Evening star., 1926-11-04
MEN AND MONEY
By NJ. S. Rukeyser
tCopyright. 1921

With the South threatened with
poverty from plenty as a result of the
decline in cotton prices, the views
concerning the crisis o. all varieties
of amateurs. dilletantes and out
siders concerning the staple of the
South have been widely heralded IN
the press.
In this babel of Interpretation one
voice has been strangely silent-that
of the group mostly directly con
cerned, the cotton grower For th5
most part. the one-mule cotton grow
ers are lnarticulate, piodding men
with ~ conception of their role in the
worldwide game of business. Cotton
growing has resisted the organizing
genius OF big business perhaps more
tenaciously than any other pursuit
Cotton growing is still a vocation for
indiVidu1.ists-for little people. 1t i.
inef1ic.ently organized, for the mos,
part with the widest v"rie'ieS O.
methods, resulting in a striking vari-
alton as TO cost of producLon.
l.. X. Salisbury of Memphis, Tenn,
is the outstanding big business man
of the cotton growers. He is presi-
dent of II COttoH-planting companies
with a cotton acreage this year of
10000 acres. He WAS the first to see
the possibilities of planting by cor
poratons and a pioneer in introducing
the Urg4 MIA ion an system" "! :
methods o. big business into Southern
agriculture. He stared ms opel dtlo.ls
alon2 lhese lines in 1909 and has
expanded his operations gradually
through the years. Mr.. Sa!Sbury
entt r. r.e = maintain the largest cot
ton-breeling station in the cotton
be-, L-s sIaI dove OI.td II
lead nc SEEDS and also or ginated the
ri ii ~
technical improvements. The stores,
oiicts 8 accounting department, pur-
chasing department and every activ'
itV ol the business of agriculture are
organized and systematiZed in the
spirit Of an efficiently conducted large
corporation.
Salisbury Knows Costs.
Accordingly, Mr.. Salisbury knows
his costs. He does not need to be
codGled or favored by special pro-
tective legislation.
AS a leading actor in the current
drama Of cotton, Mr.. SalsburyS views
are timely.
I asked him first for his opinion
concerning the outlook for cotton
prices for the remainder Of the sea-
son.
First, | think at present cotton
prices are as low as we can expect,
said Mr. Salisbury, who is president OF
the Delta and Pine Land Co. of Mis-
siS>ippj and affiliated enterprises.
9Th u@h l do not look for any big
advance, | look for an increasing de-
mand ut these prices, which will nee
essarily adV0nce the price of the
staple A fair general statement,
think would he that the actual cost
of producing cotton this year is Is
cents a pound which would indicate
at the present time that cotton is
selling at least cents pound below
he cra; OF production, and l cannot
lIeve that one of tho greatest indus
tries Of the world, with America pro-
ducing 50 per cent of the worlds re-
quirenenjS, can | ng continue to sell
that commodity 33 l-3 per cent below
the cost of production. There is no
doubt. in my opinion, but that the
present price OF cotton will increase
the use OF il materially, and, while the
present prospects are for this crop to
exec q any other ever raised, | think
the demand at these prices will use it.
q think it best of business for cot
ton farmers t" hold and not sell their
cotton NJ thie price.
Il positively am sure that there
shou.d he A curtaiime Mt of the plant
ing next season, and feel certain
there will be"
Curtailment of cotton planting will
probably heiGhten the movement to-
ward croD diversification next season.
AS 20 this, Mr.. Salisbury declared:
I'VE have always been an advocate of
the fact that the Southern planter
does rot diversity as much as he
should. We have always believed, and
do believe. and have practiced diversi-
flCation. By all means, the farmer
should raise his foo olstuff for his
stock and a certain amount for his
tenants. This should be carried out
for several reasonS-firSt, that his
money crop would be free of a charge
for maintenance, and, second, the ro-
tation would build up his soil, and he
could hope in the future to hold his
production up and make it better. pro-
vided this method is used"
| asked Mr.. Salisbury whether an