University of South Carolina Libraries
I I M MMgHPgr ^? MtMER IN DARK Rfiorr cotton Planting Time is Now About Bp Here and What Will (David R. COKER f GIVES HIS ADVICE I Writes an Article on Farm f Operations for the Year ; . RY DAVID R. COKER Hartsville.?Special: Although cotI t^>n planting time is only six or [ eight weeks off inanv cotton growers all over the South have not yet determined on what policy they will ;pursue as to the apportionment of their acreage and as to the use of fertilizer. Advice is being showered upon them in such volume and of such diverse tenor as to be most cdnf using. In two respects however, the adivce being offered by the wisest farm economists coin- I cide. All say reduce cotton acreage and raise adequate food stuffs. And < in tne wisdom <>t this program i ? { most heartily concur. 1 1 have not, however, soon any for 1 mula presented which will allow ( each farmer to figure for himself . the correct amount of his acreage "which he should plant in foodstuffs and in cotton and 1 propose to here lay down what I consider the correct rule. First, however, let us discuss con- i ditions which must be met by any proposed program. Statistcians tell us that we will have a carry-over ; of about nine million bales in Aug; just 1. They also tell us that the I < South purchases hundreds of mil- , [ lions of dollars' worth of corn, hay, I I and other food products which can and should be raised here. It is a inotorious fact that most plantations jdo not produce a sufficiency of sy- ] ,rup, sweet potatoes vegetables and jfruits for the consumption of landjlord and tenants and few are adequately stocked with cows and hogs. There is a market in every town \ and factory village for large quantities of the vegetable and animal ' ^products which can be easily raised ] I-ion every farm. We have right at i (.{home, therefore, a market for a vast i jamount of food products now pro- > ' iduced elsewhere but which can and j {should he produced here. I t Low Grade Cotton. c | The nine million bale carry-over c next August will consist very large J ly of low Oracle cotton of poor, weak * staple. For several years the carry 1 over.of this kind of cotton has been \ rapidly increasing until now such 1 Cotton is only bringing about 50 per cent of the value of the corresponding lengths of high grades. > With the exception of the past three ] years of margin between the bare i i host of production of high grade 1 cotton and its selling price has rare- < jly amounted to the difference in the i seNing price botwen high grade and i low grade cotton. (By bare cost of < >roduction I mean only money ex- ? reuses plus a bare living to the la- i orers.) With the possible excep- | ;ion of one year (1019-20) never in ] ny recollection has low grade cot- ; ;on returned to the grower its cost , Sf production. Yet year after year tye see many planters all over the feouth putting in a cotton acreage 1 ^hich they know cannot be gathered in a reasonablv picking season r?v tho labor on their plantations. 1/? i*4 i :i _. ?aa.? ; ? tJiM ill VI .VUill * 'twill LI LI'S 01 cotton in the fields in November, Decernj I ~ nd in some years as late as j March. 1 " weevil conditions only fearly varieties should he used and *arly planting practiced. The bulk ^f the crop, therefore will be open >y the last of September and the fntire crop must be gotten out of jhe fields by October 15 or at least jy November 1, in order to insure i grade of middling and better. :} Destructive Policy. Under the conditions prevailing uring the past thirty years, with he possible exception of one, the armer who put in a greater acreage than he had available labor to j| Hck in six or eight weeks has puri !ued a policy not only unprofitable | o himself but also destructive to fie whole cotton industry,* for he is he man responsible for long years if low prices and for the present ' I inormous carry-over of low grade otton which is now keeping the rice far below cost of production. Succinctly stated, my formula , rhich can be de<Uiccd from the above ' iscussion is as follows: liaise all ie foddstuffs adapted for growth : i your section which are lequired \ jr the consumption of the total ! H; irm population, both human and an rial, with a reasonable margin for I ' ile to the nearby towns. Then U feise only as mucn conon as mc tbor on the farm can gather quick[j r enough to produce nothing below y ie grade of