The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-03-22
And Now aS to Cotton.


Atthi- moment there is no article Of
necessity cheaper than cotton. and the
prospects are that prices, instead oi ad.
'ahcihe, VIII eith"r remain where they
are or faii lower. lhe Southern crop
that Is now coming into market ~ known
10 Oe extraordinarily large, some not un-
reasonable estimates placing il at more
than seven nllllon-of bales. In addition
te 'hi' The crops IN ln'ia ana III Egypt
are relatively large. he result OF al
this j. los prices aud no profits for the
Southern farmers. In point Of fact. prI-
fia planter would make money By buy
Ing ali the cotton lie wants instead Of
raising H. II costs less 10 make a pound
OF cotton, hu' The price of bacon j, away
above that OF cotton; - that If there is
any Georgia farmer who thinks he really
needs cotton, ne would do well u borrow
hoy from Il ncighbor, sell it, and then
buy his cotton. There are not more than
ten farmers in Georgia that can make
cren the smallest margin Of profit
By raising cotton Tor ten cents IL pound,
ana these farmers have their business 80
systcmatiled that there are 10 leaks any
where. Ordinutly, the farmer who gets
Il profit that i, but -habbily related II the
labor and expense Of cultivating his
crop, and this j. the great secret Of the
provv.bia! poverty Of the cotton farmer.
In lSS2, the farmers all over the South
made large crop, Of grain and saved a
large amount OF forage in the shane of
ip,i,lcr and hay. The cotton crop did not
the circumstance, that is 10 say, in the
come up To- expectations, but, under all
presence of full corn cribs, oterilpwing
granarics md reasonable supply of pro.
visions of all sorts--tlr price ut which il
sold WAS reasonably remunerative. In
any event. the beginning of the present
year found the farmers of Georgia i'm n
better condition than they had been since
the war II they were not altogether
even with the world, thev we're at least
prepared To move comfortably i'm the di.
rectinn of prosperity.
1t is To bc feared however. that this
lesson Of comfort aud comparative indie.
pendence has been lost upon the great
majority of the farmers. The area de.
voted to small grain last winter was
greatly reduced as compared with that of
the winter before and in spite of the low
price of the staple and the immense crop
that has Just been gathered. information
comes to ia from. ever direction tha, the
planters propose to plan, Il larger acreage
in cotton than ever before. How many
hardworking, energetic apricul,uris,s this
programme will bring To the verge O.;
ruin i, is impossible to estimate, but the
number will be large. Estimates show
that if the farmers of Texas raise even
an average crop this wear. two million
bales will be gathered in that State alone
the increase in the number of bales
being due To the increased ncrcaue which
the farmers propose to devote to cotton,
Now. ii the price has fallen below tho
point of remuneration with the present
crop, where will it 20 when the largely
increased crop Of the next cotton wear il
placed upon the marke,. In uJdi,iou to
this, the cotton crops of India and Erypt
fostered and stimulated bv English capi.
tai aud English enterprise, are increasing
every year ut Il rate that the farmer, ui
the South do not properly appreciate
and these cottons have n direct influence
in regulating the price of American cot.
ton. The famou, or Infamous system of
protection, which is the pride and boast
of some of the most influential organs of