Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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UNION FIGURES 11,500,000 BALES COTTON CROP ESTIMATE GIV EN OUT AT FORTH WORTH. 12 Cents the Minimum Price-Un ion and Government Esti - mates Vary. Fort Worth. Tex., September 2. Today's meeting of the National Farmers' Union was devoted largely to the reports of committees. The union has given out a report on this year's cotton crop. placing the figures at 11,500,000 b?.cs. The government's report indicates a yield of 13,500,000, and this wide differ enee is causing considerable comment apong delegates. President Neill, of the Texas lrneh of the union, was made chair man of the minimum price commit tee. He is known to favor not less than 12 cents per pound as the price for the season. THE CARE OF COTTON. Farmers Urged to Take Better Care of Their Cotton-Saving to Them. Hon. B.' Harris, President Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Un ion, Pendleton, S. C., and Hon. E. D. Smith, President S. C. Division Southern Cotton Association, Co lumbia, S. C. (entlemen: The time for picking cotton hav ing arrived, has it ever occurred to you to look into the questoin of dam age brought about by a lack of care for the staple from the time it is ginned to the time of marketing? Baving lived on a plantation for twenty-one years, and at present own ing and operating one, as well as be ing in the cotton business for the past ten years, I thought possibly that my observations along this line migbt tend to show the great amount of money lost to this cotton produc ing country. I desire to impress up on the farmer the necessity of caring. for his cotton after laboring. hard all the year to make it, and thereby .les sen friction between producer, buyer, and manufacturer. A large portion of the farmers, as well as the car riers, treat the staple ,as though it were coal, allowing -it to lie on the ground for months after ginning sub ject to climatic conditions, which results in rot and e-ountry damage. When the cotton is ready for the market it is picked up and offerea for sale, the damage, as a usual thing, being disregarded until subjected to the buyer's inspection, who, in pro tecting his interests, wiJg either dock for the damage or have the cotton picked, resulting in great loss to the ~frer. Unquestionably it is to the farmer's interest to store his cotton in a reputable warehouse, thereby protecting himself from loss from ;fire as well as damage, and in addi tion he can secure warehouse receipt for same, which is prime mercantile paper, and can be discounted at any bank, allow ag the farmer to sell his cotton when he desires to do so. My object, however, is to impress upon the farmers to house their cot ton as soon as it is ginned, whether it be in a warehuse, or in their barns. or dwelling, thereby reducing the element of damage to a minimum. To my mind, one of the most im Dortant things the Farmers' Union and the Southern Cotton Association could handle is the caring for cotton after it is ginned, and up to the time it is marketed. Having personally handled. during the past ten years, about 300,000 bales of cotton of all grades and staple, this cotton being shipped here from Texas and Okla ohmna on the West. to North Caro lina oni the East, I do think I am in very fair position to speak intelli ~ntly of the item of damage, large 'ansed by carelessness. In addition to the rotten cotton on ousanl1ds of-bhales, varying from five as much as three hundred pounds r hale. all of which has to be pick off before settling for and which caused by allowing the cott-n to ton one end or lie on one side in e mud and rain for months before ing offered for sale; there is an her element of damage which is not easily detected, but which has a r more reaching effect on the buy . as well as the manufacturer. I er to what is called country dam e. When cotton is allowed to stand in e weather after being ginned for length of time. although the ner may turn it about from side to e to keep it from rotting. the pie of the cotton on the outside of bale is effected just in proportion the time it is allowed to remain pa.) :ce l )'ei?eber the first and allow edj t re:11iai :1a !t wea her until the irNt of Mar'h. will have ab1ut half as much countrv damage as the sam1e bale would have if it remained in the weather until May the first, and .Vhienl tlle imIII tac"turer opens this bale. he will tind that the cotton at ickini t I he l)aggjing and extending, inlward is practically without any streiitlh of staple. and as a result all of this effected cotton will go in waste or be found in the shaftings overhead. Should the buyer detect this country damage, the farmer, is the looser; should the buyer not de tect it, the buyer is the looser; in any event, dissatisfaction is the result, all of which could have been avoided by housing the cotton. The amount of country damage varies in proportion to the time the cotton lies out in the weather, and will vary from three to twenty-five pounds per bale. I have 11,000,000 bale crop produced, the producer, the carrier, and the com press together, allow 250,000 bales to be destroyed by rot and country dam age, and when you figure this at ten cents per pound it amounts to $12, 500,000, all of which could be saved to the producer, the buyer, and the manufacturer, should they exercise the proper precaution against dam age. Three years ago a farmer brought twenty bales of cotton to the ware house for storage in March, which had been out in the weather since it was ginned in the fall. Some of the bales were so badly damaged and water sobbed that they weighed one thousand pounds per bale. I asked him why he allowed his cotton to get in that condition; he replied, that he was so busy