The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-09
COTTON BELT CHANGING.
M~omentous Development Of the Great
southern Industry.

Momentous Development Of the Great
southern Industry.
North Carolina has already enough
mills within her borders to spin every
bale of cotton raised in the state and
a little to spare. and in a few years the
same will be true OF Georgia, South
Carolina and a few other Atlantic
states. But now IL Is predicted that
within 10 years these great Southern
mills will be as far from the center OF
cotton production as the New England
mills. when the distance is measured
by freight rates. The reason for this
IL not far to seek. The cotton belt has
been changing and shifting year by
year. The great bulk of u cotton
came from the states east of the Mis-
sissippi 20 years ago, but to-day about
seven-tenths OF the crop is raised be-
yond that river. The cotton belt was
supposed originally to run only through
the best lands of Virginia. Georgia and
the two Carolinas. with the edges over
tapping parts of the contiguous states.
Texas was not thought of, Arkansas
was too far west and Missouri and
Kansas were supposed to be good only
for corn and cattle.
The map Of the cotton belt Is entirely
altered. and each successive year IL
must be enlarged to include new ter
ritory where cotton fiourishes abund-
antly. Texas has forged ahead i'm cot
ton raising so rapidly that growers
wonder where II will stop: Arkansas
has more recently started upon a SINH
lar career. while the farmers of Kansas
and Missouri are beginning to raise
cotton OF a large scale. At the present
rate OF increase this great belt west of
the Mississippi will soon be raising
three-fourths of all our cotton. Then
the mills of the South. around which
On ...staA tptnrnat onnfnro tn-dnN NNfll
have as great a problem to solve as
the New England mills are struggling
with.
But the growth and development of
the cotton mills i'm the South will con-
tinue. now that the movement has been
once started. They will not stop I'm the
cotton belt east of the Mississippi. but
new ones will appear in Kansas and
Missouri. and south to the gulf. There
is something in this new cotton belt
that promises great things for the flu
ture. The climate is. in some respects,
better suited to cotton growing han
the Atlantic seaboard states. The
cotton plants demonstrate this better
than any scientific theory. The bush
grows higher inc bears longer. while
open. rainless falls make the harvesting
easier and the injury from insects and
weather less.
II Is estimated by the department OF
agriculture lndt tOttOn can Dt Idistu
successfully I'm nearly one-third of the
territory of the United States. At
present the cotton belt covers "a de-
grees of longitude and 10 degrees of
latitude. but only about one-twentieth
OF the land Is actually used for cotton
growing. Thus the 20. 900. 900 acres of
cotton plantations represents only a
fraction OF the vast empire of cotton
soil that has never been titled.
fhe fear that cotton growing has
reached it's zenith. and that IL must
soon decline. in view of h low prices
received for IL. looms up every year
when the new crop begins to come In.
but like similar Nightmares It fails 10
produce any permanent results. The
world mas Just begun to use cotton.
Our invasion of the japanese markets
with this product is but a promise of
what we may expect on a larger scale
in other quarters. There are over l.
500. 900. 900 human beings existing on
this globe. and of his number about
half are imperfectly clad. They live in
climates where little protection is need
bu that protection must come in
the form of cotton clothes. The vast
hordes of the Orient, of the islands of
the Pacific and OF the great African
require cotton goods for
clothing. To-day they go without them
only because they are not o~btainable at
prices within their means.
The worlds yield OF cotton has
trebled within % years, and IL has
nearly double itself in the last ten
years. Our own product has repre-
scented a large percentage of this in |
crease. India, China and Egypt can
raise cotton on a large scale. too. but
with all their cheap labor the Southern
planter can raise and the American
manufacturer can work up into sala-
BILE goods our cotton and place 4; In
markets at prices lower than
the natives can ever hope TO accom-
plish.
Much OF this depends upon the super
Tor mills which are being erected in the
belt and upon the more intelli-
operators In them: but the low
price OF cotton is a factor of the great
est Importance. Cotton has steadily
in price since the acreage has
been increasing. Planters have fought
this downward tendency. individually
and collectively. but without avail. No
one il sure hat the bottom hat been
yet. There are plenty who
accent cotton within another
This seems utterly i~nconceiv-
able 10 the growers. especially In many
81 the older cotton districts. but so did
) and scent cotton years Ago.. II our
falls below A certain mint i'm the Il