middling. Let the P ttlance of the land lie out or plant | in some soil improving crop. | If the foregoing formula is strict| fi r applied to every plantation the 9 eduction in the cotton acreage will | fe very great. j | I have little hope that the cam f'lMflfn hy agreement will bring adeI : bate results. Most farmers are In| Svidualists and will figure out a pro y ram which they think will best I the requirements of the situaI If we can focus the attention I jF every planter upon the fact that I Brade cotton rarely if ever reI Sp***? cos* Production and I |? further fact that its production B SM been responsible for the woeful I Ig&fttion today existing:, we have ac wmplished the primary thins: neces- ] (&ry to effeefct acrease reduction. No < :armer is going to deliberately dojl something which he figures in ad j /ance will be unprofitable and fur- < ;her no farmer wants to be con- . udered an enemy to the cotton ln-J| iustry as a whole. So the business | judgement of the great body of cot- i ton growers and aroused public senti- j ment will, I think, accomplish an idequate reduction if this matter can j be properly presented to the entire , South before planting time. Would Use Fertilizer ;>f fertilizers. If anything has been ilearly demonstrated in the agriculture of the Eastern cotton belt it is j that cotton can be more cheaply pro luced (even at low prices) with the use of a fair and well-balanced ration of fertilizers than without. Based on present prices for cotton, I do not think that the average farmer ' can afford to use less than $12 or j $15 worth of fertilizer per acre, the formula and amount of course vary ing with the type and condition of the soil. I' Very little fertilizer has yet been bought and if the farmers are to plant their crops on time no time is to be lost in securing their supply, j A. little further delay will mean late deliveries, late planting, and the ] risk of the destruction of the crop ' l>y the boll weevil. (Note:) Of course, the principles discussed above apply to tobacco and ather money crops as well as to cotton. Farm profits are usually too narrow to allow for the production >f low grades in any money crop.) FARMERSHOULD USE BEST CARE! I How He Spends Money That 5 He Borrows for < Capitai ______ \ BUSINESS SIDE OF FARM WORK Buying Luxuries Always Bad Business For Him to Practice Credit is always a good thing to lave, and under certain conditions a /ery good thing to use, but just now t seems in most cases to be much desirable to have it than actually to use t. The United States Department of \griculture warns farmers that the ^resent is a particularly unfavorable ,ime to borrow for any purpose that loes not promise naturally to injrease the productiveness of the farm inter prise. This applies particularly ;o long-time loans. Interest rate are it present considerably above normal ind the payment of these rates is in tself a heavy burden to assume. When to Borrow. It is furthermore pointed out that vhile at the beginning or early in the progress of a period of rising prices t is generally highly profitable to sorrow for productive purposes, the iase is quite different in time of fall ng prices. When prices go up the < ^alue of money goes down, and a debt i contracted on a low market can be i settled on a high market with money , representing correspondingly less la- i l>or and smaller quantities of product < per dollar. Thus, with rising prices [ill loans that would be safe on a j steady market stand to yield hand- \ some profits. In a period of peak i prices, however, or of falling prices, such as farmers are facing now, the shoe is on the other foot. At such a time it is advisable to use caution in borrowing since there is a probability of having to pay back the loan in dearer dollars than those obtained from the loan. For those who find that they must borrow at this time in order to avert disaster, or are so situated that by a reasonable amount of additional capital they can naturally increase their earnings, the Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics oirers certain simple rules to be kept in mind. The first and most important rule is that only as much money be borrowed as can be put to a decidedly productive use. With the rate of interest high and the prices falling, only an important use of borrowed capital is likely to make a loan prove profitable or even a safe venture for the borrower. The borrowing of