Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1904-05-25
Vital Factors in Cotton Production.

Vital Factors in Cotton Production.
"The South's Supremacy in Cot
ton Growing" is the title of large
pamphlet just issued by the Manu-
faoturers' Record of Baltimore, in
which every phase of the cotton in
dustry and the possibility of the
South's maintaining the worlds
supremacy is discussed by Edward
Atkinson, of Boston; j. @. Hardy,
President of the Mississippi Agricul-
tursl and Mechanical College; Hon.
Charles w. Dabney, of Tennessee ;
d. f. Houston, President of the
Texas Agricultural and Mechanical
College; (; Andrew M. Soule, of the
Tennessee Experiment Station; j.
g. Lee, Commissioner of the Louisi-
ana Board of Agriculture; j. S.
Newman, Professor South Carolina
Experiment Station; John M
Parker, leading cotton planter OF
New Orleans; VIM. A. Courtenay,
President of the Courtenay Manu-.
featuring Company, of Newry and
more than fifty others, including
farmers, merchants, bankers and ope-
rators of cotton oil mills and cotton
mills. Following this notice will
be found the articles by Presl-
dent Courtenay and Prof. j. S. New
man. The aim of the Manufacture
ers' Record in securing this broad,
general discussion of the possibilities
of cotton. growing as affected by the
selection of seed, treatment of soil
and labor supply has been to present
to the world full survey from every
point of view of this great question
now commanding such worldwide
attention. This pamphlet also con-
tains the statistics of cotton prodnc-
ton, consumption and average price
for the last 70 years, with other data
bearing on the consumption of cotton
in this country and Europe. The
dominant note throughout the discus
sion is that, despite the deterioration
of seed, which is admitted by large
number of writer's, and the shortage
in labor supply, the South will be
able gradually to meet these condi-
tions and to increase its production
of cotton sufficient to enable it to re-
tain the worlds supremacy.
This timely publication is of great
value to everyone interested in cot
ton or in the material interests of the
South. The price is 25 cents per
copy.
Hon. VIM. a. Courtenay, for a
long time Mayor of Charleston, and
now President of the Courtenay
Manufacturing Co., Newry, S. c.: !
have your letter of December 10Th
and its three inquiries, and reply to
the same in sequence.
First-As so deterioration of seed
This is farmers question for specific
reply. l have never known of any
single instance where seed was Sc
lected, some for sale to oil mills OF
superior quality and the inferior
seed left for planting.
Second---The poverty of the South
at the close of the war, caused by the
ruthless campaigns in the cotton re-
gion to prove that "war was hell
the wasteful destruction of property
for destruction sake, led to condi-
tions direful in their consequences.
Crops Of all kinds were raised under
the most severe disabilities. LaAds
we're obliged to deteriorate for want
of means to keep them up. The
tenantry system was forced alter
native. The negro was the only re-
sort, and without intelligence or
means, cropping on store credits, the
worst possible results were reached.
Side by side on the same lands the
difference in crops can be seen as be-
tween the owners Of the soil and the
negro tenants. A good deal of this
resultant condition is still with us,
and is seen in the statistics of the
cotton crop in "acreage" and total
bales between two and a-half and
three acres to produce bale of cot
ton.
Of course, the,labor in the mills is
drawn from the farms, and further,
the coal and iron mines have alb
sorbed their respective shares. The
drift of rural population to cities is
relatively small.
In word, the South has ample
areas of soil and inviting climate and
ample farm labor to raise cotton
enough to meet the worlds advanc-
ing wants as they grow year after
year. What is needed is an i'm
proved culture of the land and the
suppression of political and educa.
tional mountebanks creating a mirage,
and for sinister purposes of their own
misleading the negroes with vain
If some of the chimeri-
cal educational schemes of Northern
philanthropists now afoot in the
South could be changed to teach the
negroes to be better farmers, to raise
more cotton, tobacco and rice to the
acre, the negro would gradually el,-
vate himself and his race, and be in
time potent influence for good in
the American Union.
In conclusion, | cannot but express
any regret that there is throug hout
the North 80 much "coior blindness
about the real wants of our "brother
in black" largely misled by some
thoughtless Southerners, who, for po.
llLicaI and pocket reasons, have first
deceived themselves and are deceiv-
ing others. But they will soon have
to realize the truth of President
Lincoln's great utterance: "You
can fool all the people some time,
and some of the people all the time,
but you can't fool all the people all
the time"
J. s. Newman, Director and Agri-
cnlturist South Carolina Experiment
Station, Clemson College, S. c.: I