The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-14
12,5OO, ,OOO BALES IS
 COTTON ESTIMATE
tcoNTIN JED FROM PAGE ID


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 data for the government crops reports. and that during his administration he had never met the gentleman, had never seen him at the state capitol nor had any of his 65 agents in the state seen him.
 The whole thing is farce" he de- clared with much indignation, and we should no longer rely on the government for a correct report"
 Congressman Henry D. Clayton of Ala bama, stated that the government did a whole lot of things of value which the states could not do, but that he, too, be- lieved that the cotton and crop reports were inaccurate, He stated that he knew 1t to be fact sthat men employed in Washington figured on the cotton and gin- hing reports who had never been In a field of cotton or seen boil of cotton in their lives. We must go back to home government" shouted MT. Clayton, 'apd get up our own information
 Harding's Address
 W. P G. Harding, president of the First National bank of Birmingham, was down on the programme for an address on financing the cotton crop,' but he not onlN touched on this subject but went deeper, discussing every phase of the sit uation. including the importance of the convention, opportune time for holding it before cotton gets out of the hands of the producers, crop deterioration, etc.
 He pointed out the fact that the gov ernment's last estimate of the 1911 crop, made public on August 25, reduced the size of the rop to 12,90O.00o bales, but ein- phasized the fact that the ravages of the cotton worm in this section of the south have nearly all been made since that date.
 Mr. Harding declared that this conven- tion should seek to impress upon the wrd that the present crop can at best be .)ny an average one. and that theer will be no surplus of American cotton this year, just as there has been none for several sea- sons past.
 In referring to the fixing of prices, Mr. Harding said:
 'I doubt the expediency of attempting to set a minimum price at which cotton must be sold. I believe rather that the slogan of this convention should be. "Get all for your cotton that 1t Is worth" rather than hold for arbitrary prices. Too often a fraction of one-eighth or one sixteenth interferes with a sale. One crop of cotton must be sold before the rext crop comes In, as otherwise we would be confronted with the problem of marketing a double crop, which would be disastrous, even were 1t possible to hold over an entire crop, which is a manifest impossiblllty."
 How To- Finance Crop
 As to financing the present crop, MT. Harding said:
 My advice as to the financing of the present crop of cotton is to fix no fig ure at which you will sell your crop. but to market it gradually If the price is not satisfactory and you are obliged to pay an urgent debt. sell enough to meet. your needs. but hold on to the balance of it, letting 1t so month by month until the entire crop Is sord''
 MT. Harding gave it as his opinion that 1t would be difficult for banks in the larger cities to aid directly in the holding back of tine cottpn crop, and gave good but declared the merchants local banks must do their part.
 'They are the ones to whom the farm CTS debts are nearly all due." he said,