The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-23

rate OT SID Il ION Tor them To sell TO u
~rOtionSeti oil min for crushing pur-
poses. took them back home to sell for
seel and for his own use.
The new bale of cotton was hurried
to town. At the cotton warehouse 4
hole was cut III the side of the bale by
the weigller. who certified the weight
and pulled Il sample of the lint from
the hole he had made. This was wrap.
ped in a piece of clean manila paper.
md Joe and Mr.. Somerville sailed
forth to sell the cotton.
The first buyer they went to could
scarcely believe his eyes that a bale
had been produced three weeks before
cotton was expected to come on the
market. He took a lock of the fiber
between the thumb and forefinger Of
his left hand. Grasping the ends Of
the lock with the similar fingers of his
right hand, he pulled steadily.
1t parted. and in each hand he had Il
lock Of tolerably straight cotton. Re
peating the process five or six times.
he had every strand Strengthened out.
and. placing the two pieces together.
he went to the stronger light by the
window and examined it.
This is a new cotton in this neigh
borhood." he said. 1.-The staple is
about an inch and an eighth. The best
We get around here is in inch. It's
mighty nice and clean-if the bale is
all like this"
Every bit, sir. | handled it SO it
would be Clean" said Joe.
"What'l you offer. DAM" inquired
Mr.. SOmerville.
well. New Orleans spot cotton is
quoted today at IL cents a pound for
middling. This, however, classes as
middling fair, a grade or so better
On account of the staple and cleanli-
ness of the cotton I'll give you 1912"
'TOo low for that grade" said Mr.
Somerville.
"Ill make it 49," urged the buyer.
Write your bid on the sample" The
buyer did so and signed his initials.
The next buyer raised his offer half
a cent Il pound. The third and last
buyer in town was the representative
of a great firm of New Orleans fac
tors.
II think our farmers ought to be en-
couraged to grow better cotton and
handle it clearly and properly, as you
have. young man, and get it on the
market earlier. I'll pay you IA cents"
you've sure bought a bale of cot
ton" said Mr.. Somerville. Here are
the warehouse receipt and weight"
The buyer made a calculation.
Bale of 400 pounds at IA cents
comes to $GS.GO. Here's your check.
Come around again. SON. Glad to have
met Il progressive farmer like you"
well. Joe" said Mr. SOmerville,
that's doing Il heap more than folks
around here. \ bale to the acre is
what they make Up in the delta. and
that's about the richest land in crea-
ton"
Eyes. sir. it's pretty good" said Joe.
as he made out Il deposit slip for the
check at the bank. but I reckon | can
get another small bale off that acre
when all the top bolls OPEN"
Great Scott! Say that again. will
your" MI. Somerville and the cashier
stared at him in amazement.
you're joking. amt you, Joe?"
mo. sir. I'm not. Drive out there
and see for yourself"
"Well, this certainly does beat the
Dutch!' MI. Somerville whistled.
'1Two bales to the acre-well. we'll.
well!!'
1t was three weeks and a half longer.
though. before all the top bolls opened
and Joe got his second bale. 1t was
small, barely 400 pounds, and the mar,
ket had tumbled to 10 cents by the
time he took it to the buyer who got
his first bale. On account of the excel.
lence Of the staple and freedom from
trash, he paid II cents for it. and Joe
banked $44. The total of $112.6O for
one acre of cotton was entirely salts
factory; moreover. there were forty or
fifty bushels of seed he could sell for
planting at Il dollar a bushel easily.
The next thing was to get the pota-
toes on the market. They were plowed
up-14O bushels at 60 cents brought
$S4, which. added to the amount of the
truck on that acre. made 1915. A hun
dred bundles of fodder from the Mexi-
can June corn at } cents brought So to
be added to the oats acre. and seventy
bushels of the June corn sold at 70
cents brought $40; total for the acre of
oats and June corn. $64, with a crop OF
turnips yet to be heard from.
The cowpeas he did not count. as he
let the vines mature the peas for seed.
as peas were scarce and expensive. and
he planned to plant more of them next
year.
Thus far receipts had been: Cotton.
$112.6O; vegetables and potatoes. $215:
oats and corn. $64: total, $391.6O. with.
out considering the competitive corn
acre or the cotton seed on hand.
CHAPTER Viii.
The Committee Gathers Corn.
n CT. Is the committee came out
to measure JOe's corn. The
three gentlemen took a stand
III ard huShal measure and y