The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1921-10-13
THE WORLD FACING
A COTTON FAMINE.
The Meaning Of this Great Shortage
to the Farmers Of the Southern
States.

3NOS ohhSO thC StNh war p6IlOQ,|
when hundreds OF thousands of peo-
pie were idle in Lancashire because of
the inability to buy cotton from the
South, and when the desperate situa-
ton then almost forced the British
Government to recognise the Con-
federacy in order to get cotton, has
there been the certainty OF such a
world shortage as we are now facing
The new crop is likely to fall be-
low 100000 bales, for 1t has been
steadily deteriorating during the last
three or four months. Adding the
new crop to the supply brought over
from former years will hardly give
us Of spinnable cotton enough to
meet the world actual requirements.
1t is impossible to spin down to
the last bale, and, therefore. all mills
in this and other countries must OF
hand and some In process Of manu-
facture.
The actual amount required there
fore, will almost certainly exceed
the available supply. and the world
will go into the next crop shorter Of
cotton than it has been at any time
since 1865 and 1866. This shortage
cannot be made upAor a number Of
years. The ravages Of the boil wee
vii make it impossible for the South
to raise a large crop for some
years to come. This section can
not possibly, regardless Of the price to
which cotton may go, plant and cul-
tivate an acreage large enough to give
a big yield while the boil weevil
holds sway, and there Is no remedy
in sight for the ravages of the wee
vii.
Moreover, the South is learning
that in diversification of agriculture
there is more prosperity for the in
dividual farmer and for the South
as a whole than would be in cotton.
at any price and a large proportion
of southern farmers will never again
concentrate all of their energies
upon cotton growing. They have this
year had lesson which for a genera
ton we have been trying to hammer
into the South, viz: that the most
uneconomic and wasteful thing the
southern farmer could possibly do
was to raise a crop of sufficient size
to give the cotton bears of the world
the whip handle. The South has
learned that a seven million bale
crop at twenty cents or more per
pound, (and it ought to go much
higher), will be worth vastly more to
this section than twelve million
bale crop at ten cents a pound.
1t is, therefore, incumbent upon
every well-wisher Of the South.
banker, merchant and manufacturer,
and land owner as well, to do all in
their power to encourage diversified
farming, to insist that the small land
owner and tenant farmer shall have
no lien crop credit at banks or at
stores unless they raise sufficient
foodstuffs for their family needs. for
credit on any other basis would be
injury to the borrower.
The lesson which has been learned
will be of incalcuable value to the
South if, regardless Of the price to
which cotton may go, this section con-
ttnues to concentrate its energies
upon living at home instead of hav-
ing "its smokehouse and corncrib in
the West" The South ought not to
have to buy pound of western corn.
1t ought to provide the feedstuffs and
foodstuffs for itself and have a sur
plus for shipment elsewhere.
Cotton is curse, has been and
ever will be, to the South except it be
raised as a surplus crop. giving only
such acreage to cotton as can be
properly cultivated after putting in
a sufficient acreage for food and feed
supplies. Acreage that is put in cot
ton should be heavily fertilized, but
this acreage should be smaller next
year than it has been this year. An
acreage Of 15,0O0,0OO to 10000
600 would be ample for the South IL
properly fertilized and intensely cul-
tivated. The yield per acre would
be larger. the cost less and the profit
greater. But even this acreage
would be too large unless the South
can In addition thereto carry on the
diversification Of agriculture to al
sufficient extent to produce its own
grain and meats.
1t behooves the bankers and the
merchants who are in touch with the
farm people of the South to begin AMI
immediate intensive and aggressivel
campaign for increasing food pro-
duction, and for still further lessen
Ing the cotton acreage; and at the
same time insisting upon more in
tensive fertilization and cultivation
OF the acreage put into cotton and
other crops. This way will lead to-
universal prosperity for the agri-l
cultural and all the business interests
OF the South. Any return to the
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