The midland journal., 1945-09-28
zkeSAo>,se
Tos4l.s
|RsnoaAs
hin WASHINGTON
BY Wclier Sheod
WNU Correspondent
WNU Washington Bureau.
1916 Eye ST., N. w.
Future of Cotton

L
w King Cotton, mainstay of more
farmers than any other crop? And
more farmers are affected by what
happens to cotton than by what hap
pens to any other crop. Up to one
third Of all farm residents in the
country live on cotton farms and
they're the lowest income group in
agriculture.
Not only these cotton farmers, but
every farmer, every resident of the
thousands of home towns from the
East to the West coast and from top
to bottom of the country, is interest
ed in cotton /. for cotton in peace
time accounts for four-fifths of our
total textile yardage.
According to recent statistics re-
leased by Secretary Clinton p. An
ders0n Of the department of agri-
culture, the gross average farm in
come of cotton farmers i'm the 10
years ending in 1912 was only $865
a year, as against more than $4,000
in other parts of the nation.
Why, then, with cotton an all-im-
portank crop and selling at prices
well above parity should income Of
these cotton farmers, third of all
farmers, be so much lower than the
average of other farmers? The an
swer is found in the agricultural
practices of the South for the past
hundred years, and includes ID a
one-crop system of farming, (2) lack
of conservation practices which has
driven the center Of the cotton king
dom from the southeastern states
across the Mississippi to the South
west and (3) cotton surpluses which
have in the past demoralized the
market.
Tough Competition
While the department of agricul-
ture is not pessimistic over the fu-
ture of cotton in the immediate post
war years, 1t is obvious, they point
out, that great care will be neces-
sary for cotton to hold it's own in am
increasingly competitive field.
In the first place cotton produc-
tiOn in this country has decreased,
whereas foreign production has in
creased. In 1920 for instance, we
produced 13 million Of the 81 mil
lion bales Of cotton produced in the
world. In 1910, the last year for
world statistics, we produced only
IL out of 20 million bales, and our
production In 1943 dropped to Ii mil
lion bales. In spite Of this drop in
production other competitive COM
modities have scared in common
usage replacing cotton. Rayon, n.y.
ION, spun glass and other newer de-
velOpments of textiles are boring
into the cotton market. u. s. ray0n
production 10 years ago amounted to
only 10 million pounds, whereas last
year rayon had grown to 724 million
pounds or the equivalent Of 1,700, 600
bales of cotton. Paper products en-
tering the market formerly held by
cotton =. towels, tissues, napkins,
window shades, plastic and twine,
in 1929 was equivalent on pound
f0r-pound basis of a million bales
of raw cotton.
The Commodity Credit corpora
ton in the department of agricul-
ture is the godfather Of the cotton
crop and the haven of cotton crop
farmers. It is the Commodity Cred
it corporation which supports the
market price for cotton, by buying up
surpluses, and providing substitutes
for cotton exports. Through August
18, 1945, the CCC had purchased on
its Cotton Purchase Program (sup-
port price program) 2,465, ,087 bales
of cotton of the 1914 crop at an aver
age price of about 22.31 cents a
pound, involving approximately
$3.50, 900, 600. In addition it had pro-
vided a Accent per hundred pound
subsidy for its export program in
volving 592,176 bales of the 1914
crop.
Favorable Outlook
Secretary Anderson in a recent
address before the New York Cot
ton Exchange pointed out, however,
some favorable factors in behalf OF
the postwar future Of cotton. He
pointed out that during the war thou
sands of cotton farmers had started
soil conservation practices and di-
versified farming; there are con-
stantly being discovered new uses
for cotton; the department has just
announced discovery Of new cot
ton fabric which will not mildew nor
rot which will be used extensively in
yards, threads, packaging and bag
ging; demand for cotton in other
countries will be at new peak. al
though world carryover is at an all
time high; in the U. S., despite a
cancellation of 80 per cent of war
orders for cotton products, slack
will be taken up by the tremendous
backlog of civilian demands.
American cotton viii face not
only large stocks on hand it win
face as well the need for better farm
practices if it is to hold its place
in the world Market" Secretary An
derson warned. He said, however,
A