money for the purchase of power machinery, for example, can be justified under present conditions only where farminc is done on a considerable scale and where such machinery can he used a considerable number of days during the year to save time and labor needed elsewhere on the farm. The second rule to be considered by the farmer concerns the time when the loan shall be repaid. If he borrows money to purchase fertilizer and agrees to repay it before a crop is harvested and sold, he may have difficulty in discharging the debt. If he arranges, however, to pay after the borrowed fertilizer has brought returns, he will be relieved of the pos sible embarrassment of asking for a renewal of the note and the resultant injury to his credit. The third consideration is closely related to the second, and hao to do with the duration of the loan. GenJ erally speaking, the length of the time the debt is allowed to run should be closely related to the productive life of the farm implement or improvement for which the money is employed. If the money is to build a silo that will last 10 years, the loan should not run more than 10 years, because, if a silo can not pay for it| self in its own lifetime it is plain j that it would be folly to borrow to build it. On the other hand, such a loan should run long enough to give the farmer a good chance to meet it when due. Provisions should be made in a I THX HO&EY ITKtlti! long-time loan for the gradual refaction of the principal. This can t>e done by wording the note so that w nart of the principal can be paid on an..- interest date, or by providing for x c.dfmate annual or semi-annual payment covering the interest due and al lowing a graudaully increasing of the amount to be paid against the principal. Each of these methods prepares for the payment of the interest as it comes due and automatically disposes of the principal in a stated time. Total Annual Payments. On a $1,000 loan to run for fifteen years at f> per cent interest, the farmer could arrange a total annual payment of $100. Of his first $100 payment, $50 would settle the interest and leave $50 to be paid against the principal. The next year interest could he charged for only $950, the amount of the reduced principal, and liis annual payment would be divided into $47.50 to care for the interest, and $52.50 to he applied on the principal. By this method the debt and its interest are gradually reduced untill in the 14th year $5.72 would be paid as interest*on a principal only amounting to $114.35. The next year the borrower would make a total payment of $21.07, $1 for interest and ?20.07 to pay oil* the debt itself. PROPERTY OWNERS MAY PAVE A movement has boon started re?e'Aly to get the owners of buildings in our main business block to contribute in due proportion the cost < f paving the alley which runs through tho block from the side walk on Main street, to the side walk on Laurel street. Recently Mr. J. W. Taylor laid the front part of this alley with concrete and finished up the surface with cement and sand, so that for a part of tho distance between the >uildings of Mr Taylor and Piatt's Plmvmjirv llin will nlvvnuc ltr> lard anil in good condition for walkng. Throughout tlic remainder of .he length of this alley, owing to he large amount of hauling that is lone over it, the surface is full of *uts and mud holes and in very rainy ;imes it is impassible. Some years ago the owners of lots md buildings in this block purchased ,hc western part of this \lloy from ,ho owner of the property and turned t over to the Town of Conway for mblic use. Since that time the Town las performed some work on it and lauled in dirt from time to time but ;ti 11 it gets into very bad condition. I?i the opinion of this paper the Pown should place the alley in better :ondition and keep it that way, but f the Town is unable to do it, or will lot do it, then the owners < f the property in this business block should brow in the necessary Money and lave it put in good shape and fix t so that it will be a permanent job. SILK DISCOVERY MADE BY WOMAN New York. ? A woman discovered silk. And the Secret was kept for many centuries. Finally a woman told the secret of its culture and manifurfnvp in ? mnn nnrl liprnmo n household word in all parts of the world. Walking one sunny summer morning in a <|iiiot Chinese garden where the high-enveloping; walls were all hut hidden in a riotous growth of oxotic