Imperial Valley press., 1914-06-23
COTTON PRODUCTION IN
THE UNITED STATES

4
! crop of 1913, counting round as half
4 bales and excluding linters, was 49,
9S2,S11 running bales. With the eX-
ceptior of that of 1911, this is the
largest cotton crop the United States
has ever produced. Expressed in gross
! 500-pound bales, the crop amounted
to 14,156,4S6 bales, being 1,536,215
bales, or 9.S per cent, less than that
of 1911, but exceeding that of 1912
by ,065 bales or 3.3 per cent; that
of 1909, the smallest crop in recent
years, by 4,151,537 bales or Ais per
cent; and that of 1904, the fourth
largest crop, by 71S,474 bales, or 5.3
per cent. These figures are given in
: bulletin on Cotton Production for
1918, which has been issued by Direc-
tor William j, Harris, of the Bureau
of the Census, Department of Com
merce. 1t was prepared under the
supervision of William NJ. Steuart,
chief statistician for manufactures.
The quantity of cotton ginned from
the crop of 1913, prior to September
l. was 799,099 bales, exceeding that of
1911-the next largest-by 27,SO2
bales. Almost one-half of the total
crop was ginned prior to October 1S;
by November Ia almost three-fourths
of the crop had been ginned. This is
practically the same as the average
for the years 1902-1912, the highest
percentage (S0.5) being shown for
1909 and the lowest (6O.9) for 1906 |
The amount of cotton seed produced
in tons, in 1913 was 6,305O0O with an
estimated value of S156,6OO,0OO. Of
this quantity, 4,767,S02 tons were
crushed The corresponding amounts
for 1912 were 6,104,000 tons produced
and 4,579,5OS TONS crushed; and for
1911, 6,997,OOO tons produced and
4,921,G73 tons crushed.
/ Conditions Affecting the 1913 Crop
The cotton crop of 1913 began with
an increased area planted, the revis- /
ed estimate of the Department of
Agriculture being 37,45S,OO0 acres, as
against an estimate of 34,766,000 +
acres for the crop of 1912. The 1913
crop as a whole got late start, but
good stands were obtained in practic- +
ally the entire cotton belt other than
the Atlantic Coast states, where much +
replantlng was necessary-probably
25 per cent of their total cotton acre
age. During May and June favorable
weather conditions prevailed in all
sections, offsetting to a degree the
lateness of the crop and permitting
the very late replanted cotton to get
good start. Favorable conditions !
continued for the most part in the
Atlantic states and in the greater
portions of the Middle Gulf states,
enabling the plants in these sections
to mature and fruit and converting
the carly discouraging prospects into
an excellent harvest. On the other
hand what promised to be a large
yield in the area west of the Missis-
sippi was reduced by prolonged
drought and excessive heat to a poor
yield, considering that large per
centage of the increased acreage was
in this section. The effects of the
drought and heat were especially Sc
we're in Oklahoma and only slightly
less SO in western Arkansas and in
the northern and western portions of
the cotton-growing area of Texas.
The cotton crop of 1913 in general
was less seriously affected by insect
rests than the previous one, although
certain large sections suffered more
severely than ever before. With the
exception of certain sections in north
ern Texas where there was some re-
cessioE in the territory invaded by
the weevil, there was an advance all
along the line as compared with 1912.
The total territory now infested is
estimated at 296,3OO square miles, in
cluding 22,800 square miles invaded
for the first time in 1913.
Cotton Crop of the States
The cotton crop of 1913 as COM
Jared with that of 1912, showed q
gain m each of the cotton-belt states /
with the exception of North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. The
production in Alabama, Georgi1,
South Carolina, and Tennessee was
the largest ever reported for these
states except for 1911. Arkansas made |
It's record crop in 1913 and Louisiana
showed the largest amount ginned
from single crop since 1908. While
the crop in Texas was nearly. 1,OOO,- !
600 bales short of the record crop of (
1912, 1t was exceeded by only two
Cthers-those of 1906 and 1911. Al
large part of the increase in the pro-
duction of cotton in recent years has