The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-11
WHERE COTTON MONEY GOES.
Many Solid Improvements and Rise in Wages Result from High
 PricaE.

Georgia letter to Country Gentleman.
 With about $250 000. 600 more to It's credlt than in any previous year in It's history the South finds it necessary to pause ana think a while before going on with It's development This estimate Is based on the increase of revenue from cotton to say nothing, of the increased yields or grain, hay, cane, etc, as we'll as the in- ferests of stock raising, which Is grow ing as no other industry Of this sectlon. gives surplus of SIS each to the. six teen millions of inhabitants or the eleVen cotton growing States. This is no small item in the way of extra change, espe, cially when we consider that only snlali percentage of three or-four Of the states inhabitants are engaged in cotton raising. It therefore follows that the real surplus is far in excess of the amount named when we consider only actual growers.
 The result of this state of affairs IS plainly apparent on all sides. and the observant stranger may note the changes for the better. New dwellings, new baNas, new stores and new public build insa are going up The new centralized school buildings are feature in the rural districts, and are resulting Tn mueh goIu I wherever they have been established. There is also an increasing interest in the construction of good roads and the eX- tension of the rural free delivery Of mails and the improvement Of the rural tele- phone service. It is a significant indi- cation that the more man has the more he wants When awakened to the com dition of his existence he moves around to seek out new ways of improvement.
 The trend of these improvements. while directed considerably to public utilities. is more largely devoted to advancing agricultural methods. The clearing of the fields so as to permit Of the work ing of improved implements Is one feat ure of tho advancement noted. Then there is the mapping out of the farm, in which diversifcation and rotation are given attention. On many Southern farms different characters of soils are found. and farmers are considering the adaptability of the soil to the crop in. tended This means at least a partial ssIttlan to the restoration problem, as many. of the so-called wornout fields still contain much of the Fundamental ele- r}cnt3 of fertility necessary to the sue ,,essful culture of certain crops. One of inc difficulties of the situation is just how to determine what crop to plant on each plot There are just two ways to take-one is chemical analysis of the Ia, Satisfactory. This forms one of the most fascinating details of diversified "arfculture, and. while 1t may have had its origin in mediaeVal times, it has been nractised only of late years in the South. Ne now see mapped farms" showing inc terracing. indicating tho lay of the land and distribution of various crops. circula ting medium is the increase in the urice oAAred to labor, which is now 20 to
 5 per cent above the price given last sc,son Despite the extra inducements evtendcd to farm workers, there Is now an unparalleled scarcity of help. The world is calculating on bumper crop of cotton from the South this year, and