The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1910-06-16
COTTON PRODUCTION in YEAR 1909
Government Census Bureau States That the Crop Was the
Most Valuable Ever Produced

.lS0S was the smallest prOuuCou SiASSS
1903, its value was 1872 per cent
more than that Of 1908 and, measured
by its yarn-producing quality and by
the financial results to the growers
1t was the most valuable ever pro-
duced.
This statement is taken from the
proof sheets of the United States cen
sus bureaus bulletin LOT on the pro
duction of cotton in 1903.
The estimated value OF. the 1903.
crop is given by the bulletin as $8l2,-
0S9,S33, as compared with 500 ,zoV,-
$50 for 1908 The amount OF dlner-
ence between the 1903 and l9OS val
ues is therefore S130,85S,S77, an IN
crease of 1872 per cent, as stated.
The figures as finally compiled for
the crop of 1909, including llnters ana
counting round as half bales, show
10,386,2O$ running bales, Which, ex-
pressed IN 5OO,pound bales, amounted
to 1O,315l3S2 bales, which IS S,z11,Sz4.
bales, or 241s per cent less than tae
total for 1903
During the last five years the price
of lint cotton aveaged about II Genus
per pound, orr about $55 per bale, and
the value Of the cotton seed increased
from $i3.76 der ton in 1906 to $27,73
per ton in 1909. 49,
The value Of 5O0-pound bale q
cotton, including the va1ue OF the SEED,
was $S43l In 1909, compared with
S5O.37 in 1904, and with $3O.2z IN
1898.
TO the producer of q crop OF tWen-
ty bales this means that, whereas ne
realized SSO4 in 1898, he received 81
686 In 1908. which increase, nQtwlth-
standing greater cost Of production
at the present time, measures the diff
ference betVeen a mere existence and
independent living. N
The bulletin notes that, according
to the bureau Of statistics of the de-
partment Of agriculture, the area
planted tOcotton in 1903 was 32,292,-1
900 acres, of which 1,354,0O0 acres, or
AZ per cent, were abandoned, leaving
3O,938 600 acres as the area from
which the crop was harvested. There
was a REDUCTION Of 4.6 per cent in the
area harvested and 24.1 per cent in
the production of 1909 The average
productioH Der acre In 1g09 was lB4. 8
poundsE compared with 1853 pounds
in 1903
Attention is called to the fact thai
the acreage harvested between 1879
and 1909 increased 1871 per cent and
the production 978 per cent. How
ever, the crop of 1908, amounting to-
about s1S,4SL131 running bales, repre-
sents more nearly the normal produc-
tions and it shows an increase of 1905
per cent over the crop of 1879.
The Bulletin states that Georgia
and the two Carolinas have exhibited
especially favorable conditions in the
last three years; their combined pro-
ductfon in 1909 being only 6.3 per
cent less than that of 1908, whereas
the crop of the entire country was
24.19per cent less They contributed
in 1909 about IS per cent Of the en-
tire production.
Georgia was second in rank in the
quantity IL CROP produced, being ex-
ceeded Only by Texas; South Carroll
ma was third, Mississippi fourth, and
Alabama fifth.
Concerning the conditions affecting
the crop in 1909, the bulletin states
that the reports from twelve states
mentioned excessive spring rains;
from eleven states, attributed drought
and high temperatures in July and
August; from ten states, decrease in
acreage: from five states, boil weevil
ravages; and from six states, INSULT
icent labor.
It is stated that deep and thorough |
preparation of the soil, careful seeu
selection, more and better fertiliza- |
ton. superior cultural methods, IA
vorable weather conditions, and am
pie labor for cultivation and harvest |
ing. are accountable for improved
crop conditions, especially in the Car
olinas and Georgia.
+ Cotton growers annually, it is stat |
ed. are becoming more efficient andl
successful in subduing or holding in
check the destructive effects of the
boil WeeVil, through following the in |
structiOns of the national, and state |
departments of agriculture. Inyesti- |
cations by the former have proved |
that. through more careful selection |
of se@d for planting and better meth
DDS Of cultivation, the maturing crop
can be SO fastened by the use Of com
mereial fertilizers and cultural meth
DDS as to develop a large percentage
of the crop before the weeyiI has SO I
multiplied as to materially damage it.
The most effective check for the
weevil is dry weather. The damage
from it is practically in proportion
to the amount of precipitation. The
greatest advance in boil weevil raw
ages in 1909 was that Of one hundred
and twenty miles in southern Mis-
souri,, but the insect failed materially
to extend It's range in the Yazoo Riv-
er Valley. In Oklahoma the greatest
advance was only thirty miles, while
the average was only ten miles.
TIE. value Of the Egyptian cotton
annually imported into. the United
States amount to more than $4,000
BOO, and the demand is increasing.
Among the reasons given by the man
lfacturers for their preference for it
IS the fact that it is .freer from trash
and short fibers, with less waste. inj
,arding and cpmbing, than that Of
either sea island or American long
staple, upland cotton.
The average bale weight for the
,rop of 1909, counting round as half
)aIes and including linters, was
.96. 6spounds gross compared with the
average of 5O5.S pounds for 1903,