Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1907-09-05
Br II. T. BLAKEsLEE. JAcxsox.

: No man in Mississippi is better posted
upon conditions pertaining TO our great
money crop, cotton, than Hon. Walter
Clarke, president Of the Mississippi di-
vision of the Southern Cotton A.socia-
ton. In company with number Of
gentlemen representing the Cotton As
sociation and the Farmers Union, sew
erai weeks were spent during the sum
mer in foreign fields studying the situa-
tion 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 his invcstiga-
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, ! visited the ports OF Venice, Brc-
men, Liverpool and Manchester. | saw
bales OF cotton from many countries.
All of these bales, except YOUR own,
were beautiful and symmetrical in form
and perfect in packages. Yours was
the most detestible, contemptible and
despisable package imaginable, held in
contempt by every one who was forced
to use it. At every place found
many bales covered with mud, dirt and
slime, and thousands of bales in the
pickeries. visited one pickery in
Manchester where | found, after being
picked, the damaged cotton removed va
ried from ten to fifty-fve per cent, and
b the remainder of good cotton contained
moisture from Is to 30 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 snd
were using only Egyptian. When asked
the reason, they said that for the past
three years they had so much Trouble
on account of water-soaked 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
soeiation of Great Britain, Germany and
Italy had organized eotton-growing asso-
Citations in their colonies and were
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-
immediate future, but eventually, un-
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 at Atlanta, Ca, on October Z,
and 0. 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.
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
mas gone by and the people of Mississip-
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 bettering 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 ef-
fective solution of the problem, Begin
today talking up competitive corn
growing contest among the school chill
dren of the county for next year. Ar
range for cooperation in the placing of
cane syrup on the market and a dozen
other things that are sadly needed in
our great state. Think about these sug-
gestions and after deliberation, don't fail
to take action of some 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 s16 cars, a gain of 81
cars over last year. The tomato move
ment last year footed up 426,47o crates,
this year the movement foots up 432, ,476
crates-a gain of 5,996 crates, or sig
ears over last year. During the month
of June, 1906, $40 ears 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-
Eomenal 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 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 situations Roads are the greatest
boon OF any civilized community and it
is time that our stste was arranging
for the enjoyment of this greatest of all
necessities.
.Diversifcation is acknowledged as the
salvation OF Mississippi farmers and the
time to begin any good work is right
now.
A general meeting of truck growers
was held at Gloster on the. 30th for the
purpose of going over the situation at
present and mapping out a campaign
for the next. A number Of experienced
truckers as well as representatives of
the transportation lines were on hand