The Mena weekly star., 1922-03-02
COTTON CROPTOB
 CUT BY BANKERS
Federal Reserve Leads Attack on One Crop System to Boom Business-To- tai This Year Should Not Exceed
 10,0O0,OOO Bales, the Claim.
By H. c. HAMILTON, International News Service Staff
 Correspondent

Correspondent.
 Atlanta, Feb. 23.--Assurance that there will be plenty of money for f. nancing farmers who abandon the one-crop system this year is con- tained in statement by Governor M B. Wellborn, of the Sixth Federal Reserve bank, in which he denies re- ports from New York that reserve banks and member institutions in the South are insisting upon liquidation of spot cotton held by growers and merchants to pay present indebted ness before more credit is extended. Mir. Wellborn declared that so far as his institution is concerned the pol icy of the Federal Reserve bank is just the reverse.
 "The Federal Reserve bank of At lanta," he said, twill assist growers thru the member banks and will do all in it's power to assure a gradual and orderly marketing of cotton over a reasonable period of time. It has never been the policy of the Federal Reserve bank of Atlanta to force li- quidation of cotton or other commo- dities. That matter, we think should be left to member banks and their customers for their judgment and discretion.
 Voicing the belief that the cotton acreage would not be large this year, at least not in excess of that of last year, MT. Wellborn said
 Banks Will Be Careful.'
 Banks will, I think, be exceeding ly careful in making loans to tenants to plant cotton, as heretofore most of the cotton has been produced by tenants.
 ''I believe the acreage should be held down to such an extent as to permit intensive preparation and cul- tivation, which, with a moderate amount of fertilizer will mean great CT yield per acre"
 The cotton crop this year should opinion of Mir. Wellborn, who de- clared that a crop of 10,000,000 bales, added to the carry that will be on hand August 1, will be ample to supply the demandnuntil the next crop is gathered an0will eliminate to large degree low prices, due here tofore in large part to the heavy carry-over.
 He stressed the importance of di- versified crops to hasten the return of normal conditions and prosperity in the South and said:
 Abandoned 0ne-Crop System"
 "The supply of money for agricul- tural use this year will be ample, and, 1 am sure the banks will aid those who have abandoned the one, crop system"
 In urging upon farmers the plant ing of small cotton crops this year, he pointed out that fertilizer prices are likely to be high and that a small amount of fertilizer properly ap- piled to limited acreage would pro- duce a better crop than the same amount spread out thinly over a large acreage
 Mir. Wellborn sounded a note of op- timism and voiced his belief that the farmers of the South would, thru di- versified crops and curtailed cotton acreage, be able this fall to pay on old debts and have money left to give them purchasing power, thing nec- .essary, he said, for the return to na- tional normalcy. He predicted that if the farmers follow that system this year prosperity in the South will re- turn to near normal this year.
 'On Road to Normalcy."
 ''The Southwest" he said, land the rest of the country, for that matter, has started we'll along the road to normalcy, with confidence and deter imitation to look forward to increased business, growing more general daily"
 He declared the industrial situation is improving all along the line. In support of that statement, he pointed out that many idle factories are again running; that banking institutions in excellent condition with frozen credits" gradually thawing out; that many of the member institutions of the Federal Reserve system have completely liquidated their indebted ness to the Federal Reserve bank and that they are prepared to meet all legitimate demand.
 with a new crop intensively worked and greatly diversified" he concluded, "this fall should witness aggressive business in all lines in the South. Unemployment will become a thing of the past, and we will end the year with our faces free of the signs of business worry, facing a sound and stable prosperity--a pros I !