Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-02-03

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seed. In 1904 the average Of lint ran
from thirty-five to thirty-eight per
cent, and In some cases as high as for
ty and forty-five per cent.
Secretary Wilson Of the agricultural
department thinks the possible cause
Of this was that In 1908, owing to Pc
culiar weather colditi.ns, the plant did
not take up the full nutriment in the
soil, and that the crop Of 1904 absorbed
the unutilized nutriment Of 1sos, as
well as that Of 1904. thus producing
this exceptionally large proportion OF
lint. Hence the record crop OF 1904
stands as an exception, and does not
In any way change the situation.
Under the poverty resulting from
low price cotton, II was hardly possible
to tempt Immigration to the south, but
with higher range Of values for cot
ton and the prosperity which has come
to the agricultural interests Of the
south, the problem Of securing addi-
tional population becomes much cas-
Ter. There Is already marked move-
ment OF farmers from the north and
west to this section, anc here and there
In the cotton belt are colonies Of Ital-
ian laborers. whose work not only In
diversified agriculture but in cotton
growing has proved remarkably sue
cessful.
The old idea that negroes were es-
sential to cotton production has long
since been exploded. Every year, sees
a decrease In the proportion Of the
crop raised by negroes. ana the sec
tions In which cotton growing is maxi
ing the most marsted advance are those
in which white farmers are in the
largest majority. The Italians have
demonstrated that foreigners can come
into the south as farmers and as farm
laborers to their own great financial
profit and to the benefit of the south.
Turning Population Soufhward.
Heretofore the world at large has
had no interest IN turning population
southwark. Now Europe and Ameri-
ca alike are deeply concerned In max
ing 1t possible for the south, by heavy
immigration, to meet the worlds de-
mands for cotton. Not long ago one
Of the lsrgest cotton mill owners OF
New England, a man who had never
had any interest In the welfare Of the
south, except to buy his cotton there.
said to the writer:
The world faces a cotton famine. A
crop Of eleven million bales is entirely
too small, and some means must be
devised by which the south can. with
In the next few years. incre1lse its pro-
duction to at least fifteen million bales.
can see only one way In which Il II
possible for this to be brought about,
and that is for I combination Of the
people Of the sonth. Of the railroads.
and Of all others interested In this
problem. to unite In turning to your
section a great tide OF foreign popula-
tionto supplement your labor supply.
which Is inadequate to meet the eIner-
gency." ..sa +, f,..,l. -
But he expressed the feeling OF thou
sands Of cotton manufacturers In New
England, in England and on the con.
nent Of Europe. They fully understand
that 1t will be far easier proposition
to increase the south's production by
increasing Its lab r supply, than It will
be to develop cot on growing in Afri-
Ca or elsewhere,
II they will tu n their attention to
this line Of work with energy equal to
that which they have for years given
to beating down the price Of cotton.
regardless Of the Improvement OF the
producer, and will devote to It one
tenth Of the discussion which they are
giving to the uneconomic attempt to
grow cotton elsewhere, In competition
with the SOUTH their difficulties will
soon vanish, provided they recognize
that unless Gotten brings o fair profit
to the grower, they must suffer from
a supply unequal to their demands.
There Is ample territory for the ex-
tension Of cotton growing In the south.
Millions Of acres Of good land can be
had at reasonable prices. But small
part OF the possible cotton growing
area Of the south has yet been put to
cultivation. Moreover. there arc about
fifteen million acres Of the richest cot
ton land In the world, which could be
reclaimed by the expenditure Of about
twenty million dollars by the national
government in leveeing the Mississippi
river. The fifteen million acres which
would thus be saved from overflow
could alone produce almost as much
cotton as the entire south yields to-
day.
But even without this and without
adding new area, better cultivation
and more thorough fertilization will
enable the south-once free from the
menace of the boil weevil--to produce
a much larger crop on the acreage now
cultivated. Given fairly profitable
prices, that section which during the
last century created the greatest and
most far-reaching industry Of which
the nineteenth century can boast, that
section which for hundred years has
been accommodating experience, which
has the climate and the soil, and which
has ample transportation facilities by
rail and water. wiz easily be able to
meet the utmost needs Of the world for
cotton.
ey The recent suspension OF the Is
sue Of the new Springfield rife to the
United States army Is being interpret
ed in some military quarters as indi-
eating that the experiences gained In
the war In Manchuria show that the
bayonet is not the useless anachronism