Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-09-18
HOLD FOR FIFTEEN CENTS.
Statement from DIR. Ray.--ExpIains
Motives and Reasons.
(From The State.)

f (FrOmr The STATED ...
DR.. w. w. Ray, q member from
this State of the executive commit
tee OF the Southern Cotton Associa-
stion, has returned from jackson,
Miss, where the committee met to
name the minimum price which farm
ers will be expected to take for cot
ton.
, 1t has already been published that
the committee holds out for Is cents
per pound minimum. In talking Of
the matter yesterday DR.. Ray said
to The State:
"m responsible call for a meet
ing of the executive committee OF the
Southern Cotton Association, l left
Columbia on Tuesday morning, the
Sd, at 7.25.
81 examined, as we'll as I could
crops from Columbia to Atlanta.
These crops found to be exceedingly
poor, burnt up by the sun, and rust
showed considerably until I reached
Spartanburg. There I saw q few
crops which were good, but the bal
ance Of the way to Atlanta the crops
were away below the average, in
consequence of great drought
saw nothing of the crop from Atlanta
! to Birmingham In consequence Of
darkness. But early next morning
began to inspect the crop as we
left Birmingham, and as far as 1
could see from the train the cotton
and corn crop throughout Alabama
and Mississippi were exceedingly
poor, as a result Of the same causes
which affected the crops of South
4 Carolina and Georgia.
'I reached Jackson, Miss, on
Wednesday afternoon. Tine next
morning the executive committee Of
, the Southern Cotton Association held
a session In the Knights of Pythias
hall In Jackson. We had a good at
tendance. I was very much Inn
pressed with the personnel Of the
committee--men of high character,
conservative In their views, and with
no desire to make false statements of
the condition Of the crops. They
evinced to my mind the greatest care
and painstaking In coming to their
conclusions; they seemed to have
gone over the ground in their sew
Seral States very carefully. After
comparing notes the committee, by
E large majority, decided that the
NSOming crop would not be over 49,
100000 bales - 12,500,000 at the
outside.
If South Carolina reported condi-
tions about 10 to Is per cent better
than last year; Georgia reported
about the same conditions as South
T Caorlina; North Carolina reported
about the same conditions as last
year; Alabama reported conditions
about 25 to 80 per cent less than
last year; Mississippi reported the
crop materially less than last year,
as a result Of imperfect stands, hav-
ing to plant over as many as four
times, and In a great many Instances
lots Of the fields had to be abandoned,
as the cotton failed to come up; the
same conditions Prevailed in Louis
lana; Texas reported that they viii
be at least 100000 bales or more
shorter than last year, on account
Of the rayages Of the boil weeyil;
also lot OF cotton did not come up
The area In cotton was much 1es
than that of last year, In consequence
of the cotton not coming up. In Ar
kansas they reported cotton I'm the
bottom lands as being In good con-
dition; cotton on the hill lands
was poor, having suffered very much
from want OF rain and In conse-
quence of rust. Tennessee reported
reduction from last year. The
Indian Territory and Oklahoma were
not represented.
1.-THE committee, by decisive vote,
stood for 15 cents as the minimum
price Of cotton. They think that the
conditions warrant them In this de-
mand. The editor of The Cotton
journal wrote an article in The Jour