Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-04-19
COTTON CONSUMPTION.
Comprehensive Facts and Figures Valuable
Information and Sensible Advice.

President Harvie Jordan, of the
Southern Cotton Association, has
prepared since his return from Texas
and the other Western States, an ar
ticle regarding the consumption of
American cotton in the markets of
the world, showing exactly the
amount necessary to supply the de-
mand. Mr.. Jordan points out that
the Southern people are still holding
on to their cotton everywhere, and
tast this holding, coupled with the
vigorous campaign made by the as
sociation has helped keep the price
up. He shows clearly that another
such crop as the one of last year
would result disastrously to tho
South. Mr.. Jordan says:
The American cotton crop of
1904, as recently estimated by the
United States census bureau,
amounts to practically 13,600,00O
bales. OF this amount 100000 are
yet to be ginned and about 25O,00O
bales are what is known SIS linters, or
the lint ginned from the seed at the
cotton oil mills. This amount of cot
ton is far in excess of any crop pre-
viously grown in the South. The
last bumper crop was made in 1898
and amounted to 11,270,000 bales.
The crop of 1904, therefore, exceeds
the crop of 1893 by fully 2i million
bales.
The consumption of American cot
ton by the mills of the world at the
present time will amount to 11,000,-
600 bales per annum. If the present
rate of consumption is maintained,
we shall still have nearly q million
bales from the crop of 1904 to carry
over into the fall of 1905 and to be
added to the crop which will be har-
vested during the present year.
The enormous crop of 100000
bales recently reported from the CEN
sus department is, no doubt, praoti-
cally correct, as the bureau claims to
have had reports from all the ginners
operating in the South and the esti-
mate of the crop was based upon
those reports. If we have a surplus
of q million bales and the consump-
tion of American cotton is not more
than II million bales per annum, it
is quite evident that a crop greater
than 100000 bales the present year
would simply put the producers in a
position OF heaping surplus and
thereby depreciating the price Of
cotton next fail to figure considera-
bly, below the cost of production.
Even the production of normal
crop in 1905, added to the surplus,
would give us another abnormally
large crop.
We have been able to retard the
downward tendency in the price of
cotton for the past two months be-
cause of the persistent holdings Of
spot cotton and the promise on the
part of the producers that the acre
age would be largely decreased in
1903. If, however, on the Sd day of
June, when the bureau report is is
sued by the United States govern
ment, the acreage in cotton for 1905
is shown to closely approximate that
of 1904, it will be utterly impossible
TO maintain present prices for cotton,
and the tendency will be downward
the balance of the year. In the face
OF the census report and the undis-
puted fact that a heavy surplus is to
he carried over into the crop of 1905,
it would appear foolhardy indeed for
the growers of cotton to madly rush
forward and recklessly engage in the
planting of another large acreage of
cotton during the present spring.
There is but one way out of the
dilemma in which we are now placed.
The task is not difficult one if
every man will do his full duty in
the premises. That duty is to re-
duce the cotton acreage on every
farm planted in 1904 by at least 25