making prepartion for another crop that he had not cared for what he had already made. When' this cotton was conditioned for market, he had about ten bales of merchantable cotton left out of the twenty. A bale of cotton ginne i dry and loused until ma:ketad will hold out beiter than one :dlowed to re main in the weather subj ect t., e matic conditions, and wi.1 not possess the-element of damage, and will also retain its strength of staple. even to the bagging. Travel where you will, and ycu will see cotton sitting at railroad stations in the mud and rain, or you will see it lying on the grouni around farm houses, where it will remnain n 'fil ready for market, and when marketed, the bagging will be so rot ten that von cannot h-andle the ect ton. Owing to the seeming negligene dispLioed in the care of --atton~ after ?ining, f .e buyer, when purchasing2 a lot of cotton, has to take into con ideration the element of damuage, or he. would rather send 1 is claseer to receive the cotton, thewby estab ish ine tile amount of damage beTore payment is made. Where you finoi a se:ction of country whe'e great em'ue is taken with the cotton after gin ning, and before marketing, there vou will find cotton sought after by the buyers, and everything else be ing equal, a premium will be paid for same. The manufacturers will pay better prices for cotton free from rot and country damage, because his'percen tage of waste will be decreased. The point I desire to impress is; take care of your cotton, handle it as though you thought something of it. If you cannot put it in a warehouse where it is insured and you can use the receipt, put it in your bar-n, or shed room, or anywhere to keep it from climatic conditions until, you market it, and by doing this every pound will be spinnable and no dis satisafetion between producer, buy er, and manufacturer will result. There are some places in South Carolina where warehouse facilities are adequate, but are unfortunately not utilized. My own experience is that four lots of cotton out of every five shipped from places where cot ton is not warehoused are badly dam aged, due to the fact that it is allow ed to sit on one end for weeks and months in the open before it is offer edi for sale. and as a result. heavy claims are made. and yet the best character of cotton. so far as body and staple is concerned, is produced at these places, and would be very much sought, were the element of damage eliminated.. In conclusion, I would strongly urge that this matter be brought to the attention of all concerned, and thereby save twelve and one-half million dollars per year to the south land. Very truly yours. Jno. D. Frost. The total valae of the stone product of the country in 1906 was .$66,378. 794, an increase of $2,570,046 over IMPORTANCB OF DRALNArE. Ridding Roads of Storm and Under grounid Water Subject of Trcught ful Paper Sent Out by the United States Office of Public Roads-Will Soon Issue a Bulletin on Concrete Drains. Wit i an average of 2-,000 : of vater falling in the f r nf rain oI each mile of publie road in the Unit ed stus annually. it ; smrcelv to be riarvelled at 1hat' : ten corm manlments of the road baiide: can be suniied up suecinctly in the word ''drainage." The saying has truth f.br a basis, as good drainage is the. primary re quisite for all roads. Even in sand roads this holds true, for there "good drainage" means such as will saialy remove the storm water without eros ion or gullying and still retain the surface moistuie. To secure good drainage one must take into consideration both the sur face water and the undergrouInd wat er. The surface water must be re moved quickly and completely and without subjecting the road to exces sive scour or erosion. For this rea son, the center of the road should bc raised and the slope towards the si le ditches should be from one-half to one inch to each foot distance, or so that the water will run freely to the side ditches and not flow down the . road or remain in puddles on the roadway. The side ditches should be of ample size to care for the severest storms with a fall of not less than 6 inches to each 100 feet. Frequent and ample cross drains should be con structed and every opportunity. taken to get the water away from the road as quickly as possible. Any road along which you see water standing in the side ditches or on which puddles of water have collected or which has been badly gullied and eroded by the rains has poor drainage and is in need of immediate attention. In fact earth roads nearly always require a little at tention after each rain. The split-log drag is essentially a tool to maintain good drainage on our earth roads, and should be used after each rain. On a heavy clay or gumbo soil the drag when properly used tends to puddle the road surface, keep it free from ruts, dense, smooth and hard, thus se curing the best surface drainage pos sible. But in many places the underground water- is too near the surface and must be removed before a good road will be possible. This means that some form of sub;drainage must be resorted to, usually tile drains, of clay or con crete. Water from whatever source must be gotten rid of effectively, for water plus clay or gumbo invariably equals mud when mixed in spring and summer. Water becomes ice in win ter and as water in freezing expands one-eight its volume, the road heaves out of shape and when the ice melts the .oad disappears beneath the rising tide of mud constantly fed by rains, meltim; snows and underground springs. In seepy and boggy places the sub drainage in order to be fully effective should lower the water level to not less than three feet below the road surface. If tiles are used they should be carefully laid, true to grade. Most failures in tile drainage can be