flowers and the air heaHly perfumed with their fragarnce, a slim girl of 14 pattered along sknvly with tightly hound feet to an inviting teak wood pagoda by the side of a miniature lake. There she rested. As she watched a nest of insects and worms she noticed that while many of them apparently slept lazily in the sun, a trio of catapillars were ceaselessly busy feasting on the leaves of a white mulberry tree. Their capacity and their energy fascinated her and the next (lay and for many succeeding days she watched them eat and grow rapidly. She had ample time, for she was the Empress Si-ling-chi, wife of the Emperor Iluang-ti, who ruled Chin? in 2f>10 B. C.. She is known toda> as the "Goddess of the Silk Worm' and throughout China on an appointed day the rich and poor alike pa> picturesque tribute to her. Watched Them Work. One day she noticed that, .'is theii heads moved from side to side, i semi-fluid gummy substance issuet from their mouths and K?on Uirnec into a soft downy thread. Soon co coons were formed and she carrier i ?????? , i Millinery We Wish to SPRING AND SI BEGINNING I And Continuing You are cordial! Mrs. J.! CONW t: t. a , tum-x. ! ' s-ssmssmsmmam one to the tniRinr. He wat mVUkf terested. The lonely little empfaw,jmnoua*l ed by a small army of servitors tat without a playmate, although merely a child, carried the cocoon hajfr to 4ka garden. It piqued her curiouty. It was about the sixs of a lartfs pMAtfl but slightly thicker a?d> substantially hard. From it floated many soft threads. She pulled one and found that although it was 8o.<lig!it' that* it would float in the air it was still so strong that she could pull off a length. The hardness of the cocoon bothered her and finally she hit'upea the idea of soaking one in>warm water. The result was that she -waa better able to extract the thre*& She wound it on h#r fingers in one continuous thread nearly two thousand feet long. It was yellow.. Si-ling-chi had remarkable iniatia* tive and had she lived in these time* and in the United States she woubfc undoubtedly have been a leader, in, some one or more of the advanced movements that have plaoei' women at least closer to fhelr proper ptase in. the world's activities. Not content with her interesting discovery she .set* about to find some way in which te utilize the beautiful silken threads. After weeks of study and experiments she ordered the ladies of her court te gather in the garden. There qhe dem on strated her crude methods ol f gath~| ering and reeling the silk and set them VI ARCH 15, 1921 Through the Season ly invited to attend. S. Causey AY, S. C. * nil to work, learning to lielp her. Soon she taught them to weave garments and to embroider. It was. not long before the emperor, who had shown so little interest in her silk' worms, was presented by. the empress with a ceremonial garment of purest silk and only a short time later all members of the court were wearing silken clothes of dazzling beauty. Became Big Iiutygtry. , The production of raw silk,quickly became the chief industry of China and the nation grew rich- beyond the understanding of neighboring* counT tries which sought vainly for the se* cret of silk. China held the secret and monopoly of export to all parts of Asia, India, Persia and Arabia /or. many centuries. The death penalty was decreed for the crime of sending, or taking the silk worm, its eggs or. the seeds of the white mulberry tree out of China. All went well with the Chi nest silk" industry until about 350 B. C. when, a prince of India visited China and won the love of a demure Chinese princess who accompanied him to India* viathe elopement and caravan route, tak; ing, hidden in her sandals, the.eggs of silk worms and seeds of the white> mulberry. Within three moons of the arrival in India of the runaway princess, she disappeared mysteriously between suns but it was too late to save the secret. She had not only delivered to her lover the eggs and the seeds but had taught him all that she had learned of silk in the royal palace in China. Alexander the .Great learned the secret during a visit to India in-828B. C. and through him silk became known throughout many parts of. Europe only to be lost again after conv?i paratively a few years. (The fcnowr lerlge of silk was not regained in Eu-?< rope until the reign of Julius Caesar* "CASCARETS" IF SICK OR BILIOUS Tonight sure! Let a pleasant* harmless Cascarette work while yQ? sleep and have your liver active, headclear, stomach sweet and bowels* moving regular by morning. Ha< griping or inconvenience. 