The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-29

in each State a statistical agent who is
thoroughly familiar with the conditions
of the State and commands the respect
of his fellow citizens. Among these
agents may be mentioned Professor
Withers, of the State Agricultural C6l-
lege, in this city; Ex-Governor Nerthen,
of Georgia, and General James H. Lane,
of Alabama. These gentlemen, and 9TH
ers heldihg like positions in the different
States, have their own correspondents,
to the number of $780, entirely indepen-
dent of the correspondents who report
directly to Washington. The county cor
respondents and their assistants number
about the same, $500, besides which we
| have 10000 correspondents reporting
| each for his immediate neighborhood,
| making total, as l have already said,
of 1900 in the cotton region alone.
These men are very conservative, and
| cotton growing in the South has been in
creasing with wonderful strides. Some
| times we have failed to keep pace with
it in our first estimate, and when the
condition of the crop has been except
ionally good or exceptionally bad, our
respondents-simply from over-con-
servatism-and afraid to take either too
optimistic view of the situation in the
one case or too pessimistic a view in the
other case-have not fully realized the
extremely good or extremely bad condi-
tions.
In order, therefore, to strengthen our
| crop reporting system in the South
| appointed last year a special field agent,
| whose entire time is devoted to per-
| sonal investigation of conditions. This
| special agent was born in the South, has
| lived there all his life, and rs thoroughly
| familiar with every branch of the cot
| ton industry.
Many of you have met him, for not the
least important part of his duty is to
form a connecting link between the de-
partment and its various correspondents,
with whom he takes every opportunity of
comforting.
Largely as the result of the special
efforts to attain accuracy, the department
was able in December last to publish an
estimate of the crop of $500, 900 bales,
| that has turned out to be within very
few thousand bales, about one tenth of
one per cent, of what it's subsequent
movement has shown it to be.
The same earnest and sympathetic eff
| forts are being made to report accurately
| upon conditions this year as resulted so
| successfully last year, and it is extremely
| gratifying to see the increased conf
dence with which the departments re-
| ports are received. The report issued
on the tenth of this month was some
| what less favorable than had been OK
| pected, and the price of cotton at once
| advanced by something like $3.50 bale
From our latest sources of information
| it appears that there are, in North Caro-
lima, 16S mills. 22,1 7S looms, ,0O3, 26S spin
dies, which consumed $50, 231 bales of cot
| ton in 1899. The total consumption in
| the Southern States for the year was
| 1,400,026 bales. If we consider the rate
of growth of manufacturing in the South
ern States, it is reasonably safe to es-
innate that one-fourth of the crop of
the Southern States is being manufac-
tured within her borders
Coming back to the industries of North
Carolina, l find that your Labor Com
missioner, in 1898, reported $4,000 per-
sons employed in your manufactures of
cotton, tobacco and lumber, upon whom
as he estimates, 235, 900 people are di-
rectly dependent. But you are extending
your manufacturing industries very rap
idly, and it is safe to conclude that 3O0,-
600 people arc dependent at this time
bacco and lumber. That is, there are
100000 people in North Carolina who do
not produce anything on the farm, but
who do consume what is produced on the
farm; who get money for manufacturing
and pay it to the farmer.
The exports of raw cotton from the
United States to Asia in 1870 were 1882
In,
$13, 22S ,269. The exports of manufactured
cotton from the United States to Asia
and Oceanica in 1870 were 1922, 1868; in 1880
they were $69S, 194; in 1890 $2,3O3, 1874 and
in 1890 they reached a total of $12 ,362,-
3S7.
OF the total exports of cotton manu-
features to all parts of the world, the
| Orient took, in 1870 16 per cent; in 1880
| Z peg cent; in 1890 % per cent, and in
| 1900 50 per cent. The value of the ex-
ports to oriental countries in 1900 was,
as stated, $12,363, 1857, while the total ex-
ports of manufactured cottons to all
parts of the world was $23, 9S0,001.
| A Wholesale dealer in manufactured
| cottons, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland,
is now in the United States, making pur-
| chases of goods to take to that city.
|
| moneys to several foreign countries and
! certain lines of manufactured cotton
] goods being bought in the United States
by dealers in Scotland, it indicates very
emphatically the position now occupied
by our country among the nations of the
| earth.
Today / am a North Carolina man, adj
vising you to bring your farms to the
very highest condition of production, so
| that to as great an extent as possible,
you can feed your own people. You may
rest assured the great Northwest will
| find markets for all its surplus. | have
| looked carefully into the agricultural pro-
| auctions of North Carolina reported by
your statisticians in 1899 North Carolina
raised in 1899, 81 953, 1853 bushels of corn.
! The Department of Agriculture is CO.
| operating with scientists outside, with
regard to the improvement of corn. You
raised 1896, sos bushels of wheat, and the
! Department of Agriculture has now
| agents in northern Russia seeking wheats
| that are rust proof, rich in gluten. etc.
while the Division of Vegetable Physiolo-
gy and Pathology is cross breeding
wheats in order to get new varieties
| from which to select something which
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