The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-09

worlds supply there will be q corre-
spending increase in the acreage In
other countries. English capital and
brains are working hard In Egypt to
control the cotton trade OF the far
East. and any tendency to loosen our
hold upon the great cotton industry
would be the signal for the rapid ex-
tension of the cotton helds OF Egypt.
india and even China and Japan. The
law OF supply and demand u regu-
late the price.
The new cotton belt is more able to
raise cotton to-day than many OF the
older regions. This IL due to the better
soil and climate. Texas forced prices
for cotton down more than any other
factor. In that princely domain King
Cotton fiourished so well that planters
VINO had been struggling Tor years
with Indifferent cotton soil could no
longer compete in the open market.
They were showed to the wall and
forced TO raise other products. Some of
the counties In the cotton states par
tally or wholly broke away from cot
ton and urned their attention more to
grass, grains. and fruits. Others are
sure to follow. and not only counties.
but states. But this Is no Indication
that the cotton crop will be reduced.
The change Ia due merely to the shift
ing of the cotton belt.
The South In meeting the same shift
Ing conditions that faced the Eastern
farmers half a century ago. When the
great West opened up its marvellous
fields of corn and wheat the Eastern
farmers were paralyzed by the streams
of golden grain that poured In the mar
kets and sold for prices that threaten
ed ruin and starvation for them. But
after a decade or two they
from their surprise fear, and
abandoning grains, they turned their
attention to fruits and dairying.
Cotton farming is probably as primi-
tive as any other branch of agriculture.
The system In the South Is just chang
ing. Capital. science and brains are rev.
authorizing the industry. The shifting
OF the cotton belt from the east to the
west of the Mississippi Is OF no greater
Importance than the new methods of
culture which are being adopted. New
and superior plants are being develop
ed through selection and Gull
tivation. The old, half-farming system
is being replaced by large plantations,
systematically organized and conduct
ed, and they will produce more cotton
to the acre and at less outlay than the
one-horse, unscientihc farms of tine
shiftless, careless negroes.
Fol a long time the contention was
made by intelligent growers that an ig-
norant. shiftless darkey or white man
couiu Tdist as mucn cOttOH 10 tne acre
as a skilled. scientific agriculturist. but
this could hardly be true. eve though
IL required little intelligence to raise
the plants. In the ligh of recent devel-
opments the folly of ii is made apparent
TO all. The cotton planter. with new
seed. new machinery and new methods
of culture, increases the yield In a way
that threatens the one-horse farms with
ruin.
II IA haItaxad that tho ITnftad Gfntac
will always be able to control the cot
ton trade of the world, n III our land
was properly farmed. We could easily
run other countries out of the market.
But the old cotton patches OF the shift
less farmers must improve or disap-
pear. Other cotton countries stand ready
to increase their cotton crop upon the
slightest p~rovocation. Ii was the war
of the rebellion that made Egypt a cot
ton-growing country of importance.
When the war closed our cotton ports
to England. the Khedive OF Egypt put
out immense cotton plantations. and be-
tween 1861 and 1865 the crop of Egypt
ian cotton increased Fover 400 per cent.
This sudden discovery of the country's
possibilities has worked injury to our
cotton industry since. Not only
does Egypt supply aIsood Zeal of the
demand of the world for cotton, but we
import some 100, 900 bales a year our
selves. .t-
India takes a similar start in cotton
growing, ard Ii only needs some oppor-
tune moment to stimulate IL to a won
derful development. A wal that would
interfere with our cotton growing. or a
sharp decrease i'm our cotton acreage
so that prices woul advance a few
cents a pound. would be ollowed in In
dia and Egypt by a doubling or treb-
ling of the acreage. TIKI advantage thus
gained would require years to over
come. How long cotton can go and yet
prove profitable is a problem that the
future must decide. With a new stimu-
lus i'm our Far Eastern trade relations,
IL may soon be found that scent and
ever 4-cent cotton will prove a great
boon to the South. and. incidentally, to
the country.-New York Sun.