10, 25 or 50 cent boxes. Children love this candy cathartic, too. > Pal txk afestl^ PALMETTO STATE FESTIVALt Columbia, March 28 to April , . > *sama I r I will b? in Dr. Blanton'e D?nt?l Office every First and Third Mondays t of each Montk | OFFICK IIOURH ? TO 4 1 L. A. WOODBUFK : KYKMKiHT NPRCULIKf ' Opening Announce Our JMMER OPENING Pff-OT mmesmmmmumssBm \ -L~. |? afrinl 57 B.C. when in Rome it MCim:t)w ipnltM fo?t dress and old its w?igM in gold. The* Emperor Tiberius forbade the [ men of Home to wear garments of ' pMhlflrum heneeaaWeed the custom effemlmle ian4>saa?y> Romans do- J nomctiOmaiailii ofrilto from the 1 Island te&Oos %?o??^ It was claim ad thMf4ke <e*t?en?e transparency of the ftii f^rii made , such costumes | (jWMBt It was the first dress reform QMMtuealfiiv history. The first Btandaid' poise i flaed > for sillr was set by the Emperor* Jastii^pn in 528 A. i heu decided ' that the mer, chant* sJMmldMtet enact more than eight pftdess of void' (about $15) for a pound of stupes sold ready for the tailor. IJhft'ipjfee ruined-the silk mer chants. The 'silk of that day, although of mwre gamy texture, would not corner* favosaMy wfththe good silks of |od*y, iiwth* hoauty and coloring, >eave or duraWlity, It excelled it fcnjy in price. By,the.year ailfcten garments w*ff c<\Biyvo^'4ll English court circles aHhoughilt wa& wrtuntU the close of ^he foUowing eentury that England part of IMtWtmtli.Miwjr it was not uotlbftlmoat TOO years later that wall established the** thtaigfc the. effort* of Henry of" Navarre, who sp*M more than .faoyjIpO ef his own funds in experiJrvaota, $ I M I O* I ' Nbi Wamhs la m HaaMk? OI.IM [ AUofeJUra tftmbM Worm.'have iMakJw color, which ktttaMMpoot blood. m?44c ft< wto< lW> la mora orlew ?tomh diaturbance. GM>VEttTAftTUJCSS CHUJl TONIC glvea re*?~ Ur^|?|M?orthM wook* wtB'fcarlch the btood. ctpinft Toukte tba whole ?yaU? Native wUlthco tbrow^fl* ifcieel wd ihoChi* wllibe fcyihet Mft ?n?qm? tft Ufce. doparhntk v 111 ' ' t Advertise-in i The Hiralo. jNOT j LADIES AND < When youcome to Loi ? SOM?THIN< f j. CaU 't* <see u? just * across f deppty thirddoor from the . something! to eat and 'I wil ; ,! piice. L'have almost anyt , fe is lom Thanking you in adv LOUIS J G.H.TYLEF . j B - - = IA i . ? ? fan m flj /1 Ur Is Mjf 2' ;|f the arrival c 1 for e i is the att 5 MAJRL I rir'. We have just receive 11) men's and concervative ill most?Mt>anct modest 1 ir menVdtess straw 'hats ev . j. J, what we want to impress Hli JUStwhat you are lookin; r- j-:; prices, as we hh<i irather vlii then give youi the price, i ijr, our< statement is true. :|| ' SPEi |i|: We< have them- every d( fyou* to visit* us when in I .0 Ltj rilm#*riAi WtlfVVI '& i TO OUR Oi !11 CUST( *{ I. _ ^ J Wfetwish to have you m [ '< your headquarters whil j5 '<? court. We wilt gladly |, f that you may have. A fj f- writing. as we have pie ?> i<. pmi for you to use free i! MARt li r- ! CARD OP THANKS. I wish to express thanks to tfie nany children of Cor\way Tor their cindness to my little" daughter Eunice during her illness while in the hospital. Greatly trust the L<ord will bless them every one. Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Duke Watts. BBffggWggag!!...! [In Front-Rank I Cod-liver oil stands I first on' the list of fats, I in the ease with which it is assimilated. This I explains why scorn EMULSION 1 of super-refined Nor* I wegian cod-liver oil ft Mute is so helpful to I those an>' a?e | ttiT who are runI down in body. I Scott 6 Bowne, Bloomficld, N. J. I ALSO MAKERS OF I RMiOIDS | I (Tablets or Granules) EOBJNDIGESTION ! HBHBHHBHHHnMnMBMMMMMMNMMMnMVMMMMO I I- I I u c GENTLEMEN ris, S. C., and want i TO EAT the railroad from the track, and you will find 1 feed you well at a low Wing to eat and my price ance, CAFE I, Loris, S. C. TER I Days off W SPRING SUITS 'ASTER R ACT ION AT J> W' Q d a big shipment of young suits for Easter; also the le of Panamas and young er shown in Conway, and on your minds, the price is g for. We will not quote show you the goods and as this will be proof that :ials iy in the week and invite need of Drv Goods and JT-OF-TOWN OMERS iake our Department Store le in Conway attending take care of any package Jso come in and do your nty of stationery, ink and of charge. LOW'S - .. . - . '.jtflta* '!*-, ft*1 iV S