Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-12-16

The Gotten Yield.
The present cotton crop Is estimated
ct 5000 bales Of 400 lbs by the
Agricultural Bureau In It's report ios
December, and Brsdstrsss's puts Il At
less than $4,000. These estimates
may be within q couple Of hundred
thousand bales Of the actual result
and they may not. II is all euess
work at best, as has been proven
In past years By the same
kind Of calculations which went very
wide Of the actual yield. They are to
some extent valuable, however,
because they place the crop
at a considerably lower total
than many cotton dealers at home and
abroad had been counting on, and it
may reasonably be expected that some
advance in prices may occur when the
actual situation is really known.
There is no question but that the
out turn Of the Mississippi valley has
been overestimated by a majority OF
cotton guessing people, who thought
they knew. The weather for the past
three or four weeks has been very
~unfavorable for cotton gathering.
Hands cannot work to advantage
when it is as cold as it has been a
good part of the time, while the rain
and mud has at times as~.seriously i'm
peded the labor Of picking. The late
frOsts and favorable fall season en-
courased the hope that the harvest
would be an exceedingly heavy one, but
it is now well understood hal a vast
number Of the bolls were INN ature,
when struck by cold weather, and
that much cotton was lost by the
heavy foliage shading the lower bolls,
and causing them to rot. From
the entire length of the river
valley the news comes that
cotton shipments are decreasing,
and boat owners declare that they
do not hope Tor full cargoes from
this time forward. Shipments ireu,
leading points along the Yazoo exhibit
a marked decrease as compared with
last year, aud from other tributary
rivers, while the falling off may not be
so great, yet on the whole there will
be q shorter crop than many antiei-
pAtsd- To the hill regions the fore.
going remarks will not apply, because
cotton matured early,was not damaged
by wet or cold, and the larger part Of
it has already been gathered. The
agricultural report alluded to above.
and which was sent from Washington
yesterday, throws considerable light
upon the situation. 1t says that il
this section the first killing frost:
were twenty to thirty days earlier than
the average, but it estimates the lOst
from immature bolls in parts Of North
Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansaw and
North Texas a tten per cent, and thai
losses from boil worms continue to BE-
reported, though this latter is mainly
west Of the Mississippi river, and thai
boil worms have caused as much in.
jury this season as the caterpillar.
The crop Of Virginia, Missouri and
Indian Territory is set at about 900,
600 bales. The report says:
The estimated increase in Florida il
eight per cent, making in round mum.
bers, 5000 bales; Mississippi, eiRhI
per cent, or 96l 900; North Carolina
ten per cent, or All 900; Alabama, ten
|, per cent, or 10000; Georgia, clever
per cent, o 1885, 900; Louisiana, q
per cent, or 57l 900; Tennessee, 2l pei
cent, or $4,000; South Carolina, q
per cent, or 1900; Texas 50 per cent
or l,322 600; Arkansaw. so per cent
$4,000. In South Carolina, Texas
and Arkansaw. last year s product
was greatly reduced, which accounts
for the large percentage of increase.