The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1907-11-03
COTTON
POTENTIALITIES

ical College, writes in the Southern
ties Of the South in Cotton Grow
ing. He thinks the cotton spinners
OF the world are needlessly alarmed
as TO the ability Of the South to in
crease here cotton production SO as
TO keep pace with the increasing
number OF spndles and looms
The total area OF Georgia, says Mr.
Hardy. is .37.ooo,ooo acres, in round
numbers. OF this there are 2o.3oa.-
o5z acres in farms. of which there
are only Io,6lo,o44 acres improved
aud little more than four million
acres in cotton. The total land area
; in Mississippi Is 100000 acres, Of
which about three and a third mil
hon acres were IN cotton II 1908.
The total area OF Texas is 10000,
600 acres OF which she has Ie5So7.-
oI7 In farms. and in 1908 had 7.SoI,-
/ 57S acres in cotton.
Nov these three states show
/ total Of 233.ooo,ooo acres, of which
/ .1.7S6.I4S are improved and only IS
I7S.45o acres were in cotton in 1908
What is true Of these three states
Is substantially true, he thinks. Of
all the cotton producing states The
only linr-ing factor of the cotton
production OF the country is the la
Dor supply. But in nearly all the
Southern states there is an active eff
tort to cali the attention of the best
class of foreigners and of the people
OF other sections of our own country
to the advantages and opportunities
afforded by that section
That these efforts are bearing fruit
IS shown by the large number of for
cigners to be found in every line Vi
industry III the South, and the IL
creaSIng III numbers of the Northern
and Western people coming into that
section every year. As an illustra
ton of this the experience of thirteen
Mississippi counties IS cited. They
have increased the population since
. iSCC ~ my NNANlit VI -Oi-C.Sl, dIffi TIC
property valuation ST., 22I.23I Dur
ing the same period the number OF
acres cleared was t3o4.z4S. the mum
Der brought by Northern settlers
5000 while I,7oo persons from the
Northern state settled on these lands
as farmers and planters This small
area probably slD.vs an incrca,fs
larger than that OF the whole cottor
area. but at the same time it indicate:
the drift Of settlement. TIE cotton
l growing area IS filling up frorn otAer
parts of the country and the world
and the productive power Of ha
section is thereby increased
Touching the question OF labor. i
is said that the permanent era,tica
ton of yellow fever from the Soutf
Is III sight. if not accomplished
This disease and misconception o
the nature Of the climate anu its eft
feet on white people who work in TIL,
fields are responsible for the scarc;t,
OF labor, so that when these are re
moved the South will soon agaii
come into her own as one of tn,
most prosperous and progressive sec
tons OF the country. Ability 10 eN
pand the cotton crop depend, who'll,
upon the labor supply, and the sup
ply is constantly augmented.
What is rather more to the purpos
: MIR. Hardy shows that the need o
= better methods of cultivation is felt
: and that il is being supplied II
Il quotes from a magazine article t,
show that on a plantation in Ar
Il kansas the Italian is producing twic
! as much cotton per acre per mule a
was formerly produced by negro la
Dor. He says that the Government
d reports show that the yield per acr
{ i'll counties largely white was nearl
{ twice as great as IN counties largel
J black
The old slave system, says N,
' Hardy. drove hundreds and thou
/ sands of white men from the cotto
: fields. and prejudice against mar
ual labor has existed since the wal
{ This feeling. he thinks. is now civ
I ing way under the leadership an
u teaching of the agricultural and me
Z chanical colleges of the South. on
Il boys and young men, as we'll as til
! great mass of the people. have bee
y filled with the spirit of indusaita
education which has made labor {
all kinds equally honorable, aud tn
old prejudice Is. thank God. becon,
ing thing OF the past As a demon
: stration of this TACT more than 90
e of Our boys here last summer earne
c part OF their expenses by manue
c labor Realizing that the negr
c must for many years remain a gfea
e factor in cotton production. the whit
r people arc holding this fall institute
Il for the negro farmers
II The use of fertilizers. VIC are tole
It is. proceeding upon a sauer methes
I. In the entire cotton crop area abou
e onethird of bale is produced 70 tn
| .f 81, l.