The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-11-27
Our Cotton Experts Blamed.

To the Editor OF the News and Cou-
rier: Your cotton men do not know
their business. Here in Barnberg aud
Barnwell counties number Of farmers
are planting a hybrid cotton with
very soft, silky fibre dnd New England
mills are taking it readily now at 13i
cents the pound.
made small shipment of this cot
ton to a we'll known cotton firm of
your city some time ago aud they class
it as ordinary cotton. Cotton planted
from the seed grown upon the same
acre last year, taken from tho same
seed pile this spring, grown under the
same conditions and of no better
grade, sold in New England few days
ago at 49, cents.
have ordered the factor to ship this
cotton to- New England and unless Il
mistake has occurred that factor will
open his eyes when he hears from it.
The name and fame of this cotton is
spreading like forest fire in dry
time. Thousands of acres of it will be
planted next year and every bale will
go to New England. In ten years this
cotton will be growing up to the city
limits of Charleston and no doubt will
be shipped direct from farm to factory.
Charleston factors fear are too.
much interested in sea island cotton
and fear that good grade Of upland
long will ipjure tho value of sea island.
A prominent New England firm wrote
me last spring that the above class of
cotton was being purchased because
sea island was scarce and high and
was being consumed in the place of sea
island.
The average Yankee knows good
thing when he sees it. Two years ago
he could get all the Egyptian long cot
ton he needed at Alexandria at 6 1-8
cents, yaS he took all the above men
toned cotton he could get ut ID cents
the pound.
The ruling price last year for Egyp-
tian on the Nile was 12 cents, yet the
New England mills took ours ut 144
cents. This season Egyptian cotton
has declined, yet Carolina upland long
sells at 133 Mt the Northern mills.
Therefore prices warrant me in say
ing that we have an upland cotton here
that is superior to Egyptian and Is
being usedin the place of sen island.
Your cotton men may condemn It, but
that is not going to stop the planting
Of this cotton. The experimental stage
has been passed, the Rnbicon crossed
md, as the armies of Caesar overruu
Britain, 30 also is this cotton going to
invade it and drive out in measure
the half million bales of Oriental long
cotton sold there yearly.
Can we Over-stock the long cotton
market7 The world produces now
about 100000 bales of long cotton of
600 pounds. Egypt produces over 90.
per cent of this cotton, a low grade
brown cotton. The planters there
barely can live ut present prices and it
wonld not be hard job to drive them
entirely ont of the cotton business
DO not poSe as u prophet, but pre-
dict that in the next decade the South
Carolina farmer is going to drive the
farmers. of the land of the Khedive out
of the long cotton market also consid-
erably cheaper the values Of sea island
cotton, and that he will stand upon
business footing as solid as the rocks
Of Gibraltar. This is no dream, no
sinister scheme for personal aggran-
dizement, but fact fraught with
blessings and freighted with prosperity.
A. w. BRABHAN.
Kearse, Bamberg County, Nov. 18.