The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-19
SOUTHERN PROGRESS.
SCARCITY or LABoa PREVENTS
 1NczEAsE IN COTTON YIELD.
The Manufacturers Records Sym posium on Question of Decrease in the Production of the
 Southern Staple.

Sattlmore. Dec, H--tSpecial )-The s.anufacturers' Rcco: '. in continuance Of it's discussion of the cotton crop as pre- sented last week, has submittc.. to the connmissioners of agriculture ana ths i, presidents of all the agricultural colleges In the South. to several hundred leading cotton manufacturers. oil mill men, com mission merchants. bankers. growers and others. the following inquiry:
 Is there danger of q permanent de- crease in cotton production in the South? If 50, is it due
 0l To deterioration of seed by reason of the. best seed being sold to oil mills, e, To decline in the fertility of the soil by reason of bad cultivation under the tenantry system. or
 (S To lack of farm labor since tho industrial development of the South has drawn many hands from the country Q the cities. or are all three of these fac- tors to be recloned with?
 The Manufacturers Record begins the publication of replies in this weeks is- sue and expects to continue for several weeks to present the views of the best informed people of the South on these questions, so vital not only to this sec ton, but to the whole world Dealing with the replies. it says:
 "The letters published to-day deal mainly with the conditions which prevail in the Caroiinas and Georgia. Following these will como next week letters from the far South, in which the conditions may be presented as entirely different from those in the upper South. The iet- ters published show a wide diversity of views but the predominant note in all of them, with few exceptions. Is that scarcity of farm labor will make 1t dif- fieult for the South to increase its pro- duction of cotton.
 .This scarcity Is due in part to the ten- dency of the white tenant farmer to cot ton mill employment, most pronounced in the older textile communities, wsiere bie work than on the farm. and in part to the trend of more active negro la borers away from agriculture to mining. railroad and kindred work. 1t is pointed that this condition. which Is becoming more pronounced every year. would make 1t difflcult for the South to pick larger crop. even if 1t could be raised. This condition presents an urg- ent need for immigration to the South to i'll in the gap left by the increased em- pioyment of whites fin the cotton mills and of negroes in mining and in railroad construction, aind in the general trend of HGHN0CS
 with but few exceptions 1t is claimed that there Is no deterioration of seed. but that. on the contrary, farmers have been careful to use the best seed for planting, though few writers insist very strongly that there is a deterioration in seed, claiming that the best seed are sold to the mills and that the fertilizers used are not equal to the seed for the maintenance of the fertility of the soil, and that thus the consumption of seed by oil mills Is a disadvantage In the long run.
 Comparatively few admit any deterior- ation In soil. and where this is reported it Is claimed to be due to the thriftless- ness of the negro tenants, who do not appreciate the importance of maintaining the fertility of the land. With scarcely an exception, however. the small crops of the last few years are claimed to be due not to any of these causes. but to abnormal weather conditions which cut short the yield. While some think that the South has practically reached under present conditions it's maximum output of cotton. there are other equally as weil- informed men who claim that there is scarcely any limit to the increase of the cotton crop of the south.
 "This side of the case Is presented by one of the most careful investigators of the South. who says that there has boen no deterioration In the seed and none in the soil, and to this adds;
 ." we have made two short crops from causes that have in the past and will continue to reeur from, time to time. We may next year make 225 pounds of cot ton per acre. The acreage will probably be 30.O00,0OO. This will give us crop of something like iS,hOO,0O0 bales. Manufac- turers have taken many people from farms Those left on farms work better, because of better conditions and rewards. The South is not yet seriously suffering from lack of farm labor, but has reached point where the labor, formerly much idle. has been absorbed in profitable em- ployTnent. IL is a good time for quite a lot of thrifty Immigrants to come South. The range of cotton production per acre seems to be about 150 pounds on the low side to 225 pounds on the high side. It seems to be ranging up and down now about as In all time past"