Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-12
COTTON CROP OF 1so4.o5.
Secretary Hester Puts the Number OF
Bales at 13,5e5,995.

was issued In full last Friday. de
puts the cotton crop for 1s04-O5 at
.13,565,S85 bales, an increase OF
3,554,511 over that Of 10000.
He says that compared with last
year, In round figures. Texas, includ-
ing Indian Territory, has increased
70S, 900 bales. The group known as
other Gulf states, consisting of Louis
lana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennes-
see, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah and
Kansas has increased 100000, and
the group Of Atlantic states, Alabama,
Georgia, Florida, North Carolina
South Carolina, Kentucky and Vir-
ginia, has gained 1,741,0OO. .
He puts the average commercial
value Of this crop at $46.31 per BALE
against $61.68 last year and the to-
tai value Of the crop at $62S,lS6,35S,
against $617,501,54S last year and
$4S0,770,2S2 the year before.
Referring to values he gives de-
tails Of prices, showing that taking
the cotton belt as a whole. the
highest figure for middling was
II 3-16 cents per pound at the open
ing of the season in September and
the lowest 6A cents on the 29th OF
December, but says that the crop
as a whole averaged strict middling.
and that the average value per pound
was 8 9S-100 cents compared with
.12 1900 last year.
In reference to weight he puts the
average per bale at 515 5S-lOo
pounds, showing a gain over last
year Of S9-100. This crop, he says:
is the heaviest In weight per bale OF
any recorded, the best previous
weight having been 5l3.96 In 1898
SO, the year Of the largest previously
reported crop.
Mr.. Hester remarks that while each
and every crop has had its distinct
i've features, the story Of none Is
fraught with circumstances more pc
culiar and interesting than the one
lust marketed. 1t is not to be Won
dered that when in last December
the agricultural department put forth
an estimate pointing to more than
twelve and a quarter million bales'
a feeling akin to panic was felt In
every section Of the cotton growing
states.
Mr.. Hester recites the manner in
which this monster crop has been
handled; but 1t has practically all
been marketed, avoiding a crash
which seemed at first inevitable, and
will remain a lasting monument to
the conservatism and cooperative
power of the southern people. In
this great economic struggle all ele-
ments joined in the victory.
Mr.. Hester makes the actual
growth for the season 13,SOO, 600, and
says that the recent report Of the
census bureau of cotton ginned does
not cover the entire growth: that all
of the years growth has not been
ginned, or II ginned, full returns
therefor have not been made. Mr..
Hester pays a high tribute to the CEN
sus bureau methods. saying that 1t
affords a mass of invaluable infor-
nation to the cotton world superior
to any that has ever been put forth.
and that he Is quite certain from his
own private investigation and con-
sultation with Director North that In
another season the bureau will be
able to give almost an exact showing
of the actual growth.
He puts the spindles In the south
at 9,205,949 against 8,615,369 last
year. The net gain In the number
Of southern mills over last year has
been Is, making the total now TT.
OF these 709 have been In operation
during the year, 38 are idle and 80
are in course Of erection, Is old and
out of date concerns, which ceased
business, having been crossed off the
list.
In reference to the general cotton
manufacturing industry In the United
States, Mr.. Hester says that Ameri-
can mills, north and south, have had
but while the totals show an excess
in the number of bales of American
cotton consumed by domestic fac
tories of $4,000 over last season,
bringing the aggregate to an amount
never before reached. II Is at least
$50, 900 bales less than ii would have
been with favorable labor conditions.
In the south the growth OF spindles
continues on a large scale, those In
active mills having increased S23, 1873
and there are new mills in course Of
construction and additions being
made to old conditions embracing
$4,000 spindles.
Mr.. Hester makes the consumption
of American cotton by northern
mills. lin round fgures) 100000
bales which together with 2,164.O00
bales by southern mills makes an ag-
gregate for the United States Of
4,364,OO0, against 1,950,000 for the
north last year and 1913, 600 for the
south, a total of 3,S69.000, showing
an increase for this year Of $4,000.
Mr.. Hester puts the worlds con-
sumption of American cotton at
1l,S83,00O bales, against lO,l93.0OO
last year and 1O.S76,00O the year be-
fore, an increase over last year of
100000, and over the year before
of 100000. He makes the total
visible and invisible supply of Ameri-
can cotton in the world at the close
of August 2,750,000 bales against
1,03l,000 last year. an increase OF
1,726,O00 over last year.