The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-10-10
COTTON GROWERS FACTORIES

has gone into operation and farmers
can store cotton and secure three
fourths Of the market value for use
and leave the last fourth to pay costs
of storage, commission, interest and
insurance and take advantage Of the
market conditions to sell when prices
are satisfactory.
This plan is not very original, but
the Wake County Alliance has put il
into operation for the year 1~899-19OO.
Cotton Gems destined to advance
sharply on account of short crops, and
this will greatly favor the movement.
But how about a year Of good
crops in the Southwest9 It will not
then work so well.
WHY NOT NOW BEGIN A PLAN WHICH
WILL WORK BETTERR
Let us talk over a plan. Suppose
we take the case of Wake county,
which will merely serve as an exam
pie and the plan we propose should in
terest farmers in other counties equally
as much.
It requires no great effort on the
part of every farmer who saves, or
makes money by means OF the storage
business to deposit in a r aleigh bank
a part or all Of what he has realized
over and above what he would have
received for his cotton by selling as he
would have done before the advent of
this storage plan. The money thus
collected in, say the National Bank of
Raleigh, the Citizens, and the Com.
mercial and Farmers to the amount of
$50, 900 or $25, 900 would be a nucleus
sufficiently large to begin the erection
of o. cotton mall.
The Farmers Cotton Mill would
when started use several thousand
bales of cotton each year. Our Wake
county farmers would then have q
ready market for this number of bales.
They may count it worth 5 cents
when it reaches the factory, or they
may carry it further and pay another
set of hands to turn it into yarn, or
cloth, and count the end price fairly
distributed over both farm and fac
tory operations. Wake county has
business farmers enough to see the
point and put this plan in operation, if
a sufficiently large number Of them
are still raising cotton.
Suppose the price Of cotton goes to
eight cents0 There will be such an
acreage planted next year as to fairly
stRggar the statisticians. Then the
price will be low and the money for
the great eff ort will be but little more
abundant than it would have been for
a less crop, and although the aggre,
gate may be larger, it will have cost so
much more as to be a losing crop.
With this condition and a factory to
use up home production, our farmer
friends will be in the market for cot
ton at the low price to store or run the
mill day and night in order to take
their ehare in the general factory pres
perity.
We are not going into details. II
other men with money can hire archi-
CeCts, mechanics and operatives to make
cotton cloth our farmer friends can do
it as well, by giving time and atten-
ton to the business. The business
tact, foresight, and courage of Wake
county has not all been developed yet.
There is much of it still raising cotton,
strange al this ass 3rtion may eeem in
the face of the fact that five cent
cotton has long been considered un-
profitable, and that r lleigh alone he's
put three successful plants to work on
c)tton and sells all the output at hand
some advances above cost. This plan
does not contemplate calling the Dur
ham or Johnson county farmers to
gether in convention, but it does de
pend on an individual action by you,
Mr.. Wake County Cotton Grower.
You can start this by declaring to your
cotton storing agent that you will DO
it. Deposit your money ii a bank and
invite your neighbor to do likewise.
When the number has reached to
81, 900 Or SIS, 900 call a meeting notify
ing every man whose name has been
put down at the storage whether he
whether he lives in Wake, johnston,
Chatham, Franklin, or any
other county. These can organize the
Farmers Cotton Growing and Manu-
featuring Co., to be built as soon as
the funds have reached the safe point
o. course no one would b expected
to take part in this meeting who has
not contributed to the fund. Toe 90
ject in notifying all is to encourage
who have not. buE who NOV