The Ordway new era., 1915-01-15

q girl does the clouds on the day Of
. picnic. There isn't shower in
the South Of which she doesn't keep
. record. There isn't q place in any
one Of the southern states of which
she cannot tell you the amount Of rain
fall any day. any week or any month
in the whole cotton year. She keeps
detailed records in regard to tempera-
ture. She keeps track of the acreage
to cotton in every county in the South
land. She watches everything In the
way of improvement in plantation
work just as she does the ravages Of
the boil weevil and the army worm.
She knows the amount of fertilizer
that Is purchased each spring and over
what section it 10 distributed.
She Is conservative. She knows
her correspondents are honest and
well intentioned. Probably no one
In the cotton world ever had a better
lot. But she knows, as everyone
knows who has had anything to do
with agricultural correspondents. that
at times by the sentiment or the be-
lief Of the people In his neighborhood
She has to gauge the human element
a. well as the elements of nature in
her calculations. She takes her $500
reports and studies them. putting
down figures and comparing them with
others that she has already prepared.
Then she has to consider these figures
in the light of the acreage, the pre-
ot- MI &E1 <,t u,xN
the various other things that enter
into the making Of the cotton crop.
With all her figures and all her infor-
nation In hand she has to make her
own deductions based upon her own
special reasoning and her individual
judgment.
Twelve times q year she has to do
this. She sends out one report in
May, two in June. two in July. two In
August, two in September, one in Oc-
tober, one in November and one in
December. She gets out her report
from three to five days in advance of
that Of the United States government.
Sometimes the government statisti-
clans have blundered egregiously.
Miss Giles, working alone, has been
right more times than has the agri.
cultural department with all its facili.
ties. In 1905 her reputation was es-
tablished throughout the world by rea.
son Of the veriication Of her predic.
tions by the outturn Of the crop. She
Immediately became a market factor.
Since then the Giles report Is watched
for with deep interest. She has to go
to extremes to safeguard It from being
made public before her subscribers re-
ceive it and before they can take
advantage Of its information.
Only Fourteen Subscribers.
She limits her subscribers to twelve
persons in the United States and two
in India. One of her foreign sub.
scribers is in Bombay and the other in
Viramgum. To the foreign subscrib.
ers the report is cabled. To her
American subscribers the report is de-
livered at $3.50 a. m. on the day 1t is
issued. All get the report at the same
time. their representatives meeting at
Miss Giles office at that hour and re-
ceiving the sealed paper from her
hands. She has secondary service.
which is sent by mail to five subscrib.
ers. This is simply her regular report.
All sorts of subterfuges are resorted
to by persons who want to get Miss
Giles opinion regarding cotton. SO
far as possible she secludes herself.
You won't find her name in the tele-
phone directory. She had 1t taken out
because SO many men called her up
and by adroit questioning endeavored
to get some idea from her regarding
the crop. To her subscribers her re.
ports may be of great value at times
of grave doubt as to the crop. II kept
from the knowledge Of others.
Miss Giles 10 the only woman who
ls cotton crop forecaster or stats.
tician. Another woman entered the
field. but didn't last. She had been in
the agricultural department and was
fairly capable. but she couldn't make