The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-02-18
AN IMPORTANT MEETING TO RE
HELD AT WACO EARLY
NEXT MONTH.
CIRCULAR FROM PRESIDENT PETERS
A Matter That Will Interest Travis
County Raisers of the Fleecy Staple.
e. Something About Prices, and
! Other Notes.

Mr. E.. s. Peters of Calvert, president
of the Texas Division American Cotton
Growers association, has issued the fol-
lowing, which is of interest to all cotton
growers:
1--WE hope the cotton growers of Texas
will turn out in strong force to the meet
ing about to be called at Waco by Hector
ID. Lane, president of the national asso-
citation. The Importance of consulting
together has been demonstrated in actual
results, for whenever the farmers have
abided by their compact they have OBJ
tanned better prices for their product
1t is not advocated that farmers in the
best cotton lands should undertake to
raise corn and meat for market, but we
do advocate that all farmers should raise
enough grain and meat for their home
consumption, and make it rule never
to purchase that which their lands will
produce. The acre to be planted in cot
ton should be selected and no land should
be used for cotton which produces less
than one bale to the acre. However,
4 it has been demonstrated that half bale
( TO the acre will pay little profit to the
grower when cotton brings and cents.
We reprObate the planting of land which
= takes three or more acres to make bale
of cotton and it is nearly always the case
that such land would yield we'll i'll oats
& or corn. The farmers must make their
ifarms sustain them and when the farmer
has his smoke house, his corn crib and
2his granares full and has plenty of food
stuff and meat animals, he can then
#hold on to his cotton and wait for a bet
tier market If he has ten bales of cot
ION he made on ten acres of land and
did half of the picking. with his home
force, he is well off and if he can sell his
scotton at 8 cents he may be then de-
scrbed as flying 1t is possible to bring
ab bout just that condition of things gen.
crally. Mr.. Lane has taken fresh hold
on the work and asks that the cotton
planters of Texas get together. We
urge them to obey the call. l quote the
Following from a letter sent me by MIR.
Lane:
1.-The first organized effort of the Amer
lean Cotton Growers Protective assocla-
ttion was in the beginning of 1895. After
zthe enormous crop of 1894, which amount,
ed to 9.S36,S60 bales, averaging oOS.6
pounds, bringing from to 8 cents per
pound (Which was less than cost of pro-
duction), we realized that something must
he done to prevent total bankruptcy OF
the farmers. In February, 1898, the as,
sociation met in Jackson, Miss. and held
= an enthusiastic convention, with Cover
nor Stone of Missouri as chairman. Pres
idents for various cottOn-grOwing states
l were elected, and by their united action
the cotton acreage that year was great
] w reduced, and middling uplands brought
q 3-S cents in New York on October 10.
Consequently at the close of 1895 the
farmers of the south had more clear mon
4 ey profits for their cotton crop, and hay-
Il ing planted the land deducted from their
< cotton acreage in corn, wheat. oats, peas
y and other food crops. they had more grain
and fattened and killed more hogs and
were in better financial condition than
g they had been since the war. 1t was i'm
possible for the association to maintain
!. the reduced cotton acreage of 1873. and
< the farmers increased their acreage III per
cent during 1896, and had it not been for
n the drouth of last summer they would
have made so much cotton that it would
not have paid them to pick it, for a repe-
tition of the and cent cotton of 1894
\ would have been the result You hear
some of these city and experiment far
4 mers claiming there is profit i'll D cent
cotton, but / assure you that cent cot
ton would bankrupt the south in less
than FIVE years. unless it is made simply
as a surplus crop. There is no profit in
raising cotton to the average farmer I'M
der 8 cents per pound"