The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1919-02-26
Shall We Plant
Cotton This Year.

I O1iIEft fY4C 1sltEIfCT
Cotton This Year.
{By David r. .Cokcr, Harsyille. s.. Cd
About this time Of the year a good
many farmers in this section always
take UP and settle this question, and
] am usually called upon TO give such
Information on the situation and pros
poets rs will help them come to a
faecision. I take it, therefore, chat
some OF our farmer friends will be
glad to know what the situation is
now and what the future prospects
seem to be.
Owing to the extremely dry season
during the summer and fall just
ypast, the development Of the staple
! OF the cottons produced in most Of
the cotton belt .was shorter and
weaker than usual This. OF course,
was especially hardTon the long staple
/ industry, as the price of that pro-
duct is regulated largely by the
iength.-. This immediate section usu-
ally produces sleagth which are
sknown here as oneeand :. one-fourth
/! and one and tive-sixteenths in about
equal proportions, with a very small
! percentage Of one and three-siX
| teenths, and a small percentage of
one and three -eighti1s. This season
! most! Of the cotton has run one and
three-sixteenths and one and one-
fourth, with less than half as much
Of the longer cotton as usually comes
into this market. The farmers in
this section have. therefore, aver
aged considerably less per pound for
their staple than they would have
received if the season had not been
so abnornally dry, and they should
take this fact into consideration in
planning their future operations
Another factor in the situation has
been most evident this year. As; q
general rule the. farmers who have
kept up the character and quality Of
their cotton by careful selection. or
who have purchased their seed re-
.cently from genuine plant breeders
have produced the longer lengths
which were mostly in demand This
has not been an inyariable rule, as
the variations OF weather conditions
and Soil sometimes obscure results.
At times rather poor seed planted or
good land and with good seasons will
produce, better results than the best
Seed planted on poor land or under
droughty conditions. But it can bel
safely asserted that under Identical
conditions of soil and weather. pure.E
recently .pedigreed seed viii produce
better and more profitable results cv-
cry time
! About FIVE years ago we placed a !
;arge quantity Of our Weber number
eighty-two seed in a certain section
Of Georgia The following fall. we
sent one .,cf our men into that terri
tory. and bought some very 7excellentf
cotton. The. following year we also
bought considerable cotton in that
territory but the average quality was
not. quite as high as some Of the
seed had become slightly mixed. The
third year the average cotton receiv-
ed, from that teri itory was notably
inferior to what we received the first
year, and the fourth year the cotton
ia that territnry was SO inferior thati
we were not able to handle mitch OF
it, as we could not ship it to any mill
who knew what good cotton was,
The staple industry has now been
practically abandoned in that terri /;
tory. though it could easily have been.i
Kept up to date from Breeding
standpoint.
I formerly tllonght that the i1igi1.i
chara cter and good length of ,nuch.i
OF the cotton produced in the Missis-
sippi Delta vas due mostly to the
uniform and very rich laffds Of that'
section. ! have found. however, that
most of the planters there have
thorough understanding Of the value
Of seed breeding and renew their.
seed frequently from the most care.
fiji. seed breeders. Il am. sa tisfled. :!
therefore; that pure high grade seed !!
has .at least as,.Tnuch to do with theT
quality sof all staples as any other
factor. =
The Sea Island section OF Georgia
and Florida has been SO badly hit
by the boil weevil and other causes
that the acreage In Sea. Islands Will
bd; very small this year. There ore
still considera Bile stocks Of Sea Island
on hand. bnt if the coming crop is.
very small there Will be an extra de-
1rfand for longer lengths of upland
staples and for Egyptian cottons. Up
land staple cotton running full one
and one-fourth and longer are now.
practically unobtainable and we have,
during. the past few days. been hunt
| ing for such cottons Of high grade at
i from 81 to 3s cents to fill some or:
dars. It>looss. therefore, as If fun
/ length staple cottons are going to he
eagerly sought, mex. fall. -
- Some export demand for staple
cottons has recently sprung up and !
see, no,,reason why it should not IN n.
crease in volume and he (, factor for
good prices next season. Under al
circumstances it seems to me that the
prospect for prices on we'll handled,
! high grade. staple cotton from pure
bred seed il unusually good for next
treason. The prospect for short COT.
,tNCP