The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-03-20
CENSUS OF COTTON GINNING
A New Method to Obtain the Stats
tics of the Cotton Crop.

Various efforts have been made TO
per'cct agencies for securing early and
trustworthy information as to The
quantity of cotton annually grown IN
lhc United States, with view to re-
ducing TO minimum the fluctuations
lncident to an industry so greatly de-
pendent upon supply and demand.
statistics of this crop used in com
mcrcial centcrS have to do with the
cotton as marketed during each year
ending August 81, and are gathered
very largely through reports of trans.
portation lines touching the cotton
le.ds. So long as it was safe TO as
sumo that practically the whole of the
cotton crop reached ITS market through
these common carriers, their reports
constituted a fairly trustworthy basis
1Or estimates of the commercial crop
but, az much cotton now goes directly
from the fields to the mills without
passing through the hands of transpor-
tatlon companies, this means of gather
ing cotton statistics is annually becom
ing more and more unsatisfactory. All
returns are made in commercial bales,
which Is an unsatisfactory unit Of meas
urc. During the past century the
crage weight of the commercial bale
more than doubled. In some sections
the cotton bale now means the square
package averaging in weight 49S
pounds. In other regions 1t means a
bale of 400 pounds, while in still other
localities Is found the round bale aver
aging 259 pounds. None of The means
hitherto employed has reported the
number and weight of these divers
kinds of commercial bales. The rela.
tive number of square and round bales
is changing and with tins the average
weight of the ordinary unit, the com
mercial bale, is being modified. Hence
the importance of substituting fixed
unit like pound for variable unit of
measure like bale, thus enabling the
country to know the actual quantity of
cotton produced.
Believing that the reports Of cotton
ginners, showing the number and aver.
age weight of the bales passing through
their hands during given year, would
afford trustworthy statistics, the United
States ,CHnsus Ollice has by correspon.
dcnGe' land through the cnumcrators
obtained from each ginning establish
ment pfmRc' country a report of the
quaitity of cotton handled of the clol
of 1899.
The attempt TO obtain the statistic.
of the cotton crop through this agenc,
has been SO successful, and the metho,
promises to develop statistics so mucl
more complete and satisfactory thar
those heretofore adopted that the Di
rector of the Census has decided t,
undertake an annual census of the cot
ton crop through the direct coopcratio,
of the ginners.
The success of this annual colto
crop report must depend altogcthc
upon the promptncss and accurac
with which reports are received. A
the information solicited is very largcl
for the benefit of the cotton 9inncr
and cotton growers, it is believed tha
the gnners Will cordially respond {
:hc efforts of the Census ONCE TO rel
der this service to the South and TO a
those interested in its great staple.
, The Census Office is now undcrta|
ing to obtain the facts regarding til
/ cotton crop OF 1900, through blanl
, mailed to the cotton giuncrs. Thcs
, inquiries should be promptly and a
curately answered and returned
once in the franked envelope, whit
4 requires no postage. Ginncrs will n
q fail to see that the success of this i
r. quiry will rebound greatly to the
: benefit, and they should be prompt
report TO the Bureau the names n,
addresses of new ginning cstablis
meats, as well as any changes in t
F" management Of old ones.