The Tupelo journal., 1907-09-06
BIZ h. E. BLAKESLEE. JACKSON.


upon conditions pertaining to our great
money crop, cotton, than Hon. Walter
Clarke, president of the Mississippi di
vision of the Southern Cotton Associa.
fion. In company with a number OF
gentlemen representing the Cotton As.
ISOLATION and the Farmers Union, sew
eral weeks Were spent during the sum
mer in foreign fields studying the situa'
ton with reference to an improvement
that would place American cotton on an
equal footing with that from other sec.
tions of the world. Mr.. Clarke now pro.
poses to visit points in the state that
desire to know the result of mis- investiga.
tions, and give a series of talks upon
the need of Improvement in our methods
of handling. 1t is an educational cam
paign that will bring splendid results.
Last week Mr.. Clarke gave the following
letter to the press of the state:
After leaving the conference at vi.
emma, l visited the ports of Venice, Bre-
men, Liverpool and Manchester. l saw
DSN VI NONtoh liohl may otA ASS'
All of these bales, except your own,
were beautiful and symmetrical in form
and perfect in packages. Yours was
the most detestible, contemplate and
despisable package imaginable, held In
contempt by every one who was forced
to use it. At every place l found
many bales covered with mud, dirt and
slime, and thousands of bales in the
pickeries. l visited one pickery in
Manchester where | found, after being
picked, the damaged cotton removed va
ried from ten to tifty-five per cent, and
the remainder of good cotton contained
moisture from Is to 80 per cent.
The bales of Egyptian and Indian cot
ton are sampled, one bale out of every
ten. Each and every one of your bales
is sampled from two to six times. Sew.
eral manufacturers told me that they
had quit using American cotton and
were using only Egyptian. When asked
the reason, they said that for the past
three years they had so much trouble
on account of watersoaked packages,
mixed grades, mixed staples and false
packing, that they had discontinued the
use of American cotton until these ele-
ments of uncertainty were removed.
| found that the Manufacturers AS
ISOLATION of Great Britain, Germany and
Italy had organized cot%ton-growing asso-
piafionS in THAR ao1ppias onl wara
spending thousands of dollars on this
work. This work of growing cotton in
their colonies had succeeded far beyond
their widest expectations. | conclude
from my observations that your monop-
oily is threatened, possibly not in the
immediate future, but eventually, UNI
less you take steps to correct the many
abuses to which your cotton has so long
been subjected.
A large number of European manufac-
turers will meet the representatives of
the Cotton Association and the Farmers
Union NJ Atlanta, Ca, on October z,
8 and 9. L have been requested by
President Jordan to appoint delegates
from the different counties of Missis-
sippi to this convention. | would very
much prefer that you meet in your own
counties and appoint your delegates. l
trust that you will do this Immediately
and send one of the very best men you
have to this convention"
The last of the great political battle
hoe ropa NV onA tla pnopIa Of A,e0ic.p-
pi can now turn their attention to other
matters. In the last few months moth
ing else could be talked of, but the lull
now follows the storm. How about that
plan of lettering road conditions in your
county? Why not take the, matter up
again and get the people interested and
try to work out an economical and e.
fective solution of the problem? Begin
today talking up a competitive corn
growing contest among the school chill
dren of the county for next year. Ar
range for cooperation in the placing of
can't syrup on the market and a dozen
other things that are sadly needed in
Our great state. Think about these sug-
g~estions and after deliberation, don't fail
TO take action of ONE kind.
The Crystal Springs Meteor gives the
following as a general summary of the
trucking business of that point for the
present season as compared with the
business for last year: "The movement
last year totaled 725 cars, this year the
total runs up to SIC cars, a gain of 81
cars over last year. The tomato move
ment last year footed up 426,479 crates,
this year the movement foots up 432,476
crates-a gain of 1896 crates, or six
cars over last year. During the month
of June, 1906, $40 cars were forwarded;
June, 1907, 453 cars were forwarded and
from this fact we infer that cars gained
this year are to be credited to the phe-
nomenal cabbage crop. At an early date
we will attempt to approximate the
value of the shipments to the commu-
nifty, having an accurate package data
to base the calculation upon"
Mississippi pays annually a tax of two
and one half million dollars to the bad
roads. Is it not about time that some
thing definite was being done to relieve
this situation? Roads are the greatest
boon of any civilized community and it
is time that our state was arranging
for the enjoyment of this greatest of all
necessities.
Diversification is acknowledged as the
salvation OF Mississippi farmers and the
time to begin any good work is right