| Show A LEADING AMERICAN INDUSTRY threatened russim RUSSIA is coming to the tb front as an industrial country it has a population of with an annual increase of it imports about bales of cotton yearly for its domestic manufactures from the united states bales are taken every year now comes the report that I 1 in U autu future re russia will bean be an eif exporter bort not an importer of cotton and that she will supply the whole people of europe russia has vast domains in central asia on which cotton can be cultivated by means of irrigation if water enough cap can be obtained the project seems feasible enough without water nothing can be raised in central As asia because the absence of rain is in more marked even there than in the arid and belts beltsos of the american continent china and india are both cotton producing countries china however imports a large quantity of manufactured goods from the united states and from great britain this shows that she cannot produce enough for the demands of her own country it also shows that cotton raising in that country has reached its utmost limit because of the abundance of cheap labor obtainable it could be produced cheaper there than in america if other conditions were alike favorable egypt from time immemorial has been a cotton cetton raising country but irrigation had to be used however it takes all the available land fit for cultivation to rease rase the food supplies in that country the cotton belt of the united states extends from north carolina to texas here cotton appears to be an indigenous growth climate soil moisture and so on are peculiarly adapted to the gro growth ath of cotton the means of transporting the crop are now perfect by river and rail it can be moved cheaply to seaport towns everywhere on the coast the seed is now used for oil and for feeding and for manure the latter alone proving a profitable industry A cotton picking machine has been invented recently which will do the work of sixty persons it will take but one man to guide it and two mules to operate it this in addition to the cotton jin gin already in use will cause a revolution in cotton raising the american press is not apprehensive that russia ruesta can ever become a formidable competitor of the united states in the markets of the world the chicago says the consumption of cotton in the united states to is rapidly increasing including c that of canada it is now abent bales balea per year or 22 per cent of the quantity consumed in all parts of the world it is equal to the entire produs ion of this thia country forty years ago the area well adapted for cotton growing la in about all occupied certainly it is not likely to keep pace with the increase of consumption of cotton goods in the world and there is thus no ground for fear by the producers of the united states that they will suffer from competition with cotton produced by irrigation in russian asia india china or elsewhere the population of the globe outside of asia is is about or half the total of the world and it is increasing at the rate of about 1 IX per cent per annum or over a year while the consumption of cotton goods is augmenting in a much greater ratio hence there is no cause for the slightest apprehension that russia can even ever produce enough cotton to interfere with the demand for the american fiber but it must be remembered that thai in russia engineering both civil and palli tary has been made a special study under government patronage in this department russia is abreast of any country in europe and probably in america russian engineers know best beet what the resources of central Centra 11 asia are they know what the available water supply for irrigation may be it to is no criterion cri terian to take what has baa been done in india or china in the way of cotton raising because in these countries the method in use SM years ago still prevails if russia goes into the cotton raising she will do so with all the improved appliances of mod ern times timed she has an official perhaps a dozen of them now in this country studying economic questions in general and cotton raising in particular ti with that vast country entering the industrial field against england and the united states some startling developments may be expected d in the near future russia is already the great geat transatlantic wheat producing country of the world her wheat competes with that of the united states in the english markets will her cotton drive that of this country out of europe it looks as if the answer will soon come in the shape of a practical affirmative |
