The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1904-11-08

C0uduGS-SuOW1uS a uCSAOo0 ~
per cent in percentage of farms managed by own
ers, a gain of - per cent in proportion operated
bv share tenants, and a gain of SO 13 per cent
in percentage operated by cash tenants. Of share
tenants there are several classes. Some rent land
only. paying therefor one-fourth of the farm prod
uct; others are furnished land, stock, tools, and
one-half fertilizer, and receive one-half the crop,
while still others are content to furnish labor only
for one-third of the yield.
Different Systems of Cotton Farming.
The relative decrease in number of farms on
Grated by owners during the last census decade
must be attributed to the emigration of farm
owners to towns, as a result of the depression in
cotton prices. Sir Guilford Wordsworth estimates
that between 1872 and 1894 prices of general COM
modities fell so per cent, while cotton prices de-
clined 70 Fer cent. With the turn in the tide in
prices, one now finds abundant evidence of a
similar turn in the tide of emigration. Young
men of executive ability cannot overlook the new
opportunities for mOney-making in cotton grow
ing, and many will endeavr to revive the old plan
tation system of farming. On the other hand,
farm lands have as yet advanced but, little in
value in proportion to their increased earning
capacity, and many small farmers and tenants are
Selling the opportunities to buy. II can take any
farm in my county and pay for it with two cot
ton crops" says a member of the North Carolina
Board of Agriculture; and one farmer within a
few miles of the writer's home has actually paid
for his farm with one years product, though this,
OF course, must have been done at a sacrifice of
all home comforts. Under these conditions, the
proportion of tenants is likely to be decreased dur
ing this decade, and the proportion of farms OF
Grated by owners-now 1913 per cent for negroes
and 5o.5 per cent for whites-correspondingly in
creased. Tenants will buy land, and nonresident
owners will return and conduct their own estates.
Ginning and Baling Metods Described.
Until Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin ~
1893, the work of separting the seed of upland
cotton from the lint was done entirely by hand:
and it is aid that the most expert picker conld
not clean more than three or five pounds of seed
cotton a day. The invention of the gin. bv which
1'ooO pounds a day could be cleaned with the labor
u one man. at once gave a new impetus to the
cotton industry, and exports grew from 1876. 800
pounds In 1871 to Al 900 pounds in 1903.
Wnat Feter the Great did to make Russia domi-
nant'~ SAID Macaulay, E. Whitney's invention
ol III cotton gin has more than equalled in it's re-
la'lon TO the power and progress of the United
otaCes' Ihe essential features of the Whitney
sin nave never been supplanted or improved upon.
'nu d description of the gin of one hundred wears
ago practically fits the gin of to-day.
LIE capacity OF gins varies greatly, the AVERAGE
Veh 10 twelve bales a day for the three or
~ nrontns IL Is IN operation, though there are
IN the lower Cotton Belt with q ;la;lv
capacity OF from 100 to 200 bales. After the lint
'on - separated from the seed, it is packed in
~ =. an average weight of nearly 500 pounds.
> te standard size and the weight has
increased year after year until this is
learly the average weight.) Endless tronhlo 70