Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-11-15
ADVICE TO COTTON GROWERS.
President Smiths Address on His Return
from Texas-Crop Very Short.


night gave out this most interesting
address:
81 am just back from tour of
the West, where l have been in the
interest of the Southern Cotton AS
sociation to meet the executive COM
mittee of the Texas division. In
Atlanta l was joined by President
Jordan, and we went together via
Vicksburg and Shreveport. This
carried us through Mississippi, Lou
isiapa and part of Texas. Through.
out Mississippi the cotton crop is
certainly as short as, or shorter than,
has been reported. The frost and
worm, 30 far as our observation
went, have completely destroyed ali
prospect of anything like crop
from the late cotton or top crop of
the old cotton.
"From Vicksburg to Shreveport,
between which two points is the
delta of the Mississippi and Red
rivers, and unquestionably the finest
cotton lands of the world, there will
not be made more than forty.fve to
fifty per cent of last years yield.
"Near Monroe, La, where is the
very cream of the delta, there is
practically no cotton at all. Thou
sands of acres have been abandoned
and thousands have been only par
tally tended, with net result that
the Louisiana crop is practically a
failure.
AT Shreveport, where we missed
connection and had to lie over for
six hours, we had an opportunity of
interviewing cotton men and busi-
ness men, and they confirmed the
impression that we had received
from our own observation. From
Shreveport to Dallas We went
through portion OF the best cotton
lands Of Texas, and the same condi-
tion obtained throughout, this por-
ton OF the State.
"At Da,.As The S;s,e fair was in
progress api there were present
representative o: every ooaniy in
the S;s;e, so6 lte men bsrs OF the
exc sa,;yv t'aC uii;ee were presen'.
The t&;i.~ - .a8it'6 hy these differ
ent yssrT1t. WIS 10 TIE e@ec. ihAi II
the eastern. central sui northern
por;iors O! Texas lhe crop vas from
30t 10 3 -: oSIi soo'1 oi lAs; year.
In Western ISI&s. where The boil
weevil i mcsi 1Duvry2s, tis ravages
have not been - great Ills year, and
as a consequence tie Western Texas
crop is as good as, OF better than
last years, but it must be understood
that this means restricted area,
and the production per acre does not
exceed more than one.half crop this
year as compared with the same
territory without the weevil | think
1t would be conservative estimate
to place the shortage in Texas alone
at one million two hundred Thousand d
bales.
"From Texas we returned via
Texarkana and Memphis. This took
us through the entire State of Ar
kansas, where we had ample oppor-
tunity of seeing the crop in that
State, and practically the same per
cent of shortage was evident. The
frost in Arkansas seems to have been
more destructive than in any other
State, with the exception possibly
of Northern Georgia. From my OBJ
servation of the crop in every State,
for | have visited all save Florida,
the estimate issued by the Southern
Cotton Association making the crop
for this year nine million, four hun
dred and forty-four thousand bales
as ginned, (Which does not include,
of course, linters,) a conservative one.
"Certainly we have succeeded at
last in convincing the world of the
shortness of this crop; hence the
price fixed at Ashcvillc has been
reached. | do not feel that | have
hn ri, Il