Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1906-05-31
FARMER AND N
ORIGIN OF COTTON SUPPLY.
Tie U.ffed states IN No Danger 81
Lssf.G rts Ceaaasdisg
Positfss.

An elaborate discussion Of the worlds
cotton production in 1895. contained in
the final report tu-t issued By the rem
sHs bureau. gueS tn show that the init
81 States IS in NJ danger u losing It's
commanding piace A. the origin u sup
ply.
II IS nade very clear thar the posi-
biiries for Increasing The production
are a. great Ia the United States a Il
India. in Central and Sa-Ith America
an3 zreater than in Egypt This start
ling statement j. mate concerning the
available cotton acreage in cur eottoz-
growing region.
The total ara q the present cottOu-
p~rodncing region q the United States IS
estimated al 100000 SQUARE miles. or
a.. go ~" acres o. this. only about
che acre In every IL was given to cut
ton in 1875. Were this proportion
raisei &C. i've acres in every IL. Il would
mean a crop u more thar 5000 0sp
haies at the present rate OF production
The increase in the o OF cotton
srUwn in this country does not depend
- much % an increase in the acreage
planted a. OF seed selection. fertiliza-
tiou and the manner in which the crop
5 cultivated.
The cotton grower has discovered
that be can most easily and p~rohtably
secure Increased production by improved
methods u birmingham Is. by crop
rotation and better eulture-than by an
Increase in the acreage. What the re-
suit would be were the maximum acre
devoted TO cotton. and the best
cultured methods employed. must re-
main a matter % conjecture. An av-
eTage Of one bale to the acre Is not an
impossible achievement. and at that
rate the cottD1-gruxin ing states TO the
south are capable q producing many
tines the present yield"
The evil OF American cotton produe-
ers. says the report. is bad baling The
Egyptian and Indian bales are pointed
out Is much better. 7. Is explained.
however. that reform Of this lack here
will be exceedingly difficult because the
United States cotton i cultivated on
about 100000 farms distributed over
a very wide area and ginned in more
than 5000 establishments.
The varying local conditions ard wide
expanse Of country render il difficult.
II not impossible. 10 introduce any uni
form system of halirg. and especially
Z requiring heavy presses.
The idea Of a cylindrical bale. which
has found some favor. Is discouraged
by the census bureau. Scores of in
veniions for baling cotton in cylindrical
form have been made during the past
decade. but only two have been put
into practical operation. One Of these
IS the Bessorstte. or rOu1dlap system.
and the other. the Lowry. The bales
turned out BY these presses are about
- inches in diameter and . in length.
and average about 80 pounds in
weight
These packages are kept in shape by
the cohesion Of fhers and ayers. and
require no iron hands. The cylindrical
bale has not proved entirely satisfac-
tory. and the tendency al this time Is
toward an improvement in the square
hale. many believing that the density
OF that package may be so increased
As to avoid the present necessity Of re-
compression Experiments are now be-
ing carried o. with inventions promis-
ing this result-Census Bulletin