Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1905-01-11
The ESOUTK'S WEALTH
Notable Increase Shown During The
Past Pear
A STEADY INFLUX OF CAPITAL

A STEADY INFLUX OF CAPITAL
The Remarkable Gain in Diversified
Agriculture NotabIe-The Increase
in the Taxable Value Of Property
90 Per cent--As Great as the In
crease in the Proceeding ae Years.
Baltimore, Md, Special-The Mali
ufacturers' Record presents this week
the approximate figures of the assess.
ed valuation of the property in all the
Southern States ri the beginning OF
1905, publishing a tabla showing by
States Il total asE,;ssta valuation CT
s4,51o,y25,257 in 1890, Of s5,266,594,O44
in 1900 and of se,196.697,S13 in 1904.
Commenting upon these Hsi'"rs The
Manufacturers Record says:
These figures, subject in part to re-,
vision-and, it is believed in the case
Of two or three States. several million
dollars below what vii, be shown by
the final retuFns 6n assessed values
indicate the feiaarkabla advance in
material wealth in the South between
1900 and 1904. During that period as
shown by these asurr5. there was a
gain OF more than s9oO,0OO.C00, or at an
average rate Of s23o,0O0,000 a year.
The magnitude of this increase is
strikingly illustrated when compared
with the progress iii TIE decads be.
tween 1890 and i9oGs, Whsh the total
increase it! assessed valuation was
$755, 100000, or at the rate Of s75,000,-
900 year. 1t was during that decade
that the price of cotton fel! to its low.
est posn. siiice the war, but during the
last four years there was steady ad
vance to the exaggerated speculative
value of the early part Of last year.
1t may not be Dossible t6 cdlinect with
exactness the inefeasc in the price oi
cotton and the enhancement in the as
sessei values of property in the South
ut-that higher prices do have ma
terial bearing upon tho prnsperiV
goes without question:;
- an studying this,auestioh, however.
it should lie borps III mind that during
that last rewxyears the increase in
diversified agriculture in the South
has, beeaamost as marked as the in
creassA the value of cotton, and ad,
this=is the really wonderful in
dyiaiHl development. The remarkable
schange from the lew brice Of cotton of
EEssor seven years ago is hardly more
than is the increase in the pro
duction of grain, fruits, vegetables
and other. farm products. The total
increase in the assessed value Of prop.
erty in the South in the 20-year per-
tod from 1880 to 1900 was s2,310,000,-
900: or, in other words, in the last four
years the gain in the taxable value in
the South has been 30 per cent. az
great as the total gain Of the proceed
ing 20 years.
Bearing Oh the increase In the as.
sessed value of property, The Manu-
facturers' Record gives in detail stats:
tics showing the great development of
diversified farming IL the South. which
in connection with industrial develop
ment has been a potent factor in the
enrichment of that section, and says:
"By reason cf the short crop and
high prices Of cotton in 1903 and the
large crop and lower prices in 1904,
the worlds attention has been SO close
ly centered upon colton that the re.
markabe development in diversified
agriculture throughout the South, now
one Of the most marked features of
Southern farming operations, has been
to considerable extent overlooked.
In 1sv3 the South produced such an
exceptionally large grain crop that it
was hardly to be expected that there
would be further increase in 1904,
although there is practically no limit
to the South's capabilities in the de-
velopment Of diversified farming. In
1903 the production Of corn showed an
increase of 13S,OOO,OO0 bushels over
1903. The aggregate production Of
corn in the South for the last two
years was l,300,000,00O bushels,
against 9O0,000,0O bushels for the two
precee ing years n increase in, two
years of nearly 100000 bushels.
The total value Of the corn crop of
the last two years was $720,000,00
against S566,000,000 for the two pre-.
ceeding years, or a difference in favor
Of the last two years Of S154,000,0 600,
which was added to the wealth of the
South by the increase in corn alone.
There was no material difference in
the wheat production bpt the higher
prices Ct wheat in 1904 made differ
ence OF nearly S15,0Oo,000 70 the South
as compared with the wheat crop OF
1903 and difference Of S31.000000 as
The total value of corn. wheat, oates.
Irish potatoes, rye and hay produced
in the South last year was S542,000,000
gain of S3G,OO0,o00 compared with
1903 and of $140,000,000 compared with
1902. Outside of these crops and of
cotton, the value of other farm pro-
ducts, including rice, sugar. tobacco,
sweet potatoes, vegetables fruits and
live stock products, was about $780,
100000, Or total value Of Southern
agriculture outside CT cotton in 1904
of about s1.092, 100000. The aggregate
grain production in the South last
year was 790,000.O00 bushels, against
607,000,000 bushels in 1902.
Rehearing in Rebate Case.