Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-29
IMPROVED COTTON
QUALITY IS URGED
North Carolina Governor Also
Advises Cut in Cost Of
Production.
King Cotton, once the most firmly en-

King Cotton, once the most firmly en-
tgenched Of all American nnonarchs, can
only regain his lost crown by q return
to his former aristocratic quality and
cheap production cost, according 10
Gov. o. Max Gardner Of North Carolina.
Gov. Gardner, outstanding advocate Of
the necessity Of a complete revolution
In the South's methods Of cotton grow
ing and one who has In Cleveland
County, N. c., shown what such meth
DDS can do, contributes an article to
the current issue Of Fortune, the new
business monthly, in which he warns
that unless the South fights for its chief
industry it will be put completely out Of
the running by foreign competition.
There are only two remedies for the
present depressed condition of the in
dustry, according to this authority. One
Is to grow more aristocratic cotton, that
Is, to improve its quality, which has
been deteriorating steadily for the past
40 years. The second Is to reduce
production cost by improving the tech
nical methods of planting, cultivating
and harvesting the crop. Crop reduc-
ton he considers impossible today with
foreign production increasing yearly and
already almost equaling American
production in size and staple length.
farmer. but Is not q fundamental
Pointing out that per capita con-
sumption Of cotton cloth has increased
nearly 30 per cent since 1900, the For
tune article denies that new fashions
in dress or the competition of other
materials has affected cotton. The pri-
mary factor is increased planting
abroad 100000 bales since 1920,
which Is the result of high prices dur
ing the war, short American crops. due
to the boil weevil, and the poorer quail
ity Of the American cotton, plus the
desire Of other countries TO break the
American monopoly. Cotton Is the one
great American crop with demand GEN.
tering primarily In foreign markets, )" he
writes In Fortune. Twenty years ago
the world mills outside the United
States consumed approximately II ,O00,-
900 bales Of cotton and 10 per cent of it
came from this country. During recent
approximately $3.50, 900 bales and they
have averaged getting only AZ per cent
OF 1t from this country. We have not
only failed to share in the production
for this increased foreign consumption,
but we have actually lost q part of our
old market. World students of the cot
ton situation are of the opinion that
the tren0 OF increased production abroad
is likely TO continue unless it can be
thwarted by an improved quality, which
must be accompanied also by lowered
cost Of production In this country.
while the cotton farmer Of this
country does occasionally need the sup
port Of some strong price sterilization
force to prevent the devastating effect
OF such ruinous times as 1926, when
cotton dropped below 10 cents a pound,
only TO snap back 40 cents the follow
ing year, he needs even more insistently,
and needs all the time, stronger State
and National Government support In
developing such technical methods of
production as will result In a quality
product raised at profit and still at
price which will discourage the grow
ing foreign competition. In view Of the
present world situation, 1t should be
easily apparent that If we daily with
the problem by merely planning to pro-
duce what the world will take from lis
at fair profit we are likely to find
this amount decreasing decade by dec
ade, with an overproduction problem
to ruin"