not one
Of US would be 50 we'll informed
as any one Of the group OF experts
ltlG CO-OpSl dtiFH 4iie~i NSSh'iS SN''N
Citations will employ. These experts
will live and work on ST., PauIs
good principle, This one thing
do They Will hav enothing else
to think about, talk about, or
dream about, except how best to
market cotton or tobacco, as the
case may be.
Selling crops will be the "busi-
ness'-the regular business and
lifework-of these selling agents. Il
is not the business Of the farmer.
His regular business is making
crops and he has done we'll at it.
But so far as We can discover he
has never made very brilliant sue
cess trying to sell crops. Conse-
Quently we believe it is time for
the farmer to get experts to handle
this important work, just as he gets
a physician to doctor his family or
a lawyer to look after his legal bus
iness.-Progressive Farmer.
Letter from T.. W. DabbS.
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