The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-26
TIMELY LETTER ISSUED.
Sound Advice to the Farmers that III.
VIII DO Well to Heed With.
ont Delay.

The following letter sent on. By
Latham, Alexander x Co, of New
York. is most timely and intcrcstng
1t seems to us that the most vitally
important lesson for the South to
learn is that over production Of cotton
is seriously harmful to the material
prosperity of that section.
We have repeatedly written on this
subject and feel that we have exhaust
cd the argument: nevertheless, with
the result of the current crop. we are
constrained to write again, even at
the risk of reitcrating what we have
said before
Whatever share the merchants and
planters OF the South are to have in
the rcvira! Of business and General
prosperity Of the country, now appar-
| emily well started, Will depend upon
the profit that is made in the proluc-
tion OF cotton. Il crop worth 500,
600 900.
The total crop .! l>:',-:H WAS o.
lo1 ,3i6 bales. and it was sold IL The
, average OF SN9 cent, per pound. or
$i0.S2 per bale, according to be rec
! ord Of exports and lie official figures
OF the bureau of statistics at Wash
ington. The planters that year made
large food crops, and when the plant
ing season the next year began, they
were fortified with every requisite to
produce cotton chcaply.
Last year the total crop was S.77551.-
96f bales, and the average price was
7.l2 cents per pound, or $37.fO per
bale, the crop yielding perhaps larg-
cr net profit than for many years. be
cause planters had few supplies to
buy.
The success resulting from the con-
servative policy which was pursued
these two years did not induce plant
ers to adhere to that line Of action;
on the contrary, they increased their
purchases Of fertilizers this year, and
many Of them driitcd back almost to
the all-cotton principle. and planted
the largest cotton acreage ever known,
hoping that the werld would pay re-
munerstivo prices for the staple. no
matter how large the supply.
The disastrous result Of ovcr-plant-
ing this year is already clearly shown
by comparison with last year, when
the acreage devoted to cotton was de-
cidedly less.
Last year the amount of cotton mar
kctcd to January lst was G,39S, 1852
bales, the average price realized was
7.33 cents per pound, $37.?7 per bale,
or $242 ,939, ,35O
This year z 7,26O, ,O33 bales were mar
kctcd to January 1st, the average
price realized was 6.05 cents per
pound, $30.49 per bale, or s221 ,358,-
.i06.
The planters shipped to market
861 ,841 bales of cotton more by Janu-
ary 1st this year than last, and re-
ceived for them $2l ,580,944 less
money. LII other words owing to the
lower price. induced by over-produc-
tion, the people of the South have
lost on cotton shipped to market by
January lst this year, the total value
of SCI ,S41 bales, namely, So, 724 l02,
and $21 ,5S0,944 besides, making a
grand total loss Of $54, ,305, ,Oi6.
10 further illustrate the ruinous
effect Of over planting, we make the
following summary of crops and
prices: iS93-94 crop 7,54o,8l7 bales,
average price 1868, proceeds ;292, ,932,,
S99; l894-95 crop 1901 ,25l bales, av-
erage price 5.79, proceeds $2SS, ,91S,-
504; 1895-96 crop I 7,157 BAG bales, av-
eragc price 809, proceeds 1892 .2,334, :
437; 1869 crop 1857 ,964 bales, av-
erage price 7.42, proceeds 1927 ,547,-
854.
1t will be seen that in l893-34 a
crop Of Z ,049,617 bales sold for S4,-
Ola, 1906 more than the large crop Of
1901 PSI bales the next year; in
1895.96 crop Of only Z l57 1856 bales
brought $3,3l5, ,933 more than the o.
90l PSI crop, and that the crop of s.
787 ,954 bales last year brought S38,-
629 $50 more than was received for
9,90l ,25l bales marketed III iS:ii-9;1.
Such :::::o3asosiuinic facts show what
tanned by over-production, and arc
sufficien to cause n radical change in
planting operations.
1t is conceded on every hand that
the price thus far received for this
year crop has yielded no profit to
the planter, and even though more
than two-thirds Of the crop have been
sold to this date, prices are even yet
below the cost of production.
On account of the large crop and
low prices resulting thcrefrom, it is of
vital Importance, not only to the
South, but the whole country, that
the cotton acreage for next year be
materially reduced in order to advance
the price of the greatest staple pro
duct of the United States to paying
basis.
If the planters of the South suffer
loss the people Of the whole country
must share in it.
The South cannot stand another
cotton crop of the same Dimensions as
this years without bringing about
disaster and bankruptcy to planters
and handlers of cotton. and relative
harm to the general mercantile inter