The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-10-23
aREENWooD LFoRE MORNING. OCT % 1905


with sharp penknife, and each Of thes
slashes into tho covering between tn
hands, ripping great hole througl
which the snowy cotton bulges.
handful b pulled from each gapiu.
slash, examined a. to fiber length an,
strength. and the bid Of the buyer base.
upon the sample. Every slash ha,
made opening for dirt in transit of tn,
bale, and the bulging cotton thereafte,
is an invitation to fire.
Yet Of the worlds production of cot.
ton last year the United States grew
65.S per cent, British India 14S pe,
cent, Egypt 7.s per cent, end Russia
less than per cent. India, however, is
growing cotton against the cd rs that
accrue to an over-populated country,
which needs all its arabic soil to pro-
duce footstuffs, and in Egypt, under
irrigation, cotton lands range in price
from $500 to 5000 an acre.
In the North the people Of the United
States are unfamiliar with the strides
made in cotton growing in the new
Southwest. Oklahoma and Texas have
led in this increase remarkably in the
last nine years. In the Panhandle of
Texas, which produced only 1000 bales
OF cotton in 1899, the crop OF 1907 was
11s,82S bales. In sixteen Texas counties
which In 1899 produced only 1892
bales the crop OF 1907 was 208, ,979 bales.
In the same degree In Oklahoma the
adaptation Of new lands to cotton and
the shifting to cotton from wheat on
the part Of farmers fighting insect pests,
have increased the output immensely.
The position OF the United States
government toward the cotton industry
is for the encouragement OF better
methods everywhere. Better seed,
better cultivation, better baling and
bett er treatment Of the cotton fiber in
separating It from the seed are urged.
Experiment in certain portions of the
South have resulted in the production
OF long fiber which commands for it a
premium Of five to ten cents pound
over the cotton formerly grown there,
yet in the ginning Of the product the
use Of the saw gins has done much to
neutralize the increased length of the
fiber, cutting it and breaking it. In
Egypt and in the sea islands the roller
gin is universal, preserving the fiber
and establishing the required uniformity
in lengths.
How much the cotton crop of the
country depends upon hand labor is
shown In the fact that while a man
with q modern cultivator may work
thirty acres of cotton field adequately,
'our hand pickers will need to supple
nent his work in order that the crop
nay be harvested in good condition.
How wide the field Of improvement
nay be in cotton growing and market
ng may be suggested in the fact that
,nly few years ago such cotton seed
Is was not needed for planting was
.llowed to rot, with only chance that
t afterward might be used as fertilizer.
4ast year the cotton seed products of
he United States were valued at $780,
O6,62l, employing 1855 oil mills and
Employing hundreds of high-salaried
workers. and tens of thousands Of wage
,arners in the work.
Oil was exported to the amount OF
III, 900, 900 for the year and exports OF
AXE and meal we're almost as large.
Only few years ago, even after the
,alue Of the cotton seed had been
demonstrated, the farmer was content
o leave the ginned seeds virtually