Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-18

HOW COTTON CAME UP.

NIL i C08u8tC lCROktS that o. - %
emit, sales of cotton are AbnormAlly
small. There is plenty Of tonnage
in the harbor, but . lack Of buyers
at the current very high prices. A
great many people seem to. think
that cotton prices have reached
their peak and are going to come
down. though no sudden or disturb
ing descent is looked for. The ex-
change rate, which makes the price
still higher, for all foreign buyers.
is also q factor in the present dull
market. During . recent week only
$50 bales of cotton were sold here,
which is for Savannah practically
no cotton at all Nevertheless,
everyone here is confident and sat-
isfied, for it is clear that the de-
mand will keep cotton at a rela-
lively very high price for a long
time to come. The tendency is to
keep cotton in the warehouses
rather than sell at lower figure.
Savannah now has warehouse ia
cilities for 100000 bales OF cotton,
and there are said to be about 210.-
900 bales in these warehouses now.
On the other hand, it is said that
there are only about 10000 bales
Of cotton in New York which could
be delivered on contract.
Meantime the south has been en-
joying ideal cotton weather. Last
fall was a long, dry, hot one, with
no frost until December, and that
is the kind of weather which makes
the fiber grow long and gladdens
the hearts of the Georgian.
In front Of the cotton exchange
building there is q little patch OF
cotton growing in a circular flower
bed perhaps twenty feet wide, and
that little patch is a veritable bar
ometer of the fortunes of the cot
ton growing south. The brokers
and shippers here look at it every
day, noting eagerly how the wealth
er and other influences affect it.
Last fall it flourished beautifully
for a time, and then the boil weevil
made its appearance.
| The weevil seems to be the spec
ter at Georgia's banquet of cotton
i made prosperity. 1t is destroying
a share of every crop, and it is
steadily spreading. But by forcing
the farmers to grow corn and raise
hogs and 60 in for diversified farm
ing generally, it is doing the state
a good turn. For, as nearly every
one has heard by this time, the
curse of the souS, has always been
to rely upon one money-crop-usu-
ally cotton or tobacco. The boil
weevil is said to have al
ready weaned George farmers
away from that habit to a great
extent And the surest way to ge,
rid of the weevil, they say, is tc
quit growing cotton entirely for q
period of years. All of the weevils
move out or starve to death, and
the growing of cotton can then be
resumed. This is said to have hap
pened in certain sections of Texas
| Thus the weevil seems not to BIZ
a real menace to prosperity here
Shorter cotton crops mean higher
prices for cotton, and there arc
plenty Of other crops to take the
place of cotton wherever its grow.
ing has become temporarily IN
profitable.
One of the most pleasing thing.
about Savannah's prosperity is tn,
steady and beautiful growth Of tn,
city itself There is no city in thu
south which has more of the south
ern charm and atmosphere, az
many have observed before. TIL.
squares and parks filled with pal
mettos and live oaks. the wide
} streets with rows of trees and o
Towering shrubs dividing them il
two: the many and well-preservet
examples of old-time southern
! architecture in homes and churche.
together with the clean, sum,
} spaciousness Of the city. give j
character typically southern anC
yet all its own. And Savannah ha'
somehow added modern business
blocks and hotels and all the othel
paraphernalia of a modern indus
trial city without in the least i'm
pairing this charm. Business her,
has not abolished beauty, as it ha,
in so many growing American
cities.