The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-08-28
TEXAS COTTON ACREAGE
Mr.. :. S. Holmes, Jr., Of Washington Look
Ink Into The Matter.
AN EXHIBIT FOR THE PARIS EXPOSITION
It's Growtb-IIow Government
Estimates Arc Made.

!; oStiOulturdl department OF the tnlltu
, States government. arrived In the city
from New Orleans yesterday morning and
viii remain here until tonight or tomorrow
Il orning.
Mr.. Holmes visit to Texas and other
rerts of the South is for a two-fold pur-
pose. The government wishes to make
some changes in the manner In which 1t
har been getting information on which to
base its acreage reports, and while in this
section on this business its representative
viii look into the matter OF n cotton ex-
hibit from the Southern States for the
Paris exposition.
Mr.. Holmes, it viii be remembered, was
in Houston for the second time about
month ago. his first visit having been
made on the occasion OF a drill held here
some years past on which occasion he
came TO the city as a member OF one Of
the visiting companies. The visit last
month was for the purpose of investigating
damage to crops done by the recent foods
in the Brazos bottoms and TO furnish the
department at Washington with report
thereon This report was filed soon after
his return TO the capital and a synopsis
of It appeared in The Post of the 18th in
stant. Mr. Holmes left Washington imme
diately after completing the report and
has been absent ever since. He has not
yet been advised whether or not the re
port in its entirety has been issued by the
department, but is inclined to the belief
! that II has not been.
| The Paris exhibit Is only incidental to
my present trip said Mr.. Holmes in con-
lVersation with a representative of The
Post yesterday. This fact, however. will
! not deter me from doing all in my power
| TO arrange the matter so that the South
| VIII be properly represented as to the cot
| ton industry al the exposition. The space
assigned for the exhibit is rather limited
but we hope to make a very creditable
showing nevertheless The idea is to show
! the different kinds of cotton in all the va
rious stages of rs growth from the time
/ the seed is put into the ground until the
staple is ready for the manufacturer We
Will have nothing to do with the textile eA
| hitit, which will be In charge of another
| department. | have worked on the mat
! tel all the way from Memphis down the
! river to New Orleans and thence to Hous- /
1 ten, and from the number of people who /
! have become interested and promised their /
/ assistance in the premises | think that | |
can safely say that the exhibit will be of /
| such nature as to reflect great credit on
the South and her people. II will, too |
] undoubtedly be extremely instructive TO
| those who have never visited or lived in a
U
sequence know little or nothing Of the |
methods employed in the culture OF the
| staple. great many foreigners, | pre-
sumo, will be surprised to learn that cot
| ton does not grow on trees or is not dug
| out of the ground.
During my stay here will talk the !
matter over with the cotton men of the
city. and ] have no doubt that Houston
and South Texas will do their share toward i
making the exhibit from this section
! creditablc one, | shall go from here to
| Dallas, Waco and other points in the CEN
! tfai and northern parts of the State and |
VIII seek TO interest the people there az
| Wen as In the cotton belt of the Indian |
! Territory, which ! intend to visit later
| have not, of course, since my arrival |
hore, had any opportunity to ascertain how
the matter as viewed by the local inter-
eets, but | feel sure that the exhibit Will
meet with their hearty and sincere sup
| port"
About this matter of acreage. Mr..
Holmes" said the reporter. What steps
do you expect TO take toward remedylng
and correcting the Irregularities in the
system OF gathering Information in use
at PRESENT.
Simply BY looking into The matter per
sonally and by attempting to secure only
/ The most conservative and reliable men
TO furnish MS with the information we de-
sire, =; present our reports are based en-
'i'iS VI Whit is sent us DN our cores .
pondents in the various Southern States Z
and, while of course those corresponlents
are able 10 give only approximate figures
we wish to make sure that the information
] they send us is as nearly correct as n ,
possibly can he. The acreage reports male
by the department in the past have NOT
been what we could have wished Them IN
be and this year we are making a special
effort to get to the bottom OF the natre-
The reports are not issued at regulat in
/ tervals The estimate for 1895 for in
stance has not yet been sent out For
next year we will rely in a consider BILE
degree on The figures of the census SUI
perVisors and we hone by using every
effort towards that end to he able to com
pile statement which will be nenrer no.
enrate than any which has vet been sem
out"
You will not, then. utilize the same
methods as are made use of by Mr.. NeiIl ,
or New orleans In arriving al your con- ,
customs was suggested
Hardly" replied he government ex
pert, In fact the manner in which Nc ga !
ABOUT me matter Is exactly opposite fran 4
that adopted by Mr.. NELL. He rrst makes i
statement as to the size of the crop AMI
then, working back from these figures. ar i
rives al an acreage estimate. willis an ,
the other hand, The government secures in. h
formation regarding the number of acres
cultivated and then makes its estimates
as TO the yield had talk with Mir
Mem in New Orleans one day last week
ana we discussed these matters very thor n
oughly." !,
During the conversation Mr. Holmes =,
gave some interesting statistics regarding q
the damage done by the Brazos OVERT NV,
and CT the effect OF the flood on the crop -
of tho State, but as The figures 10 que.- -
ton We're included in the publication q. "
ms report SEM out from Washington they in
are not repeated here. Mr. Holmes went :.
about the work of gathering this nfor- -
nation In very careful and thorough =,
manner and the figures are as nearly ao- y
e,urate as II was possible to get them I'M "
der the circumstances.