Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-24
LONG STAPLE COTTON.
Soil Doctors Producing Egyptian Va
riety in America

LONG STAPLE COTTON.
Soil Doctors Producing Egyptian Va.
riety in America.
Government soil doctors and plant
specialists, says a Washington dis
patch, have found way Of raising
cotton Of the Egyptian variety in this
country. President George w. Neville
Of the New York Cotton Exchange be-
lieves that in q few years the United
States will not import much, If any,
Egyptian cotton, because the Ameri-
can planters will grow enough to sup
ply the American market.
| He believes the development Of the
industry means much more than this.
1t means the growth Of agricultural
communities in the south and the col
onization Of arid, waste regions in the
southwest, to which American enter
prises will be attracted. More than
that, the new and additional crops ex-
pected will add greatly to the nation
al wealth, increase American exports,
and throw the balance Of trade more
heavily in this country's favor.
Cotton imported from Egypt last
year was worth $23,000,000 in this
market. 1t represented an increase of
$4,000 bales over the year before, and
in round figures bale Is worth 500.
Each year since 1905 importations
Of Egyptian cotton have greatly in
creased, nearly all Of 1t being bought
directly in Egypt, and a very small
part Of it from the United Kingdom.
Before 1895, the importation of
Egyptian cotton or any other, amount
ed to little or nothing. In that year
it was $1,000 bales, before that much
less. In 1910 it was 1896 bales,
and in 1911 it was 231,191 bales.
All the time before these importa-
tons began to be of consequence the
American planter supplied all the
needs of the cotton manufacturer and
much of the needs Of the rest Of the
world. The spread Of the boil weevil,
which invaded Texas in 1892, and the
Mississippi and Louisiana cotton belt
between 1903 and 1907, almost II not
quite extinguished the growth Of long
staple cotton, such as Egypt grows,
which Is used in the manufacture of
thread, knit goods, lace and fine goods
and which sells at premium Of to
cents a pound above the shorter sta
pies.
4. In the cotton lands Of the Yazoo,
Mississippi and Arkansas rivers, that
is, generally between Helena, Ark, and
Memphis, Tenn, on both sides Of the
Mississippi, and as far north as Baton
Rouge, La, long staple cotton used to
be raised in abundance, but when the
weevil became established the farm
ersscould not plant it with any de-
gree Of certainty of a harvest large
enough to compensate them for the
labor. The great reduction in the
acreage planted and the average
yields made it necessary for the Amer
ican manufacturers Of fine goods to
get their supplies from Egypt.
These conditions led the department
of agriculture in Washington to un-
dertake practical experiments. The
region selected was along the bottom
lands Of the Colorado river, in south
eastern California, and the Yuma dis
trict in Arizona. Experimentation be-
gan several years ago, and practical
results were obtained in 1908 and 1909
and now, it is said, the demonstration
Is complete. The work has been done
in the heart of the arid, and therefore
unpopulated, region. and it is estimat-
ed that within the radius proved by
the experiments there are 100000
acres. The extension of possible cot
ton growth in the arid wastes is pre-
sumed to be unlimited, all that Is
needed being sources Of water and ir-
rigating bitches.
It was not so much the reclamation
of arid lands that led the government
to make experiments as 1t was the
lack Of moisture and rainfall at inop-
perfume times. At least, it Is to be
inferred, apart from the fact that land
there for experimentation costs, moth
ing. w. D. Hunter Of the bureau OF
entomology Of the department Of ag-
riculture, in his address before the
convention of the cotton manufac-
turers a few weeks ago, attributed the
big cotton crop Of 1911 to the drought
which diminished the activities Of the
boil weevil.
In the new cotton-growing sections
1t is hoped to keep the boil weevil out.
The rigid quarantine Of the cotton
growing states east of the Mississippi
have thus far resisted an invasion,
and that the long staple cotton can be
grown in the cotton states and even In
the uplands has been demonstrated by
David r. Coker Of Hartsville, S. c.
The government experts tried Egyp-
tian seed and found after thorough
tests that acclimatized cultures Of this
seed produced the best results. Mr.
Coker had the same experience at his
experimental station at Hartsville. He
has induced the South Carolina grow
ers to plant the long staple instead OF
the short cotton, and last year rs per
cent Of the product in the territory
contiguous to Hartsville was Egyptian
cotton. This year it is expected to be
three-quarters Of the cotton produc-
tion in that district.
| It all comes back to the new agri-
cultural idea of scientific planting and
close attention to the growing crops
in order to do what has not been done
before in growing staple cotton In
strange places.
| Arizona grown cotton from the gov
ernment stations has been sold in the
open market in limited quantities and
been taken by manufacturers at close
to the premium paid for Egyptian
cotton. 1t has been tested in the mills
and found equal to requirements.
|
| The Power of Radium.-Suppose
that the energy Of a ton of radium
could be utilized in thirty years, in
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