The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-15
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Mexico ......'........ .......-........ Wy
Total for the world. Ia, 870 900
The cotton area in all the other
countries is growing. Europe and
Asia would like to be Independent of
us, and they are doing all they can to
stimulate cotton raising elsewhere.
They cannot succeed, however, for
there is no soil in the world as good
for cotton as that of some parts Of the
United States. The famed Sea island
cotton, which grows on the islands off
the coast of South Carolina and
Georgia, is the finest cotton that old
Mother Earth has even worn upon her
bosom, and other lands have tried in
vain to SurpaSS it. I saw it during my
visit to Brunswick, Ga, last week. Our
ordinary cotton plant grows from one
to three feet high. The Sea island
cotton grows like a tree. The plant
at the ground is as big as a broom
stick and it towers aloft to the height
of six feet and upward, shooting off
branches eVry few inches, which are
loaded with cotton bolls, These bolls
are as big as a black walnut with the
hull on, and when the cotton is ripe
it hangs down all over the plant like
so many balls Of white popcorn. The
cotton is as fine as silk 1t shines
like satin, and it's fiber is from one and
half to three inches long, the long
est cotton fiber in the world and about
one inch longer than the cotton from
other parts of the United States. All
Of our cotton surpasses that of other
countries, with the exception of that of
Egypt, which is not so good as the Sea
island, but is better than the cotton
grown back in the interior of the South
Egyptian cotton is valuable to mix
with our cotton, and it surprised me to
find that our manufacturers import
about 900 bales of Egyptian cotton
every year.
The cotton yield of Egypt took a
jump at the time of our late civil war,
as did also that of India. The mo-
merit Sumter was fired upon cotton
went up like a shot. The English fac
tories soon ran out of their supply
and the price of cotton doubled and
quadrupled. The khedive of Egypt
took advantage of the situation. He
put out immense cotton plantations
! and between 1851 and 1865 the crop Of
Egyptian cotton increased over 400 per
/ cent. Since 1882, when the English
practically got control of the country,
they have tried to stimulate cotton
raising in the valley Of the Nile, and
the figures above given represent one
of the biggest crops Egypt has ever
had I am told that the English are
now attempting to establish cotton
factories in the suburbs Of Cairo and
that a mill is now being built at Bou-
lax there near the famous museum in
! which the mummies Of the Pharaohs
! rest. 81
! When I was in Bombay India. few
! years ago, 1 saw great cotton factories,
/ there, and the English capitalists told
! me that our war had made India a
great cotton country. Today it ranks
next to the United States, but the India
cotton is short in staple and it does
| much to the acre as our American cot
! ton fields. Fully half of the Indian
crop is used by the Indian cotton mills,
which are steadily increasing in num-
! Der, and England has still to buy the
! bulk of her cotton from us. China will
! eventually use all of her own cotton
! in the new factories she Is building
and Japan, so our consul gen eral at
| Yokohama once told me- now uses
about $4,000, 900 worth of American raw
cotton, which is shipped to that coun-
/ try not direct from the United States
In Japan is Of the poorest variety. It
| is worse than that Of China, which is
worse than the Indian cotton It can
| only be used for very common CLOTH
and our cotton will always be in de-
mand in Asia, 30 mix with these poorer
! varieties.
COTTON USED AS WOOL
| There is a considerable demand for
! foreign cottons in the United States to
be mixed with wool, and thus sold as
| wooden goods. We buy for this pur-
! pose quite O. lot Of Peruvian cotton,
which is of more woolly character
than our cotton. The Egyptian cotton
goes into similar products, and many
| carpets hats and clothes which are
| supposed to he all wool are practically
made Of these cottons. Almost rs, 00O,-
600 pounds Of cotton are used every
year by our wooden mills and our wool
en- hat factories annually take about
| 400 bales.
The United States will, 1t is believed,
always control the cotton trade Of the
world. we would make now more than
the worlds supply, and could / am
told, easily run other countries out of
the markets had the South a different
system OF farming. The lands l have
| travelled through are nowhere half
farrned. The cotton patches are gen
| orally small, and here in Georgia much
| Of the farming Is done on shares.
| The lands are often owned by men who
! live In the cities. and advance supplies