The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-01-18
COTTON IS
PUZZLE Of
A CENTURY
IN OUS TRY 100 YEARS OLD
HAS AR CORD OF
ROMANCE

Cotton is at once the commercial
and industrial romance ana puzzle OF
the last century During that tlme,
due to the invention Of the cotton gin.
his product has grown to be one OF
the worlds greatest trade and manu-
lacturin gfactors The magnitude OF
his great interest is focused by some
astonishing figures printed BY the.
Manufacturers Record Of Baltimore,
showing that the cotton product of
the Southern states in ten years. 1900
to 1909, inclusive, exceeded in value
the entire worlds output OF gold and
silver Following are the Recora's
figures, For the ten years mentioned
he worlds production Of gold was $3,
aSl 20l, zoo. In the same time silver
was produced to the amount OF ST.
.0440l7 300. Together the amount
was $4,G25, ,262 200 In the same de-
cade cotton and its productsh, iucnd-
ing seed. produced in the Southern
states, sold for money which aggre.
gated $G,SS7OO0Ooo. sum greater
than the decades gold and silver by
.$l76l 737,2 POO
The puzzle concerning cotton has
to do with the size of the crops and
prices. The fact is that in thirteen
Years The size of the crop has remain.
Jed practically stationary. In 1897 the
crop was l0,S97S57 bales. In 1909 it
was a little less, l0.3SG. .209 Only two
ears in this time very much exceed.
ed these hgrres, In 1904 and 1906
the crop was over l3000.000 bales
The Governments estimate for 1910
Is about II 100000 bales Al the
same time values increased immense
ly. The crop including seed. In 1900
sold for $404 100000. In 1909 il
brought s77G.Oj0,000, and the Manu-.
lecturers Record thinks the 1910
crop win bring billion dollars. Now,
with the constant addition Of nlew
territory, and the incentive Of va 81
y increased values, why do not the
crops increase?
This is accounted for in various
ways. The boil weevil has destroyed
much cotton, and il has also eau ed
the Southern farmers to diversity
their crops and raise more corn ana
less cotton The influence also OF
the gamblers in cotton has all been
on he side OF restricting the acreage,
because a small crop is easier to cor
per than a large one. To account for
the great growth OF values. something
must be said for the increased com
mercial value Of the seed The Wall
Street Journal says that the farmerA
Of the South will receive for the seed
from last years crop approximately
lG5,000000. This product was for
merry used for fertilizer The price
has grown in recent years from 20
cents a bushel to so cents
The enormous values given above
show that. in spite of the boil weevil
this great crop, OF which the South
has a monopoly In this country, can
never be abandoned. In fact, there is
a cogent reason why it should be in
creased Competitors are coming up.
England is giving subsidies for ex-
permental aiIng in its tributtry
territory, and is making headway in
Egypt Ind India. Other countNes
are also in the field, the general re-
suit being that, Whine in 1900 the
United States produced so per cent
Of the worlds supply of cotton, the
past year this ratio had fallen to 10
Iper cent.
The New Orleans picayune, In com
menting on the large amounts receiy-
ed for cotton wants to know what
! las gone with all this money. The
prosperous bank statements may
throw some light on it, but it must
also be remembered that the money
received for cotton is not all velvet.
II is an expensive crop to raise. It
must be cultivated closely. and from
planting to ginning and marketing re-
quires constant attention.
In the general idustrial field about
the country progress is still noted.
Californi acapitalists have bougat
s05O00 acres OF land in Cameron
Parish, La.
Union National bank at Houston,
Texas. is erecting a million dollar
nnilding.
Frank B. Keeyer pays 100000 for
a mine in Plaser county, Cal.
Cripple Creek gold output for the
past year was $l5,770,339.74.
The Maggie property at Cripple
Creek is turning out gold ore WORTH
$62 TO the pound
Tucson, Ariz., is TO have a smeIer
to cost $350,0O0.
The Southwestern Life Insurance
company Is putting up a sixteen story
building at Dallas, Tex.
The orange crop in the Redlands
district of California brought 100000