The Banner-Democrat., 1899-01-21
COTTON BELT CHANGING.
MoMENTous DEVELOPMENT OF THE
GREAT SOUTHERN INDUSTRY

4
GREAT SOUTHERN INDUSTRY
rts Centre Has Moved Beyond the Missis- ,
sippi and Scientific Methods OF Culture
Have Been Adopted-Low Prices Keep
Down Foreign Competition.
North Carolina has already enough
mills within her borders to spin every
hale of cotton raised in the State and
q little to spare, and in a few years
the same will be true OF Georgia,
South Carolina and few other Az,
lantic States. But now it is predicted
that within ten years these great
Southern mills will be as far from the
centre of cotton production as the
New England mills, when the distance
is measured by freight rates. Inc
reason for this is not far to seek. Inc
cotton belt has been changing ana
shifting year by year. The great
bulk of our cotton came from the
States east of the Mississippi twenty |
wears ago, but to-day about seven
tenths Of the crop is raised beyond
that river. The cotton belt was sup
posed originally to run only through
the best lands of Virginia, Georgia
and the two Carolinas, with the edges
overlapping parts of the contiguous
States. Texas was not thought OF.
Arkansas was too far west, ana
Missouri and Kansas were supposed
to be good only for corn and cattle.
The map of the cotton belt is en-
tirely altered, and each successive
wear it must be enlarged to include
new territory where cotton fourishes
abundantly. Texas has forged ahead
in cotton raising so rapidly that grow
ers wonder where 1t will stop;
Arkansas has more recently started
npon A similar career, while the
farmers of Kansas and Missouri are
beginning to raise cotton on large
scale. At the present rate ct increase
this great belt west OF the MISSISSIPPI
will soon be raising three-fourtns OF
all our cotton. Then the mills OF the
South. around which so much interest
centres to-day, will have as great q
problem to solve as the New England
mills are struggling with.
tits estimated by the Department
Of Agriculture that cotton can be
raised successfully in nearly one-third
of the territory of the United States.
At present the cotton belt covers
twenty-four degrees of longitude and
sbout ten degrees Of latitude, but only
, about one-twentieth OF the land Is &C.
, tually used for cotton growing. Thus
the 90, 900, 900 acres of cotton planta
tions represent only fraction OF TN
vast empire of cotton soil that na'
( never been titled.
! The fear that cotton growing ha'
3 reached Its zenith, and that it mus
soon decline, in view of the low price
received for it, looms up every seasol
j., when the new crop begins to come In
= but like similar nightmares, it fails t
produce any permanent results. In
;; world has Just begun to use cotton
Our invasion of the Japanese market
k with this product is but promise {
i what we may expect on larger seal
70 in other quarters.
>. There are over /, 500, 600, 900 huma
+ beings existing on this globe, and
h this number about half are imperfectl
Of clad. They live in climates were Ii
tie protection is need, but that prote
or tion must come in the form OF cotto
In clothes. The vast hordes OF II
a. a. Orient. of the islands of the Paclh
ID and of the great African continent, r
as ouire cotton goods for clothing. u
an day they go without them only D
cause they are not obtainable at pric
40 within their means.
O. The worlds yield OF cotton D.
In trebled ia twenty-five years, and
ali has nearly doubled itself in the Ia
,ot ten years. Our own product has re
Ter resented large percentage OF this
crease. India, China and Egypt @
w. raise cotton on large scale, too, bt
er- r- with all their cheap labor, the Sout
,e ,ei ern planter can raise and the Anne
,ed can manufacturer can work up II
re, salable goods our cotton and place
the in Eastern markets at prices low
nd than the natives can ever hope to
In1 r" complish.
Cotton has steadily declined in pr
dat since tha acreage has been increasll
en- planters have fought this downw'
SO, tendency, individually and collective
on, but without avail. No one is 81
Oh that the bottom has been reached
M There are plenty who predict
cent cotton within another deca
This seems utterly inconceivabie
the growers, especially in many OF
,us' older cotton districts, but SO did
en- en- cent and 6-cent cotton years ago.
,niy ATTEMPTS to restrict the acreage OF
IS ton have failed repeatedly. II
noA' crop falls below certain point in
worlds supply there will be Col
spending increase in the acreage
other countries. English capital
brains are working hard in Egypt
control the cotton trade OF the
East, and any tendency to loosen
hold upon the great cotton indu
would be the signal for the rapid
tension of the cotton fields OF Eg
India and even China and Japan.
law of supply and demand must r
late the price. :.
- The new cotton belt is more alb
N raise cotton to-day than many OF
81 older regions. This is due to the