The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-02-26
THE COST OF RAISING COTTON.
The Result of Investigations by the
Agricultural Department..

Under the supervision OF Statistician
Hyde, of the Department of Agriculture,
the cost of growing cotton has been inves-
tigated and the results OF the iuvestiga-
ton have JUST been published as Bulletin
No. Is, Miscellaneous Series. Division OF
Statistics. In this report it is shown that
the average cost OF producing an acre of
upland cotton in 1886 was SIZE. subdivid
ed into the following items: Rent s2.ss;
blowing, S2.Sl; seed. Il cents; planting
seed, 2S cents; fertilizers, S1.30; distribut-
ing fertilizers. 16 cents; chopping and hoe
ing sE31; picking, 1897; ginning and
pressing, si.0S; bagging and ties 81 cents:
marketing 81 cents; repairing implements.
10 cents; all other expenses. IL cents.
1t was ascertained that the pounds of
lint produced per acre were 255.6. and
sold for 81 cents per pound; the bushels
OF seed produced were i6, and the price
per bushel l1.9 cents. The total return
to the planter, on the average, was Sl9.0S,
which gave him 4 net profit of 1851 per
acre. The cost of picking cotton per 100
pounds was "A cents, while the cost OF
producing the lint per pound was 5.27
cents.
Several thousand cotton planters contri-
buted to these statistics. and of the entire
number reporting 20 per cent reported a
loss. The cause of financial loss was gen.
orally the deficient production owing to
drought or other causes that injured the
plants.
To produce sea island cotton cost SCI 95
per acre, or an average of 11.59 cents per
pound; and the total return for lint and
! seed of sea island cotton was S2S.65, which
| gave the planter net profit of S6.I0 per
| acre.
The planters that reported a profit in
the raising of upland cotton produced 2T5.9
| pounds per acre, while those that report
/ ed n loss produced only i76 pounds. The
I effect of the use of fertilizers in the rails
/ ing of cotton is very distinctly disclosed.
and the general result is that in proportion
! as the quantity of fertilizers used increas-
ed the profit of raising cotton per acre
! also increased.
! 1t was discovered in this investigation
| that cotton is produced to a limited eN-
| tent, but at high rate of profit. by means
J of irrigation. in western Texas and in the
southwestern corner of Utah; in Texas ir-
rigation had the effect of producing 512.i
pounds of lint per acre, which is 1903
| pounds greater than the average for the
! whole State.
The work of the department in this in
| vestigation covers the cost of cotton pro-
dueton as far back as 1922, but the state
! ments previous TO 1876 are mostly indi-
| vidual estimates. For 1876 many special
| enquiries were made by a former statisti-
clan of the department, and these estab-
lished the cost of producing lint cotton per
| pound, in gold, at $50 cents.
One of the most remarkable revelations
| of this investigation is the comparative
| cost of marketing cotton in 1910 and 1897.
| The comparison is itemiZed and shows
| that in 1910 it cost S1s.l5 to market a bale
| of cotton from Alabama to Liverpool
while in 1891 the cost was s7.S9. The re-
| port of the department on this subject
| covers wide range of information with
regard to the production and marketing of
cotton, cost OF labor and supplies. and
| gives many details of cotton production, by
| counties. in the South.