The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-29
ACREAGE REDUCTION
DEFINITE EXTENT IS AT PRESENT
 PROBLEMATICAL.
while Decrease May Not be as Great as Contemplated Much Less Cot tor, Will De Raised in the
 Year HOAX

4
 Baltimore. April 2s.-tspecial)-- Definite judgment about the extent of the success of the movement for re- duction in cotton acreage. this season seems to be at the moment impossible. Bankers in close touch with growers in all parts of the cotton belt. cotton manufacturers vftally interested In ob- taining reasonable estimate as to the size of the coming crop. and the arrangements of cotton seed oil mills, also affected in like manner. have tried to gauge the situation. and the im- precision left by the expressions of opinions by probably 2.000 persons thoroughly representative of these classes in the South is, that while the reduction in acreage may not be as great as was contemplated three months ago. inasmuch as perfect or ganization of a million growers is im- possible, and as somewhat extensive reduction in the older growing sections will be accompanied by some increased acreage in new lands. there will be. not only through lessened acre. age, but through soil and weather conditions inferior to those of the last crop g considerable decrease In the size of the cotton crop of 1905. This impression is strength ened by letters filling nearly nine pages of the May issue of The south ern Farm Magazine of Baltimore from agricultural implement dealers and manufacturers and fertilizer interests written in response to requests that they give their Yiews based upon in- formation obtained in dealing direct with the farmers, or through their agents. as to acreage reduction and di- versification of crops. They are sum marized by The Southern Farm Maga- zine as follows:
 'aThe letters from fertilizer dealers and manufacturers come from Alabama, Florida. Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana. Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina. South Carolina. Texas and Virginia, embracing practically all the cotton belt except Arkansas and the Terrtto- rfes besides other Southern States, and those from implement manufacturers and dealers come from practically the same Southern territory, as well as from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa. Mich igan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York. New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsyi- vania and wisconsin. The implement interests note that Southern farmers are buying more freely in their spe- ciaI lines, and while few of those out side of the South seem to be in a po- sition to judge from their increased business with the South whether or not 1t means less cotton acreage. and while some of them incline to the be- lief that the movement for reduction will be hampered by selfishness' on the part of men who expect the other fel- lows to do the reducing, practically all of them agree as to the fact of greater diversification of crops.
 .sThefr Southern brethren closer to the cotton fields venture upon more definite statements, which are. however, not always harmonious, For instance, one Alabama dealer expects that if the acreage is no more reduced over the whole South than 1t has been in his immediate vicinity there will be 12,- Oo0,0O0 or 14,000,o00 bale crop, while one at the capital of the State looks for a reduction of from 15 to 25 per cent A Kansas City firm has reports of reduction in Oklahoma, and Nash vile firm with forty-two salesmen on the road covering the entihe South ex- poets a reduction in acreage of 10 to 25 per cent, this agreeing with the estimate of a Louisville, Ky, firm, whose 100 saiesmen make reports av. eraging a 20 per cent. reduction. And SO the estimates vary in North Caro- lima, South Carolina, Tennessee, Geor- ria. Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana
 ssrhough 1t Is difficult for fertilizer dealers to tell positively the uses to which their products are to be put, the general consensus of their opinion IS that the acreage VIII bS tSONSSdg ONSA where intensive cultivation will not re- duce the amount of fertilizer bought. The estimates of reduction in acreage, not unaffected in Mississippi. Louisiana and Arkansas, for instance, by the backwardness of the season. range from 10 to .12 per cent. in Alabama and South Carolina to 20 and 25 per cent in Georgia and Louisiana, Dalance perhaps being slightly approached in hal inHf0aAQ in Sea island and a decrease in upland, while fin one part of Texas cotton is almost tabooed and the local papers are ridi- culing any planter who openly talks of raising cotton.
 ''Both classes of correspondents find a general tendency to give more atten- tion to diversified crops These crops vary in different localities, and include sugar cane. hay, peas, beans, corn, wheat. alfalfa, barley, mtllet, tobacco. peanuts, melons, cautaloupes, truck or various kinds, strawberries, sweet po- tatoes, oats Irish potatoes and rice, while many farmers are turning their attention to poultry and to hogs and cattle, to forage crops and to orchard ing. This modification in agriculture is indicated by increasing sales of im- proved implements of various kinds, of wire fencing, pointing to a greater number of cattle, and of higher grade of fertilizers going Into truck-ratsing and the growth of other crops than cotton. And. after all, diversification is the key to the whole cotton situa-
 ton, for with more heed given to the raising of home supplies or to fruits and vegetables as money crops the cot ton situation will be largely self-ad- justing. especially with an expansion in the use of Iabor-saving machinery, including steam blows in the fiat land, mechanical cultivators, and. as one correspondent points out, the mechani- cal cotton-picker, for which he, with many others, is looking. Diverslfica- ton of crops, to be thoroughly efreo- tive for Souther1- progress, must be preceded by more general use of im- proved machinery and implements, in- ducing better methods of cultivation, and must be attended by an economic handling of the cotton from the !fieid