The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-09-11
HESTER ON THE COTTON CROP.
NEW ORLEANS FAMOUS COTTON
sTATIsTICIAN IN SAVANNAH.


spent the DAY Here and visited the
Cotton ENchange-Has just Finish
ed Has work of Making Up the
Figures Of the Last Crop and L.
Now Taking Hest-Not Making
Any Predictions an. 90 This Years
Crop. hut lie Regard. the Outlook
n bright for the southern Farm
cr-smaII Cotton seed oil mills
Have Been n DiE Help.
Mr. q. 7. Hester. secretary Of tho New
Orleans cotton exchange. spent yesterday
In Savannah and was visitor upon the
floor Of the Savannah cotton exchange
Naturally the presence OF man who s.
regarded as The most reliable cotton sta
tFtlcian In the country. and whose figures
OF the cotton movement are eagerly
watched for each week. was a matter OF
some interest TO the members OF the ex-
change aud Mr.. Hester was given a warm
welcome.
The excited condition OF the cotton mar
ket al the time did not prevent the men,
hcrs from showing Mt Hester the attcn-
ton which he deserved. and doubtless
some OF them felt that the counsel OF the
well-known expert would he valuable AT
such time. Mr.. Hester referred inqulr-
ers TO his recent statement OF she crop
Of the year ending sept. /. and the con-
dltious as TO the supply existing at that
time and stated that he thought the Sep
TENDER report Of the Department OF Agri-
culture gave a fair idea Of present con
ditions
When seen by Morning News reporter
NIr. Hester talked pleasantly Of matters
relating TO his work. but declined laugh
ingiy to make any estimate as 70 the com
Ing crop. though he minated that all the
indications To.nfed to a crop considerably
below the average Of recent years.
Il do not make estimates" said Mr.
Haster. II deal in facts and allow other
men TO make calculations upon the hg
urcs which give them. The prophet who
mikes predictions comes 60 grief sooner
or later. He may HIT Il right nine times
IN succession and miss II the tenth time
whereupon he will be unanimously de-
ciared fool Witness my friend Nelll In
New orleans. NELL was honest In HE
prediction rs to the last yesrs crop. The
and his system mlsled him"
y have been putting In some hard work
during the month OF August" said Mr..
Hester. getting up the data for the crop
Of iSsa-lsoo. Ia order that my figures might
be given to the public ~ usual on Sep
TENDER J. You have already published
my report Naturally / feel that after
completing this task ] am entitled to
some recreation and I am simply taking
IA Fhrnuum a ~ heF
cotton Giles before returning 20 my desk"
Mr.. Hester has been compiling these
crop reports for the last thirty years. be-
ginning this work as secretary OF the
National Gotten Exchange. which had its
headquarters IN New ORGANS. and con-
tlnuing q in his present capacity as sec
rotary aud superintendent OF the New
Orleans Exchange which position he has
uhed for number OF years. Naturally
he is well Nersed in everything that per-
tains 10 the south's great crop, though
MS reports deal chiefly with the weekly
crop movement.
The Southern farmer in on top for
the hrst time in n number OF years" said
Mr. Hester. and the Indications are that
he will stay there for awhile. lie recetv-
81 good price for last years crop and
that there IS every reason to believe that
ne Will receive a better price for this crop
The good price which he re-
ceivtd for last years crop. the economy
which he has been forced 20 exercise for
the last several years. the raising Of sup
plies AZ home which he had been buying
from other sections. have all helped to
make him independent one Of the great
es' helps TO the farmer during che last
season was the good price ne received for
hts cotton seed. Seed brought from $40 Ia
SO ton md The value OF the crop in cash
TO the Southern farmers. after deducting
10 per cent. for seed for the next crop.
was -nos less than SG1.00O000. That's a big
item. Another cheerful feature In this
connection IS the number Of small cotton
oil mills which have sprung upall through
the delta and Texas and doubtless in this
section as well. These mills are often To-
Gated 1--WE miles from railroad. $1,000 to
$1,000 plants most Of them. and operated
by the men who furnish The money They
buy their seed from It's farmers OF the sur
rounding country and sell them IN return
cotton seed meal and other products. thus
saving freight both ways. Conducted in
this manner the small mills are practically
rust proof and are keeping q great deal
Of money IN the South that would other
wise 20 10 other sections"
As 10 the conditions OF the present crop
MIR Hester said that there IL a great deal
81 complaint from the delta and from
Texas and he had been advised that the
condition OF the crop in the section was not
the hest by a good deal. The September
weather report furnished fair statement
Of the conditions he thought.
1T Is too early 10 form an opinion az 10
what effect the storm damage in Texas
viii have upoR the crop" he said. I'VE
shall have TO wait for more definite infor-
nation. I sincerely trust that Galveston
is not 80 severely hurt as to-day's reports
would indicate. Notwithstanding our RI
valry a. cotton ports. New Orleans and
Galveston enjoy the most friendly rela-
tons. True should Galveston be so badly
hurt as 20 be unable TO handle her usual
proportion OF the cotton crop. New or
leans will cheerfully relieve her Of the
burden. and no doubt savannah will lend
a hand also"
Mr. Hester took the Central train for
Atlanta last night. from whence he will
go TO Birmingham and other cities.
--e-&-@--
An Omen Letter.