The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1922-09-05

the seed from the tlber, and ne want
ed to find out if this were true. 1t must
have been a mistake, however, as
Whitnev's cotton gin-the first really
practical one-Was not invented TIL
about five years afterward.
The wear after Mr.. Leak sent sam
pies OF his cotton to Philadelphia
lanes Habersham, another planter in
the vicinity OF Savannah, forwarded to
Liverpool the first bale of lint cotton
ever sent from the United States to
England. 1t met with a startling re-
ception certainly startling to Mr..
Habersham, for it created such sur
prise and incredulity among the Liv-
erpool merchants they could not at
first be led to believe that the cotton
had been raised in America, but in
sisted on it that it had come from the
East. So they notified the customs OF
ficials OF the fraud" and had it seiZ-
ed.
They were in due time convinced OF
their error, and great was the reJolc-
ing when it was learned that the cot
ton had really come from America,
and that England might soon have an
other source whence it could obtain a
supply of the feecy staple for the spin
dies and looms of its many mills. So
much does England depend upon the
southern states for cotton to keep its
mills employed that, at one time dur
ing the civil war, when the ports OF
the south were blockaded, it produced
what is known in England as the cot
ton famine" Scores OF mills were clos
ed and hundreds OF people thrown out
of employment. Parliament had to
pass a relief act whereby funds were
ordered to be distributed to the suffer
ing mill operatives.
Within two years after Mr.. Haber
sham sent his first bale of lint cotton
to Liverpool the total yield for the
year of the cotton crop OF the United
States was 5000 bales, of 400 pounds
net weight OF each bale In 1900 the
yearly crop had increased to 10000
bales. In ten years time it had almost
doubled, for these were the first sue
cessful years OF the operation Of Mr..
Whitney's cotton gin. Before the in
vention of this gin the separation OF
the lint from the seed of the cotton
was a most laborious task, it all hav-
ing to be done by hand, and thus was
the one great obstacle i'll the way OF
cotton becoming source of wealth
to the planter.
In 1916 the cotton belt of the Unit
ed States was credited with producing
13,102,000 bales of an average of 500
pounds each, BY the following year,
however, the yield had slumped to H.
248,242. The chief reason of this was
that the ardor OF a number of King
Cotton's liegemen had begun to cool
with the result that the putting in Of
a diversity of crops had considerably
decreased the cotton acreage. More at
tention was also given to cattle rails
ing. Thus commodities were prOduc-
ed at home the purchase of which
hitherto had been dependent upon
cotton money"
Hundreds of farmers of the south
are poor today because of their blind
worship at the shrine of King Cot
ton, the following out OF the bad pol
icy of the "all cotton" method. They
have gone on from year to year, put
ting the bulk of their land into cot
ton, depending on its yield alone to
buy everything needed, from bacon
and -four for the family table to corn
for their stock. Numerous others are
the victims OF the lien system, the
mortgaging of the crop before it is
produced, in order to obtain necessary
supplies.
A most hopeful sign is the steadily
increasing adoption of the policy
among southern farmers of ''the ma
tional system" of more diversified
farming. The cotton acreage of 1921
was cut fully 40 per cent. There was
also a marked increase in the live
stock industry. Hog and hominy rails
ed at home" is the new slogan of scores
of southern farmers. Figures furnished
by the bureau of markets and crop
estimates show that the south cut its
cotton acreage of 1921 by clasc to H.
cocoon actc>
The disorganized condition of the
1920 cotton market, the fearful slump
in the price of cotton, brought about
by an all-too-ardent worship at the
shrine of King Cotton-in other words,
by productions largely the
cause of this wise reaction throughout
the southern farming world And hav-
ing grown wise through sharp expe-
rience it is not likely that there will
be in any noticeable degree a return
to the old mad methods. The south is
going ahead in raising its own living,
and thus make cotton not the main
crop. as heretofore but rather a sur
plus or money crop" Thus it is easy
to be seen that cotton is no longer
monarch of the south.