The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-18

ago. This has been a net gain of fully $5.50 per bale to every man or firm who has refused to sell cotton, even though such cottoon was stored in warehouses and money borrowed on the .atme.
 The wisdom and sound business judg- ment displayed in the present holding movement has exemplified the fact be- yond all qeustion of doubt that unless our cotton is dumped upon the markets of the country, that its price can be maintained at 8 value which will show profit to the producer. Notwith
 standing the fact that 9,O00,000 bales of the crop of 1901 have been sold, and the mills generally supplied them selves for many months, we find today an enormous and ever-increasing de- mand for spot cotton. And even in the face of large surplus, the price of the staple is slowly but surely ad- vancin geach day. The present hold ing policy. if persisted in until after the reduction in acreage and use of commercial fertilizer has become an established fact, there can be no ques- tion that the price of the staple will be increased at least 2 cents per pound greater than prices being offered today
 Not only will the reduction In acreage be an important feature, but the retir-
 ing of the entire surplus will only leave an amount of cotton to meet the actual
 need of the mills for spinning purposes
 between the present time and next Sep
 tember. and. as there is at his time the greatest demand for cotton goods that has ever ben known in the history of the world, the spot holders of cotton
 have every encouragement to feel that
 in the near future the value of the staple will be increased to the mint-
 mum price agreed upon at the late New Orleans convention, which was 10 cents per pound delivered at the ports.
 The opening of the planting season is now upon us. During the present month the principal acreage to be de- planted. It is imperative that on ev- cry farm at least a sufficient acreage should be planted in corn to meet the demands of the farm. Where fall oats were not sown. 1t is equally important that four to five acres to the blow should be devoted to spring oats. Spring oats can be successfully plant ed up to the goth of March. It Is not only the imperative duty of every farmer in the South. no matter wheth- CT he he land owner, tenant or cropper. to reduce his cotton acreage. but there should be more hog and hominy" pro- duced in the South in 1905 than has ever been produced before If this is done by determined effort, then in less than eight months the wave of pros perity which swept over our country the past two or three years will con- tinue unabated. and we will exemplify to the world that the South has the manhood. ability and the determination to solve her problem to the best inter est of her people. There is no half way ground for any farmer to stand upon. Every man IS expected to do his duty in this good year 1905. The man who fails to do his duty will be a recreant not only to his own individ- ual interest, but to the best interest of his beloved country.
 While I would not advocate the plant ing of corn If raised as a money crop, still 1t is absolutely essential that you make the cotton crop free from the en- cumbrance of supplies bought at ruin ously high prices with which to make same. Cut down the cotton acreage at least 25 per cent. and increase the food supplies from 25 to 40 per cent. It makes no difference how fascinating the production of cotton may be, the
 uncontroverted fact remains that when more American cotton Is grown than Is needed to supply the worlds demands. the price at which 1t can be sold will pC iCS6 tiioh hhV NVoS VI pi couCtioh. Ahu when cotton is sold at or below the cost of production. not only the producer.
 but every line of business in the South suffers a financial depression. There fore. let us not lose the golden oppor-
 tunity which presents itself. and which
 must be taken advantage of within the
 next thirty days. to increase our food
 supply crops and to preserve unhan-
 pered the great staple crop of the
 South, which will either make us rich
 or make us poor indeed.