Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-09-17
COTTON SEED QUESTION.


The cotton seed question Is one OF
considerable concern to farmers. gin
ners and seed crushers now and there
is a good deal Of misunderstanding and
dissatisfaction over the whole subject.
The food administration Is trying TO
stabilize prices OF ginning, etc. and TO
equalize profits between producers.
ginncrs. crushers. etc. This task OF
stabiliZation involves many problems
that have always proved more or less
pcrplexing. and some of the conclu-
sions arrived at so far have been Of a
nature that Is more or less startling.
Three dolluis and fifty cents Tor
ginning, Whoever heard OF the like
before? Why it is outrageous! Up
TO the time OF this price fixing business
nobody ever thought of charging more
than about a dollar bale for ginning.
and some were glad to do II for even
less than that. Ii is cheaper to buy q
ginning outfit and do it YOURSELF
That is a commonly expressed view.
We are not taking sides with any
body in this discussion. We would not
hesitate. TO do so ii there was any i'm
position involved. There are things
connected with it all that We do not
quite understand, and which on their
face look unreasonable. But in the be-
| lief that all concerned are trying to do
the fair and just thing, we do not want
TO emphasize any point that will make
il appear that somebody is trying to
take advantage OF somebody. We dc
not want to suggest anything like that
until we are sure we know what we
are talking about.
Yes. $3.50 a bale looks like terrible
price for ginning and compared with
the 81 a bale that used TO be common
it is a terrible price. Many people are
saying that rather than pay such n
price they can buy an outfit and dc
their own ginning. Some are threat
rning to do that. If not This fall, then
next fall. But the food administration
dec larcs that it has arrived at its fig
ures as the result OF very careful cal
culation as to the cost of labor. power
machinery. buildings. etc, and $3.50 Is
about all right.
II is very easy to understand where
some of the kicks against the new price
apparently $3.50 above the old price
come from. There are people who
have not caught on TO the full meaning
of it all. They fail to grasp the idea
that the food administration Is going
at the whole proposition in detail, put
ting the price of ginning on its merits
the price OF oil on its merits. the price
of hulls on it's merits. the price OF meal
on it's merits, etc. These people have
probably lost sight of the fact that not
since the old days, when cotton seed
were considered of no value, and GIN
ncrs charged from tenth to TWEEN
ticth for ginning the lint. has cotton
been ginned on strict business princi-
pies. They forget that because Of the
practice of oil mills to gin for less In
order to get a better chance ut buy
ing the seed, the price of ginning has
become merely nominal, and that all
hut oil mill ginneries have been prac-
tically run out Of business. The small
independent ginnerics have been able
to continue in existence only because
of arrangements with oil mills under
which arrangements the oil mills paid
enough for their seed to make up for
their losses on ginning. The ginning
business has become kind of Dor
row from Peter to pay Paul" arrange
ment TO such an extent that most peo-
pie have lost sight of the merits Of the
case.
In this price stabilization. the food
administration is trying to put the diff
fercr1t branches of the seed industry
each on its particular merits. in such
a way that taken as n whole, the re-
suits will still be practically the same
as before That Is. the ginning Is Ia
cost so much. the ginncr IL to pay Sc
much for seed. and sell them for sc
much, and the crusher Is allowed "a
get so much and no more for his oil
his meal. his hulls and his lintcrs, and
when it is all summed up. the net to
the producer of the seed will be prac-
tically the same that it has always
been and the profit to the ginncr and
the crushcr will also be about the
same. IL the Einncr or crushcr makes
more than is coming to him in th
way of profits. it has been arranged
so that the government can take 1t
away from him in the shape Of income
and excess profits taxes.
Although there has been some qucs-
tion as to whether a ginner will be-
allowed to gin at less than the gov
crnment price. the indications now are
that tho price is to bc absolutely fixed
Ginncrs will be required TO charge not
less than $3.50 bale, and the DISPOSE
ton OF the food administration is not
to allow the establishment of new gins
unless absolutely necessary to handl,
tha crops OF their respective ncighbor-
hoods in n proper manner. That Is
because Of the apparently high price
of $3.50 a bale. II Is not proposed to
allow the establishment Of new and
unpecessarv gins merely to divide III