The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1922-02-23
GRAIN ELEVATOR FOR COUNTY SEEMS
ASSURED BY REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
FARMERS AWAKENING
TO The need OF
QUALITY COTTON
Short Staple Cotton Has Cost the
Georgia Farmer More than
The Loss BY the Weevil

pie cotton has brought great finan-
cal loss to the northern Georgia cot
ton growers, is brought out in a time
ly and convincing article by ]. M.
Fowler, a prominent cotton dealer of
Marietta.
North Georgia cotton was once the
pride of the South. 1t was a stan
dard by which cotton was selected by
all the manufacturers. If acotton
graded with the North Georgia pro-
duct it brought the top of the mar
ket, and was in great demand. Mr.,
Fowler pleads with the cotton grow
err to awaken from the suicidal step
that was taken in 1919 when short
staple cotton was introduced and ex-
tensively planted. His article, which
follows, will be read with great in
terest:
TO THE FARMERS OF COBB CO.
As most of you know l have been
buying cotton here for the past TWEEN
ty years and in small way have
shipped cotton to almost every coun-
try on the globe. What l wish to give
you is cold facts and not "hot air
Moreover it refers to problem
which every farmer must face and
solve sooner or later or cease to pro-
duce cotton. To cease production
when we live in the very garden spot
of the greatest cotton producing
country of all the world is unwise
and without any thought of the quail.
ity of the lint or length of staple is
suicidal in the extreme.
The cold facts stick out and stare
us in the face so plainly and the
proofs are too positive and over
whelming at this time for any farm
er to doubt that we must produce cot
ton of a better staple if We are to
succeed. Cottons of shorter staple
(staples less than an inch) have been
introduced all over the cotton belt
and owing to their high yield of lint
they have gained favor greatly to the
financial undoing of the farmer. That
such a mistake was easy to make is
perfectly logical on first thought and
was not confined to the small farmer
by any means. That some OF our
largest and best farmers made the
mistake and will continue to do so
for a few more years does not alter
the facts in the case nor replace the
losses incurred from the practice.
Neither does it remove any other far
mer's obligations to himself and fam
ily nor excuse his business judgment
at time when anyone can easily see
the handwriting on the wall if he
will.
Every farmer will agree with me
that to make cotton at profit under
present conditions we must do every
thing possible not only to increase
WELD per acre. but to increase the
returns from the cotton when sold
Whether all agree or not the facts
are that we are losing more today
from the quality and length of staple
and the methods of handling and
marketing than we are from the raw
ages of the dreaded boil weevil. That
we are losing most of this through
neglect of quality and length of sta
pie | do not doubt.
The day of reckoning is at hand as
we shall. presently see from the proof
| will submit and which is only a
sample of a hundred | could submit
if space permitted When | mention
length of staple | have reference, of
course, only to the different lengths
of short staple and not to long staple
cotton. Practically all the farmers
Of this section know, as well as | do,
that much cotton is being grown at
the present time with staple of 5-8 to
7-8". They know which varieties
these are. They know also that there
are others which run an inch or bet
ter. What they do not know, or have
not in the past. or are not willing to
admit. is that they are receiving from
$500 to $500 per bale less for this
cotton than the best of the short
staples are worth. They have been
prone to feel themselves into believ-
ing that they are getting as much as
their neighbor who grows Cleveland
Big Boil, College No. /. or some such
variety and therefore they are get
ting the top of the market. That
thev have been getting as much as
their neighbor / will admit, but moth
ing could be further from the facts
than that they are getting the top
of the market simply because their
neighbor, with good inch or better,
taple. has been forced to take their
price instead Of him getting the price
of the better staple. Any produce
sells according TO the poorest of the
lot, not the best, as can be verified
any day on the cotton yard, by OBJ
serving the price paid for bale with
bad side and good one. or in
crate Of fruit a part of which is of
very poor quality. This is invariably
the case unless the poor can be hid
den with the good The cotton of
roor staple has been hidden with the
GOOD The cotton Of poor staple has
been hidden and overshadowed, to
some extent, by that Of better quality
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