The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-15

 great revenue it is bringing to the south. Why do not people stop to think. know that $500, 900 is a great sum of money and this amount of agricultural wealth was being produced by four states instead of fourteen states and territories it might be something of which to boast. Now as 1 figure there are fourteen states and territories engaged in the production of this $600 100000 worth of cotton. This is less than than $50,00O,0 GOO for each state engaged in the growing of cotton. Why, how does this compare with the states of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Cali forna where not a stalk of cotton ever grows? Iowa will export this year at least $2O0OO,000 worth of butter Wisconsin up to November had exported $17O0O,O0O worth of butter, to say nothing of her great cheese exports. Take the corn crop of Iowa together with her hogs and cat tle--in fact count up her revenue from all her agricultural resources and 1t would buy almost half of all the cotton produc- ed in the fourteen states and territories Take one little valley twenty miles wide and sixty miles long in California and compare it's agricultural exports, S15,000,- OOO in one season, with the cotton busi- ness in any like size era.
 But there is another side to this ques- tion-compare the price and quality of the lands in these states with that of the cotton states and see how we stand in the states named The fertility of the soil is kept up to the highest grade and lands have have become almost too high for farmers to live on and tho are many of them looking for cheaper lands in the cotton growing states. Again compare the homes and the home living in these dversihcation states with that of the exclusive cotton farmers
 Now I am not writing this In a spirit of criticism or to try to belittle the cot ton industry we need cotton and we must have cotton and it has been fully demon- strated that nowhere can cotton be pro- duced more cheaply nor nowhere will it prosper or thrive so we'll as under the sunny blue sides of the southern states of America. It is a crop for the south and one that the south mus continue to | grow, but our idea is that 1t must be grown under an entirely different sys- tenn from the present in order for tho farmers who grow it to become prosper ous. Grow it in rotation of crops.
 While the south is the country adapted 1 for the cotton plant, yet nature has at l the same time made it possible for to produce many other crops and it is only the farmers who grow cotton in rotation of crops and who produce on their farms other things-al the feed for man and l beast-that can prosper. Keep up the fertility of the soil as it is kept up in the other states that I have mentioned here where there is never dofiar's worth of commercial fertilizers used or sold.
 We Told You So.
 It is hardly fair to take this advantage, and say, We told you so," but we want to ask, is 1t not true? Last winter we fellows who preach diversification, went up and down all through the cotton stat i es preaching diversiication and warn ming the farmers against planting too much cotton, advising them to be self sustaining, to put themselves in an inde- pendent position so as to be able to hold | their cotton if prices did not suit or pay l them for production.
 | Now there is not a single bale of cot ton produced more than Is needed and every bale should bring the grower 10 cents and will to the farmers who are | independent enough to hold their cotton l The idea of destroying a few million bales to force up prices is a foolish notion. The only trouble is the spectators know that the farmers have not reached to 1 that state of independence where they can hold their crops. Now we are want ing and trying to help the farmers to get |
 I was reading only yesterday a very l timely editorial in the Atlanta Constitu-
 tion on the matter of the local banks coming to the rescue of the -armers in this matter. This is very we'll for the present, but would 1t not be far better to educate our cotton farmers up to that state of self support and independence | that MT. R. has attained? I would sug-
 gest, 'grow cotton only in well defined rotation of crops; grow all feed needed | for man and beast on the farm grow stock, especially dairy cows. to produce the fertilizer needed; quit buying commercial fertilizers to produce cotton; 1 keep out of debt; gather the cotton early before 1t is damaged by bad weather bale 1t so that it will keep; store it where 1t will not become damaged and sell it when the price will give a hand- some profit on the production. Now 1t seem to me that there may be a great part of the cotton as baled now and left | exposed to all the weather that the loss from damage and the interest in borrow ed money would effect any rise that may | come. The farmers must first prepare | themselves for taking care of their inter- i ests in this matter.
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