attributed to carelessness in laying, or too flat grade. Tile less than 4 inches in diameter should rarely be used, nor should a grade of less than 6 inches to the 100 feet be used un less absolutely necessary. In a very dense soil, it is always advisable to cover the tile to at least a depth of 6 to 12 inches with coarse sand or fine gravel. Care should always be taken to sceure a free outlet for the drains and to protect the outlet with a concrete bulkhead or catchbasin, which can always be kept clean and the outlet free. The kind of tile to be used depends on local conditions. Concrete tile if properly made are equally as good as elay tile. Which kind to use is en tirely a local question of dollars and cets If concrete tile (can he had, Iuse concreVte. if nuot. use e'lay tile. One :reat advantage of the con rete tile is that they can beeasily the place where they are to be placred, so that the freighct charges are dis pensed with as well as the large breakage losses due to handling. Plac ed in the ground, both are durable. If con~erete is used, great care should be taken to see that good grade of Port land cement is selected, and that the drains are properly constructed. The impression, which prevails to some extent, that tile disintegrates in er roneous. A bulletin is now in course of pre paration by the United States office of public roads telling how to make enorete drains. This bulletin will treat the subject fully, explaining carefully every point that may arise ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR LEGISLATURE. I hereby announce myself a candi late for the house of representatives, subject to the rules of the Democratic primary. Godfrey Harmon. J. Simpson Dominick is hereby an nounced as a candidate for the leg islature from Newberry county and will abide the rules of the Democratic party. FOR CORONER: J. N. Bass is hereby announced as a candidate for coroner of Newberry ounty, subject to the rules of the Demoeratic primary. W. E. Felker, (better known as Mose), is hereby announced as a candidate for coroner of New h< ry r .-r.ty and wiil ;bi It the rules of tbe .Z-n. ratic par.-. FOR COUNTY SUPERVISOR. I hereby announce myself a candi date for the office of county Supervi sor and will abide the rules of the democratic party.. H. H. Abrams. I announce myself as a candidate for S 1pervisor and will abide the re sult of the Demoeratic party. L. I. Feagle. FOR MAGISTRATE. Townships Nos. 1 and 8. I hereby announce myself as a can didate for Magistrate for Nos. 1 and 8 townships and will abide the rules of the Democratic party. S. G. Carter. I am a candidate for Magistrate for Nos. 1 and 8 Townships, and will be governed by the rules of the De mocratic party. Jno. Henry Chappell. For Magistrate No. 11. C. L. Graham is hereby announced as a candidate for Magistrate for No. 11 Township and will abide the rules of the Democratic party. W. L. K.ibler is annoneud as a candidate for Magistrate for numnber 11 township and will abide thne rules of the D)emocratic party. FOR COUNTY COMMISSSIONER. I am a candidate for reelection to the offic-e of county commissioner for Newberry county, and will abide thne result of the Democratie primary. Very Respectfully, Thos. J. Wilson. I am a candidate for reelection to the office of county commissioner for Newberry county and will abide the result of the Democratic primary. Very raspectfully, W. H. Wendt. I hereby announce myself as a candidate for County Commissioner subject to the rules of the Democratie convention. C. L. Leitzsey. The friends of L. C. Livingston an nounce him as a candidate for coun ty commissioner. We pledge him to abide by the rules of the Democratic party. NOTICE. The County Board of Registration will be at the places mentioned below for the purpose of granting registra tion certificates to those who have not secured same, viz: Township No. 9, at Mt. Bethel seh,ol Sept. 1st. Township No. 3, at Mt. Pleasant school Sept. 2nd. Township No. 4. at Whitmire Sept. 3rd. Township No. 5, at Jalapa Sept. 4th. Township No. 9, at Prosperity Sept. 5th. Township No. 1, at Newberry C. H. Sept. 7th. -Township No. 6, at Longshores store Sept. 8th. Township No. 7, at Chappells Sept. 9th. Township No. 8, Utopia Sept. 10th. Township No. 10, at Jolly Street, Sept. 11th. Township No. 11, at Pomaria Sept. 12th. E. Lee Hayes, Ch'm'n. J. W. Wertz. B.B. Leitzsey. Frank \ With the Globe Tailoring and Winter Clothing, 1 Monday and Tuesday, th tember. Call and take a have your measure taker Smilh & Wi GLOBE TAILJ JONES' UI S, B. Jones. PA DEALER STAPLE & FANCY URO Confectioneries, Fruit, C Phone 212. Newberrj Dear Madam Housekeeper: We tention to our stock of groceries and solicit at your potronage during th We feel safe in saying the most complete that i that we can serve you in~ der. We will ever keep in m portanlt points: quality vice modorate prices. I f you ar e not alr eady we would be pleased to e lis t of satis fied cus tort We wish 1908 to be our you join us in making it Yours for To call your atte of Box Paper, TabI Ledgers, Cash B< tracts, Talcum Po ter and Tooth PC make the prices r see us before makin Broa ddu HERALD & NEV Vearn, Co.'s samples of Fall Nill be in Newberry e 7th and 8th of Sep look over the line and h. Fit guaranteed. tarn, Agis., 3RING Co. ?OCERY, -oprietor. IN CEIRIES, PRODUCE, 'gars and Tobaccos. r, S. C., Jan, 17,1908. wish to call your at Fancy and Staple least a portion of is year. that our stock is s offered here and a* satisfactory man ind thr ee very im o f goods pr omp t s er a cus tomer o f our s dd you to our long iers. banner year.'-Wi11 ,so? bus iness, Jones' Grocery. E D ~ntion to our line ts, Note Books, oks. Also Ex wder, Toilet Wa >wder. We will ight. Come and g your purchase. s&Ruff rS BITLDING.