The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-15
sell or HoIdt

Throughout the cotton belt a question
which the newspapers are discussing is
whether the farmers should sell their cot
ton as quickly as possible or hold it with
the hope of getting a better price for it.
A day or two ago the Morning News pub
lished a letter from a prominent South
west Georgian, who had recently had OPP
portunitles for judging whether or not
the crop would be a large one, OF one only
about, or below, the average advising
the farmers to hold their cotton. He
gave his reasons for thinking that the crop
would not be as large as expected, and
that the demand would be much above the
average. He concluded. therefore, the
price Of cotton would be much higher
than at present.
AS stated heretofore the Morning News
declines to advise farmers either to sell
or hold their cotton, but it proposes to give
them all the information 1t can gather as
to whether the crop viii be a big one or
not, and as to whether the demand will be
much greater than that of last year. 1t
is better for the farmers to decide for
themselves whether to sell their cotton at
the newspapers IN other important cot
ton ports take the same view of the ques-
ton. The Tines Democrat of New Or
leans expresses the opinion that the far
mers are better qualified than the ex-
Derts in the counting houses of the cotton
factors and cotton brokers to determine
the question as to whether the cotton crop
is going to be a large one or not. That
paper says:
know as much about the crop
and the prospective yield as those who
have figured it out in their counting
houses, especially as many of these are
influenced by their wishes. We would
advise the farmers, therefore, to look
around them and form their own opinions
as to the condition of the crop. They have
the best chance of knowing whether it
is a success or a failure, whether it
will be above or below late averages. Rel
auvely the same conditions prevailed
throughout the south, and while some sec
tons are a little better than others, some
are a little worse. The farmer, there
fore, who looks around and sees how his
own cotton and chat Of his neighbors is
doing, can form a pretty good estimate as
to the size of the Crop. And when he
knows that ii will be an easy matter for
him to determine whether the present
price is fair one or not; and, therefore,
whether he ought to sell or hold his cot
ton for an advance.
The acreage in cotton is known, the
amount needed for the worlds mills IS
also known. The farmer needs only de-
termine by the crops around him what the
yield per acre is likely to be to settle for
himself what he ought to do-sell or hold
This is what the western farmers did
with their wheat. The Spectators had
fixed on 65 or 70 cents as the price which
they proposed to pay, but the farmers,
after looking over the field, saw that the
yield was not more than sufficient TO cover
the European demand. They refused to
sell at 65 cents and are getting 80 cents.
There ought to be no class better able
to determine the size of the cotton crop
than the cotton farmers, who know Its ex-
act condition. It will pay them to profit
by their knowledge, instead of being led
and influenced by the guesses and reports
of speculatOrS