The Wilmington morning star., 1940-09-02
HUFHAM OUTLINES
WEED PRODUCTION
Great Amount Of Work
Required To Get Tobacco
On Warehouse Floors
BY JOSEPH S. HUFHAM
(Star CORRESPONDENT

lei lilly VI SOll, UuI even uldI IL
not perpetual motion in crop grow
ing. One farmer told us, however,
that he had found perpetual work
in tobacco growing.
The making of a tobacco plant
bed is hard, because the spot usu-
ally chosen is new ground where
roots and stumps abound. Keep.
ing weeds from among the young
plants is even more painful in work
than picking strawberries, since
the weeds have to be extracted one
at a time and with exceptional
care that the tobacco plants are
not uprooted.
After the fields are prepared fol
planting, the setting out of plants
requires skill and patience, along
with plenty of hard work. Oh
course, weeds are to be kept down
until the tobacco plants are large
enough to be ''laid by. T h e 7
comes a sticky, unpleasant job Of
''suckering" the plants, to k e r
them from being Slapped of t h G
food that goes into the making OF
the choisest leaves. Croppin g
time comes on and this is one O.
the hottest, stickiest times thatthe
harvester experiences; and there
usually comes some of the hottest
days of the year at this period.
in our travels among tobacco
growing sections this year we
heard of several workers who were
overwhelmed by heat, some suf'
fering sun stroke.
When the green leaves are
brough under the barn sheds work.
ers who r called flanders, and
stringers'' are kept as busily work.
ing as any family of ants when.
eve you ~criss-cross their b d,
These laborers are under a shed
usually, but often they are almost
suffocating for whiffs of fresh air,
especially on those still, dry, hot
days when the sun is boring down
w ut and hinderance from
clouds.
Sleepless nights follow for some
who are watching and firing while
the tobacco is going through a cur
ing process. Then comes the TAX
ing out and grading. Each leaf
must now be carefully handled and
should be expertly graded. This
is true because the whole basket
of weed on a warehouse floor is
usually purchased at a price which
the buyer determines by the worst
hand" of tobacco that he can find
in the basket.
Independent tobacco buyers usu-
ally cash in nicely by buying mix
ed grades and regarding them with
expert knowledge. Farmers should
be just as careful in their grading
as in their curing. Yet many ignore
this because they can get inexper-
fenced graders for a little S S
money, apparently not realizing
that quality here in an experienced
grader would pay overwhelming di-
vidends.
But let us get back to m o r e
sleepless nights. Those nights
wherin the farmers haul their weed
to their favorite warehouses. There
they work and sweat and small
push-trucks rumble over the ware
house floors through the still hours
until the all is placed in order for
the opening of the sales in the
morning.
Some of the farmers seek lodging
in rooming houses when they have
to spend a night in town waiting
for the sales hours. Some doze in
their automobiles. Some sleep on
of tobacco in the warehouses,
and others knock around town look
ing at advertised articles in show
stopping occasionally in
an open-all-night cafe for a soft
drink or a snack of food.
Then comes the dawn, and about
9 o'clock you may hear the chant
ing sing-song of auctioneers. You
have to listen very carefully to tell
just what they r saying. Yet the
trained ear can pick out each word
very distinctly.
After a growers tobacco is sold,
if he doesn't turn the tag, he lines
up with other growers at a little
office where several pigeon holes
are to be found with a clerk or
to prove that he is en-
titled to the proceeds of his sale,
and after the farm loan and other
credit corporations get through
with those proceeds he might 60
back to some of the show windows
and enter the stores where he is a
very welcome customer.
So far this year we have not
heard many complaints from plant
ers over their returns. The great
est complaint has been over their
tobacco weighing out light. Wea-
Their conditions certainly have lots
to do with tobacco growing. And
even a fine average grade h a S
been grown this year, the weed
weighs lightly.
But let us get back to the far
mer. He is now receiving his pay
roll. and there would be a little
rest for him, if it were not for
so many bill collectors and spec
ialty statesmen. They r numerous
at this time of the year. But far
mers have learned to indure their
comings and goings, and know how
to put the definite MOI to them
that has about the same effect as
-- 1&c imam tho fnh1r.