The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-03-16
Possibilities in Cotton.

The February number OF the South
ern States magazine. published at
Baltimore, contains two conspicuously
able and noteworthy articles from the
authoritative pen Of DR.. Charles w.
Dabney. Jr., assistant secretary Of agri-
culture. They deal with practical Ques-
tions, and utilization Of cottonseed and
the prospects and possibilities OF the
crop for the next twenty-five years.
The extent to which the seed might
be used is manifest in the statement.
based upon scientific calculations, that
properly handled, the seed of the crop
of 1896 ought to yield in round numbers
500. 000. 900. instead of $o3. 900. 900. which
may be expected. AT present the seed
are used as feed, fertilizer, and fuel, in
addition to oil producers, and a second
airy product of feed and fuel is a fertil-
izer. There may not be at present a
sufficient number of mills and Of cattle
to turn all the seed into cash, but there
should be an impetus to great efforts
in tina direction in a consideration Of
the pontential value Of the cottonSeed
crop. This is reckoned at s94. 239. 392 af-
ter deducting 10 per cent. for the loss
and seeding. The total is derived from
S41, 750, 900 in oil, SO. 100. 900 in iinters.
s36, 056, 765 in hulls and meal made into
live weight of cattle, and $13, 1872, S27 in
IldnuTldl value Oh NUNS.
An increase of $40, 900. 900 and more in
the total value of the cotton crop with
out increasing the size Of that crop is
a possibility worth considering by the
farmer
Its Importance during the next TWEEN
ty-five years will become greater and
greater as the demand for cotton nat
urally expands. This will amount to
20, 900. 900 bales by 1920. DR.. Dabney
reckons. And he shows that the
south ought to be able top reduce it if
the force of laborers is developed pro-
~portionately. OF the $50, 600 square
miles in the cotton regions, but so per
cent. is in farms, but 20 per cent. is
improved and only 5 per cent. in cotton.
There is room, therefore, for expan-
sion to meet the demand without
trenching upon the Ian that ought to
make each planter practically indie
pendent Of his cotton for a living, and
without reference to the economy arts
ing from a steady advance in the inn
~provements in methods of cultivation.
In the last 100 years the total produc-
ton Of cotton was worth SIS, OOO. O0O, 600.
exceeded only by that of corn. Its val
ue in the next century will reach fig
ures that hardly may be realized.
These two articles are comprehen-
sive in treatment. and Ofrm a store
house of information Of practical value
to the southern agriculturist and the
student Of southern conditions. The
facts are startling, the suggestions
novel, and their publication will attract
wide attention.
Supplementary to DR.. Dabney's ar
ticles, and appealing with the logic of
a~ccuratefi cures to the western farmerS
casting about for a competency, is the
article on "COttOn-GrOwing VS.. Wheat
Growing" 1t is are compared the
costs Of raising a. acre of wheat and
one of cotton, and the results of the
sales Of the products in 1894. The con-
illusions derived from official reports
of the department of agriculture are
most suggestive. The average loss per
acre on wheat was $5.5 50, and in Kan
sas, where it was grown cheaper than
any other place in the country, $2.S8.
On the other hand, the average profit
per acre in cotton in the worst years
we have had was $2.4S, and in 1895 it
was 1923. This particular advantage,
when considered in connection with the
cheaper land, the cheaper labor and the
more genial climate, ought to leave
no doubt in the westerner's mind about
the place where his profit lieth.