The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-12-10
South .Georgia's Experience

cieS.
South sGeorgia's Experience.
(News &, Courier).
In devising ways and means for
maintaining our agricultural pros
perity in spite of the boil weevil it
has seemed to The News and Cour-
Ter that the experience OF South
Georgia should be. especially help
ful to South Carolina. They have
had the boil weeyil since f9i5-in
considerable numbers since 1916
ard they have learned some les
sons by which we should be able
to profit in this state The Dillon
Herald prints this week very in
teresting letter from a former citi-
zen of Dillon, Mr.. W. B. Smith, who
has been a resident Of South Geor-
gia since 1914. He lis a farmer
himself and has been active in
the fight against the boil weevil
during much Of the time as an in
dustrial agent Of the G. & F. Rail
way. Mr.. Smith says that in South
Georgia it was impossible to get the
people to abandon cotton until
the pest had eaten them out of
house and home" He has read
about but does not know where to
find anyone who makes money on
cotton in South Georgia now. The
plan of poisoning the weevils with
calcium arsenate did not prove
successful in that section, the ex-
pense being prohibitive at the
prices which cotton has been
bringing.
When the South Georgia farm
ers were finally convinced that
cotton was done for, they began to
experiment with tobacco and in
1919 and 1920 planted over $4,000
acres in this crop, establishing
over a dozen markets and two
stemmeries. Mr.. Smith says that
.'the acreage Of this crop, is on the
decline in Georgia and will be
still 1essNthe coming year A good
deal has been achieved in building
up markets for livestock and es-
tablisfing a livestock industry. Mr..
Smith believes in the peanut, fox
when the price is too low hogs
can be turned in the fields and fat
tened on them to advantage. Crops
are now fenced in so that stock
can run on the crops OF velvet
beans, peas, cowpeas and peanuts
until Christmas and then be sold.
As for the sweet potato, while a
great many are now planted in
South Georgia. Mr. Smith fears
that SO large an acreage win be
planted in a year or two that the
supply will be greater than the
demand. He points out further
that to sell sweet potatoes to ad-
vantage they must be properly
gathered, graded, cured and ship
ped. The most profitable crop
from q money standpoint in South
Georgia this year was the water
melons, many farmers realizing
four and five hundred dollars an
acre on their melons the past sum-
mer.
Ahove everything else Mr.. Smith
believes in creameries He says:
"Creameries have been put ip in
some sections and this is the best
paying business I know Of. Two
thousand dollars will put the ma
chinery up, and farmers can sell
every day and cream can be ship
ped distance at a low express rate
by arranging with the express COM
pany I have been informed that
some men who only owned five or
six scrub cows realized over one
hundred dollars per month. Dill
Ion is good location for this indus
try and you wont overdo demand.
You can raise food for cattle, build
up the land, ship or sell the cream
and feed hogs with the milk. This
is the best bet can refer Dillon
to at present Of course you must
start on a small scale, but let your
farmers know and let them get
sta,ted and this will pay every
one
Mr. Smith says that in spite of
everything land values in South
Georgia have held up to what they
were before the boil weevil came;
land prices then being low, how
ever. Some people. he says, have
money. With the coming of the
change and the new industries
come new brains and planning and
while some go broke others grow
rich" So it has been in every sec
ton which the boil weevil has in
vaded. Those who hold on and at
tack the situation successfully win
out to larger prosperity than ever.
Those who fling up their hands in
despair perish.
.
Ten Commands Of Business.
Handle the hardest job first
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