Show americas bonde cotton crop 6 obert ft Mo government experimenters have found it has high food value for both man and beast A goldmine for the south it has become one of this nations most profitable war brides OU can eat cotton has become the slogan of the forces engaged in enthroning still more firmly the southa chief agricultural product the south has been thrilled with the vision of a farm crop which cannot only clothe the world and provide the base for huge quantities of powerful explosives but can supply food as well everyone knows the important part cotton Is playing in the making of the high explosives needed to win titanic battles on land and sea in recent beare an ever increasing number of am uses have been found for cottonseed and other waste cottonseed meal has been used for years in the preparation of food for animals and in the making of booking compounds but experiments made recently in oklahoma and in other parts of the south hae demonstrated that cottonseed meal when properly combined with other materials makes an acceptable flour and can also serve as a substitute for meats owing to its richness in protein the hulls are now being used in preparing feed tor live stock and are consumed in enormous quantities another by product which Is serving the country well at this time Is the short lint removed from the seed in the course of its preparation for eating purposes lenters are almost pure cellulose which Is the base of one of the high explosives used in most of the armies and navies of the world and pound for pound cottonseed will provide a mur h lard as any hog the seed from a bale of cotton yielding as much high grade lard as five average hogs the enormous increase in the demand for cotton combined with conditions in america and other parts of the world which have reduced the available supply assures the south a period of prosperity when newspapers printed stories recently regarding the spectacular feat of cotton in climbing to 27 cents the highest point since 1871 they gave but a hint of the prosperity which has been brought to the south by its war bride almost ever one recalls the slump in cotton which followed the opening of the war and how with cotton selling as low as flye and seven cents a pound the south arose as one man in an organized buy a bale of cotton campaign which enabled the cotton producers to tide their industry over the financial doldrums which resulted from the chaos of war the manner in which cotton rebounded from this low mark makes it one of the huskiest hu war brides in america with the possible exception of the munitions and allied industries when cotton had reached 18 cents last year there were certain optimists who were predicting 25 cent cotton and they did not have to wait long for that miracle to com to pass when king cotton passed the 27 cent mark recently it marked the highest level of prices since the days immediately following the close of the civil war when southern planters were ble to obtain almost any price the asked tor their cotton it Is believed that this prosperity will continue long after peace is restored until the worlds greatly depleted supply of cotton Is replenished at least there should be no material change in the situation the latest available estimates as to this years crop show an increase of approximately bales over the crop of last year but this la bales less than the record breaking crop of three years ago two new conditions la american agricultural life are responsible in the main tor the failure of this years cotton crop to meet or even pass the record of 1914 perhaps the one felt more commonly throughout tho south has been the acute shortage of labor due to the fact that many thousands of have been enticed north into the plants and factor lea by the lure of high cr wages it Is obvious that any general attempt to increase the cotton acreage would have resulted in an even more serious predicament for the cotton planters during the summer season another reason for the decline in production has been the strong pressure brought to bear upon the south to practice diversified farming this has resulted in some states in a considerable decrease in the cotton acreage in order that more corn wheat oats hay and other food crops might be grown though these conditions are more or less local the government Is engaged in a campaign to interest the south in feeding itself and many thousands of farmers who planted cotton almost exclusively have embarked in diversified farming in the last two years the idea back of the diversified farming movement in the south Is to make cotton the money making crop and to utilize corn and other staple farm crops to pay the expenses of operating the farm and to enable the south to produce enough foodstuffs to feed itself thus a tenant farnor who has 40 acres in cotton would provided he practiced diversified farming successfully make from 2500 to a year all from the sale of his cotton this would be net profit but would not of course include the increased value given the land through the enrichment of the soil by the crop rotation plan the average tenant farmer who crop rotation well can double his cotton production two or three years it has been demonstrated this gives food for speculation as to the possibility which would follow the general adoption of crop throughout the south the av tenant farmer can grow barely more alian one bale of cotton to the acre though with proper farming and fertilization he can increase this yield to three bales an acre according to farming experts however not all of the southern cotton fields are soli impoverished and it would bo doing the better class cotton plantar an injustice to say that by proper farming he could double or triple bis cotton crop of the acres planted in cotton this year a large percentage of the acreage could be so increased in fertility as to double the yield by 1010 provided crop rotation was followed out along the most modern lines with better farming the south will thus be able to make its acres or more do the work of from to acres under the old plan any important reduction in acreage therefore Is not to be looked upon with alarm for there Is certain to be a consequent increase in production barring unforeseen weather calamities to this increased production must be added the millions of dollars added to the wealth of the south by the other farm products grown in in creased quantities the slogan the south must feed itself Is the outgrowth of this campaign for crop rotation as practiced in the north and west the realization of this dream would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the wealth of the south alone tor almost all of the states will become producers instead of consumers despite the enviable climate and the good soil possessed by alabama there are many counties which spend one million dollars or more each year in importing outside foodstuffs with the practice of diversified versi fied farming it will be possible for every county in the state to export as much corn and other farm crops as it now imports some observers have taken the view especially entry of the united states into the war has resulted in increased activity in the diversified versi fied farming campaign that a serious blow Is intended it ilni cotton but such Is not the cise the whole idea of the Is not to uproot the chief southern crops for the northern crops but to rotate such chopa as hive soll enriching values so as to enable the southern soil to produce even greater cotton crops he cause of its revolutionary character the diversified farming campaign has not made much ress except in alabama georgia and neighboring states which have been adding tens of millions of dollars to the value of their farm products ench beir in recent years when the sent corn and wheat to sky hilgh prices along with cotton it proved much easier to enlist the sympathies of the southern firmer and ganv thousands of farmers are making more money growing high priced corn and wheat than they did in growing cotton this Is due chiefly to the relief given the soil by crop rotation and such conditions will be even more common next season when the soil rebuilding process adopted by nature Is given time to get well underway impetus has alone been given crop diversification by the shortage of labor tho most of these crops require less labor than cot ton and can be tended more efficiently than cotton ts hr L va VW |