Iron County register., 1899-08-10
THE COMING COTTON CROP.
It Now Promises to Be Big and Valuable
One-The Prospects as to Price and
Quality-Cotton Goods Higher.

One-The Prospects as to Price and
Quality-CottonG Goods Higher.
st. Louis, Aug. 3.-In the memory OF
the cotton factors of st. Louis cotton
has never been so low in price as it is
right now. Last year and the year be-
| fore that the crop was enormous. Each
year witnessed the production of about
| II .a5G,o00 bales. This year, up to date.
| the prospects are bright for even a
larger crop, although in many of the
cotton-growing sections the acreage
has been reduced. Right now, however.
is the critical juncture in the growing
crop. and too much of one kind of
weather or not enough of another kind
may make all predictions look wild.
One year ago to-day cotton was SELL
ing about three-quarters of one cent
/ higher than it is now. The crop of that
| year was almost perfect. Cotton fac
tors believe that prices viii at least be
sustained even if this years crop is as
! great as its two predecessors. They
| base their hope on the enormous de-
mand now existing for cotton goods,
not only in America, but across the At
t lantic also. A falling off of the crop
would naturally have d tendency to in
| crease prices. There are now 700, ZOO
| bales more in the visible supply than
| was the case one year ago, but the
dealers say that it is mostly poorstock.
Very little of it is fine grade cotton.
The demand is sure to continue
| good, and within the next few months
something is likely to occur that will
have the effect of strengthening the
market to considerable extent. About
one-half of the cotton now raised in
the United States is exported. The
other half is consumed by the manu-
| factories at home. The exported por-
ton goes to England, France, Ger
many and Japan. A few years ago Ja-
pan was buying from $4,000 to $4,000
bales a year from this country. Last
year that country took 100000. The
! increase indicates how rapidly Japan
| is developing as manufacturing coun-
| try, and that in the near future it is
going to be d competitor in many lines
I of goods that it is now only beginning
to manufacture. Japan is a center of
cheap labor. The cost of manufacture
| ing is very low, compared with the
cost in this country, England and 9th
er European countries.
| While cotton, the raw material, is
! selling three-quarters of a cent lower
| than it did at this period last year,
manufactured cotton goods are sell
i ing seven-eighths of a cent higher
now than then. This is due, it is
claimed, to the great demand for cot
| ton goods on the two continents. In
all New England, it is said, there is not
a spindle idle and the mills are run
ming night and day to keep up with
| their orders, and many of them lave
| found it impossible to supply the de-
lnand. Others have orders that can
not be filed before the early months
of 1900. Two and three years ago con-
! ditions among the New England man.
! ufactories were entirely different.
F.! There were thousands of idle spindles
and thousands of idle hands. Lack Of
work in that section of the country, as
well as every other section, reduced
the demand for goods. The people did
not have the money to spend and they
, were not buying as they are now. The
! same condition prevailed to some ex-
!
demand was not so great.
! One year ago prints were selling for
/ two cents yard. The same goods are
now selling for 234 cents. Other cot
| ton goods have undergone even a
greater advance at the mills and no
one is in a position just now to pre-
dict what the near future will be.
| Reports on cotton goods from every
country are exceedingly optimistic in
tone. Everywhere everything is said
f, to be sold up and the mills are crowd
ed with orders. If such a condition
continues it would seem that. even
though this years cotton crop turns
out to be as large as its two preJe-
! cessors, cotton will advance despite
| that fact. At present dealers are fig
uring on a crop of 10,50O,O00 bales.
Such a crop, many believe, would sure
ly sustain present prices. Some are OF
the opinion that it would result IN the
enhancement of prices. Few, if any,
dealers look for it to go any lower, no
matter what the yield is.
st. Louis factors are handling
more cotton now than they ever
did before, but ST. Louis, as a city, is
not handling as much as it has in
years gone by. There was time
when nearly all the purchases of st.
Louis men were shipped to ST. louis.
Now great proportion of it is shipped
direct from the interior to the eastern
mills or to the port from which it is
exported. Most of the export article
goes to Liverpool, Manchester and
| Hayre.
The best grades of staple cotton still
come from the Mississippi and Arlan-
sas bottoms. The acreage in ArkaIi-
sas this year is reduced. That of Mis-
sissippi is about the same as it was last
year. So far there has been too much
rain in the bottom lands for the crop,
and dry weather is needed there from
now until the crop natures. In Mis-
| sissippi, while the rains have injured
the crop in the bottoms it has helped
that of the uplands.
There has been a slight increase in
the acreage in the Indian territory this