Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1919-02-16

hungry stomach must be fed Think
about that. I
The last four years have been a
period of gradually increasing prices.
Farmers and business men have prof
tied out of this constant increase
Cotton just about kept pace with 9TH.
err things. A pound or an acre Of It
would buy about the same quantity
of other commodities in 1918 at 30
cents pound as it did in 1914 at
IL cents a pound. But during this
time the farmers had the advantage
of purchasing supplies in the spring
and summer at one level of prices and
then selling cotton in the fall at the
top price of the year and paying the
debts contracted at the lower prices.
BE ON YOUR GUARD NOW, for
when prices begin to settle down the
situation becomes more difficult. We
may be in the position of making
crop of cotton with high-priced sup
Piles and settling our debts out of cot
ton at a lower price. Especially
will this be true if we produce very
large crop and thereby do all in our
cotton. Has not large crop always
.lucdiiC. lOWcI pIlCcS AAiIIh CIldG OVcI.
Increased Acreage.
What about acreage? Let us look
at the acreage figures in the bulle-
tin. The total for 1918 was $780,
000. Oklahoma had more acres plant
ed in 1918 than in either 1911, 1913
or 1914. Texas had more acres in
1918 than in 1911 and only about
100000 acres less than in 1914 The
years. 1911, 1918 and 1914 were good
years with big crops and generally
low prices. With only 10000 acres
more in the whole country in 1911
than we had in the whole country in
1918, we produced 15,693,00O bales,
and the farm price December /, 1911,
averaged 8.8 cents per pound. In
1913 we had 37,089,000 acres and pro-
duced 14,156,0OO bales, and the farm
price averaged 1872 cents per pound
December 1, 1918. In 1914 we had &c.
832, 200 acres, or only $4,000 acres
more than in 1918, and yet the pro-
duction was 16,135,O0O bales and the
farm price December /, 1914 was 6.8
cents per pound on ;the average, due
in part, no doubt, tp the war in Eu.
rope. Think this oyer.
With less acres than last year and
a good season we lean easily make
very large crop, especially with
good production in Texas and Okla
homa. In 1912 with only 34,283,OOO
acres we made s13;7o3, 900 bales of
cotton. With a. gdod season ahead
of us, would you increase the acre
age?
Limit Production.
NL;oL x,ro,,1J xx2,, 1,o@Lox, IL wa
duce more cotton and take a less
price for, it after working a larger
number of acres at greater expense, or
limit your production to a smaller
number of acres, better tended, per-
hitting the full production Of your
food and feed and better chance for
a good price?
It is absolute folly to upset the
present prosperity of the cotton states
by planting large acreage which
| can only mean large crop and
lower price. hear rumors of farm
ers selling their livestock to pdsat their
land all in cotton. Such action is in
| viting disaster. If farmers, land
lords, merchants and bankers COM
bine to pull the house down upon
their own heads by producing large
crop of cotton, they should have the
courage to make no appeal to the
rest fthe world for help if their own
action leads them into distress.
But remember that there is a good
way. Look in the bulletin. FOOD
PLUS COTTON EQUALS PROS
PERITY. Full production of the
food for our people and the feed for
our growing livestock industry in the
south should be the first and most
important consideration. Safe farm
! ing demands caution this time. Sup
ply your own needs first as a sound
measure of protection, then hold your
cotton acreage down to a moderate
figure, less than in 1913, in order that
we may safeguard the production
and not destroy our prosperity by de-
liberately predicting. It is up
to the south to. ,plaN safe game.
Safety first demands that every cot
ton farmer, big and little, shall CO.
operate in holdings t1bwn the cotton
acreage.
Yours very truly,
BRADFORD KNAPP,
Chief.