Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-01-30

less for the boil weevil.'
1.-The beginning of the new year
found the cotton growers in the
United States in a much better
financial situation than they were
at the beginning of 1922. At that
time a large portion of their debts
contracted during the defation pc
Rod of 1920 and 1921 were still I'M
liquidated The very small crop OF
1921, when the production dropped
far below that of any year of the
last two decades, resulted in some
what higher prices during the heavy
marketing period of that year, but
this brought a measure of relief only
to those producers who had sue
ceeded in raising fair-sized crops
because of the small production
Of 1921, the alarming speed of boil
weevil devastation, and the rapidly
increasing rate of consumption of
cotton by the worlds cotton mills,
particularly those of the United
States for 1922 was desirable.
"This was particularly true if the
worlds needs for cotton goods were
to be- supplied and if the suprema-
cy of the United States in the
worlds cotton production was not
to be seriously threatened. Higher
prices for cotton and prospects for
a market favorable to producers for
a crop having a lower cost of pro-
.duction than that of 1921 were the
, chief stimulating factors towards
increased acreage and better cult
walton.
"The initial acreage was increased
considerably and it was reported
that more land would have been de-
voted to cotton at the beginning of
the planting season had it not been
for the unfavorable planting wealth
err. The continuation of rains was
also in large measure responsible
for the abandonment later of large
area originally planted with cotton.
High Grade Cotton.
'The crops of both 1921 and 1922,
though small, were of relatively
high grade cotton, due principally
to the favorable weather during
picking and the absence of killing
frost until late in the year. In pre-
vious years, when the boil weevil
menace was less threatening, open
fan weather meant large top crop,
which during some years added
greatly to the production. But one
of the interesting, and at the same
time alarming, features of the crops
of the past two years was the al
most complete lack of top crops cX-
cept in few isolated areas. The
dearth of low grade cotton and rel
ative abundance of the higher
| grades, together with the depletion
of stocks of low grade cotton pro-
duced in former seasons, are reflect
ed in the steady narrowing of the
differences between prices of mid
ding and other grades in the va
rious markets during the year.
another interesting and most I'm
portant phase of the general cotton
situation for the past decade is re.
vealed by a comparison of the pro-
duction of cotton in the United
States for the last eight years with
the world consumption of American
cotton during that period and dur
ing the six years prior to the en-.
trance of the United States into the
World war.
"Only one of these crops, that of
| 1920, which amounted to 1921 900
bales, approached the worlds aver
age pre-war yearly consumption of
American cotton for the period 1911
- to 1867, and even this crop
was nearly 100000 bales below the
average consumption for that Pc
riod. Furthermore, the 1920 crop
was the only one that was larger
than the average world consumption
for the eight years, 1914-15 to 1921.
%.
| The average world consumption of
American cotton for the years 1911.
| II to 1867, inclusive, was about
14,S00,000 bales, and that for the pc
riod 1914-15 to 1922 was a little
over 12,25O,O0O bales. Therefore, had
it not been for the ample carry-over
from the 1914 and 1920 crops, an
acute shortage of supplies would
have been brought about.
Increased Consumption
During the early months of 1922
the strike of cotton mill operatives
in New England was a drawback to
full consumption in America. New
ertheless, during the twelve months
ending July 81, 1922, the consump-