The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-06
THE SOUTH UNDISMAYED
 BY SIX-CENT COTTON
There Have Been Two Years of FatneSS. and Their Gifts Have Not Been Squandered
 Nor DsSpated.

before. More fertilizer was used than ever before. The making seasons
 were better than ever before, and the gathering season, the fall, was the
 finest we ever had and cotton kept on growing and making well into the winter. Then the yield of lint cotton from the seed cotton was larger and finer than ever before"
 Now all these things went into the crop. The crop was simply the result of a rare combination of the things that go into the making of cotton. do not believe that such a combination ! will happen again and certainly do not believe that 1t will happen this year." The acreage this year will not be
 so large, so much fertilizer will not
 be used and the weather and season
 cannot be expected to be so good, and without the combination of those
 things l have named do not believe
 that a 100000 bale crop Is possi-
 ble."
 There seems equally good grounds to
 believe that the acreage will be re- duced to some extent. There will not De concerted movement to that end
 there will be no general agreement
 among the planters to cut down their
 cotton acreage, but natural conditions VIII SnecI Il TeQuCtlOn.
 Fence corners will not be planted in l cotton as they were last year. Front yards will not be turned into cotton
 patches. the garden and the old horse lots will not be made to grow cotton again. Last year 1t was the rule of
 the farmer to plant cotton wherever 1t | could be made to grow. The farmers | rule in laying out his farm was, when
 in doubt, plant cotton but cotton was selling for IA cents a pound when ehe farm was being laid out.
 In the year just opening when cot ton comes Into conflict with anything else on the farm it will be cotton that will give way. If a farmer Is debar-
 ing in his own mind whether to plant ] a certain field In cotton or corn, the winner will be corn. The farmer is
 not going to turn his fence corners and
 by places into cotton--not when the great white staple is only bringing 6 cents a pound.
 In the rich prairie soil about Mont gomery the first blows for the new crop
 were sunk Monday. The rule Is In | raising cotton to begin work as soon after Christmas as possible. There is not much work to be had from the | negroes during Christmas week. That over, they are willing to take up the years work with song and laughter Because of the first days work of
 making cotton for the year was done | on Monday. The rusty blows in disuse for many months were resurrected and
 in repairing and replacing broken bits
 of harness the stores and blacksmith
 shops witnessed scenes to which they have been unfamiliar for many months.
 The prairie country is said to be the
 very best for raising cotton. It is cer-
 tainly among the best for that purpose
 and is so considered throughout the South. The blue and black prairie
 soil about Montgomery Is as good as
 can be found. as good as the brag
 lands of Texas when 1t is considered
 that the Alabama lands have been
 growing cotton for thrke-quarters of a
 century, while in comparison the in-
 dustry is comparatively new on Texas
 soil. And corn does finely on these prairie acres.
 The prairie lands about Pike Road
 are as fine as any in the State. It is
 the center of some of the richest prairie
 land in Montgomery or in any other
 county. These prairie lands when 1t
 comes to cotton growing are held in