St. Tammany farmer., 1905-09-09
FARMER AND PLANTER.
rHE OUTLOOK FOR COTTON.
The Crop VIII Not Exceed Ten MIL
ION Bales. nnd Farmers Have
Only to Market Right.

Il AZ /. - u
The Crop Will Not Exceed Ten Mill.
Ion BALES, nnd Farmers Have
Only to Market Right.
| TO the Farmers OF North Carolina
and Especially the Alliance Brethren
wish to give the cotton situation as
it presents itself to-day as being the
most favorable for high price cotton
that has. presented itself in twenty
years. To commence with was the
year 1903 with no surplus cotton
ahead, 1904 crop was 1854, ,457, OF
which we will consume by September
about 12,50G,000 bales, leaving about
1000. 900 bales to start business of Sep
ber 1, 1905, and then taking the pros.
pect of the crop of 1905 not being over
q nine million bale crop, and taken &C
cording to acreage and condition up to
last report, you can only figure crop
of 1897, ,756. To that you add ], 100000.
You then have only 9,997,556, about
two and a half million short from the
consumption of 1905 to go over to 1906,
not saying word about the peace
prospect or extension of our cotton
trade.
Now to take any more cotton than
above figures we should have to make
more per acre than five years av-
| erage, which now looks to be impossi-
bic as our crop report is now below
the average. (See the crop report OF
1900 to 1905.) We have the shortest
acreage this year and the lowest re-
port, except one, in the five years.
In 1903 our acreage was 28,014, $50,
and we made 1851, 1923 which brought
US $3.50, ,549, ,23O.82, and the crop of 1904
we had O,453, 600 acres, and made 49,
584.457 bales that brought us SCAT ,405,-
534.51.
Notwithstanding the crop OF 1903
was less than that of 1904 by 3,491, 1856
bales, yet it brought us less money by
s13, ,143, ,697.31, notwithstanding we paid
out for labor alone to raise the crop
of 1904 more than we did 1903 crop by
SIS, ,349, $50. You see small crop pays
us much better, and small acreage is
the key to the cotton situation. The
acreage for 1905 is about 26, ,779,038, the
smallest that has been in the last five
years, and with the average for five
years multiplied with the acreage Of
1905, it makes a crop of about nine
million bales. Figure from any stand
you please and you can't figure over a
ten million bale crop, and 1t can be
figured as low as eight million for 1905
with believahle figures.
So, you see with intelligent market
ing your crop, we may expect good
price, and the thing to do when cotton
drops below ten cents is to stop right
OF selling your cotton; and not insist
on cotton going over 12h cents for
high prices are just as destructive to
our good as low prices. Don't think
that since we have been successful in
forcing the price up one time to living
prices that we can do anything we
wish to. You must remember that there
are other places than can raise cotton
besides the states Of the south.
But you need not fear competition
anywhere as long as cotton stays be-
low 121a cents There is nothing un-
der the sun you can clothe man with
as cheap as you can with cotton at
12h cents. For instance, take suit Of
cotton goods worth ten dollars, put
them on the scales and weigh them,
and they went weigh ten pounds. So,
you see that the producer Of the raw
material only gets one dollar Of that
money when he gets ten cents per
pound for his cotton. You take your
hat that you wear every day on your
head and 1t costs you 81. Weigh it and
it won't weigh five ounces; SO you see
the farmer only gets two and half
cents for the raw material for his hat,
and perhaps he might have been the
very man who raised that cotton and
sold it for .021s and brought it back
in the shape Of a hat for 81; so you
see there is q great margin between
the farmer and manufacturer, though
1t is important that we should not
cripple our home manufactures We
should all work tremendously together
and get good living out Of our labors
and our products and equally divide
the profit Then America can manu-
facture he's own cotton to finish and
send her ffaished goods to the foreign
countries instead of her raw material.
Cotton will be the king Of Europe
and the south the queen OF the coun-
try. So brother Alliancemen take fresh
courage. This can only come by o--a
ganization of the wise heads Of the ]
south; then by all means get our forces
In good shape, and then farming III the ]
south for nothing but the pleasure OF
Europe will be day OF the past.
Market your cotton as long as it
stays from ten to. twelve and ahaH,
but just as soon as it gets below ten
cents stop right OF and positively re-
fuse to sell until some one will see lit
to give you ten cents, which will al
ways come Il 1t cant be bought for
less.
II you are not member OF some
farmers organization, go at once and
join the Farmers Alliance or Cotton
Growers association and get ready for
the battle and make the south prosper
GUS and the people will be happy.
Your servant,
w. K. cULBRETH.
Robson Co., N. C.
THE CULTURE OF PEcANs.