The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-07
NEW COTTON CROP l
SLIGHT INCREASE IN ACREAGE
 OVER LAST YEAn.
The Manufscturers' Record sunnar- ises Flfteen Pages ef Letaess Received from Several Hun-
 dreA Bankerp h eouth.

cotton acreage outlook from severai hundred bankers in North Carolina. South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama. Tennessee. Mississippi. Louisiana Ar kansas, Texas. Oklahoma and Indian Territory, the States practically em- E bracing the cotton belt of the South the Manufacturers Record says this week: '.The replies indicate tendency tc- ward a slight increase in acreage for | the cotton belt as a whole, an increase. however. not overcoming the decrease ! in 1905 from the acreage of 1904, and l tendency to be restrained by certain natural factors. Tho replies show steady advance in diversification of crops, A firmer purpose than ever on | the part of bankers and farmers to stand together for the common good
 and a greater degree of comfort among
 ~rhere is a general purpose apparent i all along the line for the bankers and | the growers to continue. even with | greater zeal, the policy of cooperation which worked out SO successfully dur 1 ing the past season. This does not, of | course, imply less acreage as whole l in 1906 than in 1905. although such
 a reduction is promised in a number l of. localities. Nor does it imply that 1 the acreage in some States will not be increased. New lands in Texas, l Oklahoma. Indian Territory and AT. I kansas. and. indeed. in such older | States as Georgia, South Carolina and l Mississippi. are being opened up and are going into cotton.
 Tn sections like the Delta of Mis- sissippi where no fertilizer is yet | used, or where it is really cheaper to buy supplies than to raise them with | cotton at 10 or 12 cents, a moderate | increase in acreage may be expected and many individuals will plant from | s to 10 per cent. wider than last year. But in the main the bankers are not I encouraging any great expansion, but, | on the other hand, are standing by the wisdom of the past twelve months and are receiving from the farmers | hearty support Some farmers are ] still holding, not because they expect
 much better prices. but because they do not need the money. and those who | may not be satisfied with the price \ at the time they gin, the coming crop :! difficulty in obtaining accommodations | from the banks and merchants who are Il backing up the growers in legitimate I plans to make their crop a paying I one.
 At the same time voice of cau- | tion is raised against any combination | to yet really excessive prices. that
 
 forts of Wall Street bears to depress I prices. Here and there. where ex- perience has not taught wisdom. the | all-cotton idea Is abroad, and some | few planters really favor a perma- | nent eight-cent basis for the staple. 'The readiness with which the grow CTS favor conservatism in planting this year and their determination to
 work along with the banks are due to | the steadily increasing comfort of the \ many The day of the old credit sys- tenn is passing. and now the growers | are found in various stages of pros- | perity, from ability to pay off old debts and to lift mortgages to ability to lend money themselves. Their bank ac- counts are greater than ever before and they are investing their surplus in permanent forms. They are buying more land and bringing their present holdings to high state of cultivation. New homes with modern conven- | fences are being built and old ones are
 being improved. Up-to-date imple-
 mentsN and machinery are being pur-
 chased, better grade of livestock is apearing. some farmers are investing in town property and moving in so that | their children may enjoy better school | facilities, the farms being rented, and | more bank stock and cotton mill stock | and cotton-seed oil-mill stock are be- ing held by the farmers, while better school buildings and better churches in divers country neighborhoods bear wit ness to the prosperity growing out of | better prices for cotton. and to the in- | creasing ability to maintain a policy in- | surfing even greater prosperity in the | future
 Necessity to diversity. to divert some energies from cotton growing in- | to the raising of other crops Is giving | I~It fl. ~<.A .A~.. l. EAr1 wax.- | the policy as this stronger financial condition of the farmers permits them | to enlarge upon the wisdom of not | depending upon one crop. Diversifi- | cation, which implies more fertilizing | and greater attention given to the crops, began primarily for thousands of | growers in carrying out 'hog-a l hominy'. campaign--that is, in living | on ones own farm, in making supplies at home. The growing in certain fa- l vored sections of early vegetables and I.fruit for Northern markets. the to- | bacco crop, as much a staple in some | sections of the South as cotton is in | others, and rice and sugar planting I have, of course, engaged the attention ! of many persons for years.
 Now tracts once devoted to cotton, or that ordinarily might have been | planted in cotton, are being given over to a greater amount of cane, tobacco, and rice, while in many localities more and more attention is being given to peaches, canteloupes melons, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, sorghum, beans. cow peas, alfalfa, corn, wheat, hay, grapes, ltoats, pears, apples and berries. more cows and chickens and hogs are be- ing raised more mules~and horses and more livestock generally Tor home use or for the market, as immigra- tion is becoming more needed to meet the demand for labor and as a larger and larger number of farmers are per- force driven to handle crops that they may work themselves.
 Even where there might be desire to depart from the safe and sane poll cy of last year and to yield to the temptation to plant more cotton, under the impression that greater crop would not affect the price, it faces the possibility that the supply of labor will be insufficient to make even a crop 1 equal to that of last season. From | every one of the States come com | plaints of a scarcity of farm labor. Oklahoma joining in the chorus. The | younger negroes especially are loath | to follow in the footsteps of their pa-
 rents, and are either rendering infe- ! rior service or are quitting the farms | entirely for idleness or desultory work l in the towns and cities.
 l Lumber mills, the naval stores in- l dustry, mining, railroad building. dam | construction and building operations | generally offer higher wages than the | farms. and. in the case of whites, the ! demands of the cotton mills are hav- l ing somewhat similar crippling effect | upon farm operations, in spite of the