The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-10-26
COTTON BELT.
Development OF the South
ern Industy.
Ncm lOrL. Sun.

|
mills within her borders to spin every
bale of cotton raised III the State and
u li'tle to spare. and in Il few years the
same will be true of Georgia, South
Carolina and few other Atlantic
States. But now it is predicted that
within 10 years these great southern
mills will be rs far from the centre of
cotton production, as the Few England
mills, when the distance is measured
by freight rates. The reason for this
is not far to seek. The cotton belt has
been changing and shifting year by
year. The great bulk of our cotton
came from States east of the Missis-
sippi 90 years ago. but to-day about
Scventcnths of the crop is raised be-
yond that river. The cotton belt WAS
supposed originally to run only through
the best lands of Nirginin, Georgia
and the wO CarOlinas. with the edges
| overlapping parts of the contiguous
States. Texas WAS not thought of,
Arkansas was too far west and Mis-
| souri, and Kansas were supposed to he
good only for corn and cattle.
The map of the cotton belt is entirely
altered, and each successive year it
must be enlarged to include new terri
{ tory where cotton flOurishcs abundant
ly. Texas has forged ahead in cotton
raising SO rapidly that growers wonder
| where it will stop; Arkansas has more
recently started upon IL similar career,
viii the farmers of Kansas and Mis-
souri, are beginning to raise cotton on
Il large scale. AT the present rate of
| Mississippi will soon be raising three
fOmrths of all our cotton. Then the
| mills OF the south, around which SO
| much interest ccntcrS to- day, will have
| us great problem us the New England
| mills are struggling with.
| But the growth and development of
the cotton mills in the south will con
once started. They will not stop in
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
future. The climate is in some re-
| spccts better suited to cotton growing
than the Atlantic seab0ard States. The
cotton plants demonstrate this better
Glmn any scientific theory. The bush
grows higher and bears longer, while
open, rainlcss falls make the harvest
ing easier and the injury from insects
and weather less.
1t is estimated by the department. of
agriculture that cotton cannot be
raised successfully in nearly ne-third
of the territory Of the United States.
grees of longitude and about 10 degrees
OF latitude, but only about one TWEEN
tieth of the land is actually used for cot
ton growing. Thus the 20, 10000 acres
OF cotton plantations represent only %
fraction of the vast empire of cotton
soil that has ever been titled.
Tho fear that cotton growing has
reached it's zenith, and that it must
soon decline, in view of the low prices
received for it, looms up every season
when the new crop begins to come in,
but Like similar nightmares, it fails to
produce any permanent results. The
world has just begun to use cotton.
Our invasion of the Japanese markets
with this product is but promise of
hat we may expect on larger scale
IN other quarters. There are over L.,
600,000,000 human beings existing Oh
this globe, and Of this number about
half are impcrfectly clad. They live
in climates where little protection is
needed, but that protection must come
III the form OF cotton clothes. The
vast hordcs of the orient, of the islands
OF the Pacific, and OF the great African
continent, require cotton goods. for
clothing: To-day they go without
them only because they are not obtain
able at prices within their means.
The worlds yield of cotton has
trcbed i'll 25 years, and it has nearly
doubled itself liz the last 10 years. Our
own product has represented IL large
percentage of this increase. India,
China and Egypt can raise cotton on Il
large scale, TOO, but, with ail their
cheap labor, the southern planter can
raise and the American manufacturer
can work up into saiablc goods our
cotton and place it in eastern markets |
g. PRICES lower tiiIii i,u natives can j
ever hope to accomplish.
Much OF this depends upon the slpc-
riOr mills which are being erected in
the cotton helt and upon the more in
telliscmt operators III them; but the
low price of cotton is Il factor OF the |
greatest Importance. Cotton has stead |
lily declined in price since the acreage |
has been increasing. Planters have !
fought this downward tendency, indi- |
vidually and collectively, but without |
avail. No one is sure that the bottom
has been reached yet. There are plcn-
ty who predict Accent cotton within |
another decade. This seems utterly
uncomfortable to the growers, especial |
~ in many of the older cotton districts,
but 80 did 6-cent and 6-cent cotton |
years ago. The attempts to restrict !
the acreage of cotton have failed re.
peatcdly. If our crop falls below -
there will be n corresponding increase
in thcacreage in other countries. Eng
lish 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 cot
ton Industry would be the signal for
the rapid eXtention of the cotton fields
of Egypt, India and even China and
Japan The law Of supply and demand
must regulate the price.
The new cotton belt is more able to
raise cotton to-day than many of the
older regions. This is duo to the bet
ter soil and climate. Texas forced
prices for cotton down more than any
other fnctor. Inthat princely domain
King Cotton fiOurished so we'll that
planters who had been struggling for
years with indifferent cotton soil could
no longer compete in the open marker.
They were showed to the wall and
forced to raise other products. Some
of the counties in the cotton States
partially or wholly broke away from
cotton and turned their attention more
to grass, grains and fruits. Others are
Sllra to f0llAay and NOT only colInt1na