The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1901-12-13
THE
Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter,
Edgerton, Wisconsin.
WHERE COTTON is KING.


The fall months of all the year is the
best time to visit the South. 1t is then
that the great cotton and sugar cane
crops are being gathered, the vast army
that is required to secure these staples
makes it the South's busy season of the
year. and the industry gives evidence of
| thrift to be seen at no other time. 1t
| is then that the millions of money needed
| to move the crop is unloosened, and you
are enabled to see the black race in the
full enjoyment Of flush times that come
but once year.
To continue the narrative began last
week, we will tell of the trip made re-
Gently down through the great delta re-
gion of Mississippi where the finest cot
ton grows and the largest yields are
obtained. What is known as the delta
region is the low valley that reaches
back % to so miles in width from the
Mississippi river, and extending from
Memphis to VicEzsburg, distance of
about 200 miles in length. The greater
part of this country is subject to over
| flow whenever the Mississippi river gets
over its banks and like the valley of the
| Nile is rich beyond measure. Every
| time the great river breaks it's levies and
| sweeps out over this vast eXpanse OF
country the soil is enriched, a process
| that has been going on for ages, until
the alluvial depth ensures the most
! bountiful crops. Here lis where cotton
grows to greater perfection than else
where in the South, where the finest
staple is produced and a yield obtained
far in excess of the average. Originally
the delta was heavily timbered tract
but gradually subdued and divided into
| the vast cotton plantations. The Nazoo
division of the Illinois Central railway
cuts the delta through it's entire length
to Vicksburg.. A ride over this line in
| any of the fall months gives one the best
| idea of the magnitude of the cotton
growing industry and the methods that
| prevail in securing it, to be obtained.
! Broad fields of white cotton balls greet
| you at every hand filled with the busy
| pickers. Cotton is assuredly the black
| mans crop. 1t is negro labor that grows
| it, and colored labor that gathers it and
| prepares it for market, even though the
4 white naan takes the proceeds ia thesend.
| The cotton field is the Negroes bank. He
| commences to draw against it as soon as
| the seed is planted, and oftentimes over
! draws the profits dong before thetcrOp is
| ready for SALE Every country head of a
darky family raises his patch of cotton
and the size of his patch determines the
| amount of credit he has with the planter
or the country store. If ;at the end of
! the season the cotton sells for enough to
| wipe out the score, he starts rightin by
| hypothecating his labor for another year.
| II little surplus lis left, it is generally
used up ia luxuries or an excursion on
the railroad or quickly disposed Of. 1t
| is on this system of credit that the bulk
of the cotton of the South is prodnced.
During the picking season from October
to the holidays the colored population
goes out into the fields from the towns
and villages and frequently earn money
enough to see them Through the winter
months. Pickers are paid by the pound
and earn from rs cents to 81 .25 per day.
There are complaints, however, of a
scarcity of help all through the cotton
belt this year, and the gathering delayed.
| On November LIST not half the crop had
been secured through the delta region.
Some of the best delta lands produce
two bales of 500 pounds each to the acre,
while the average yield over the entire
cotton belt, an old planter at Wicksburg
informed US, did not exceed one bale for
every three acres planted. The advance
in the price of this staple has added
much to the wealth of the cotton grow
ing states the past few years. Not since
the war has the price reached Scents
until the spring of 1900. Since then it
has been around cents and the present
season planters have been able to realize
about Z cents delivered at the shipping
points, which is considered a very fair
price. Statistics show that the cotton
growing states produce about ten mil
| lion bales annually of which only about
| four million are consumed in the United
States. The balance seeks the markets
of the world. The exports of this pro-
duct, therefore, brings into the southern
states upwards of 200 million dollars an
nually, DOT to mention the sum paid for
raw product consumed by the mills Of
| this country.
| Another large item of revenue from
the cotton fields is derived from the sale
of the seed. Every large planter and
| country tOWu HAS It's COttODSII Wu0I6
the loose cotton as it is picked in the
fields is taken and separated from the
seeds The loose fiber is then pressed
into bales and the seed sent to the oil
mills where it is ground, the oil extract
ed and the meal pressed into cakes and
shipped away for food or fertilizer.
From the bulls very valuable ash fer
tilizer is also obtained. Nearly one third
the value of the cotton crop is derived
from the by products. Rarely do any of
these fertilizers ever go back into the
soil that produced the crop.
Cotton is a crop that requires but lit
| tie skill in it's culture. No other great
staple of the country is produced by such
| ignorant, careless or slipshod labor. 1t
| is hard to tell what results might be OBJ
| tanned if the ways of the northern farm
er were introduced into the cotton grow
| ing states. 1t is safe to say that the
white farmer could not live on the rev.
enue derived by the colored race under
| the present methods of cotton growing.
The South, however, is satisfied with
the present ways of negro cotton grow
| ing which seems likely to continue for