THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Tire Fabric and Long -Staple Cotton. 



Sv L. IV. Alw 



■Schmidt, Consulli 



Rconor. 



IT HA? BEEN ESTIMATED that 50,000,000 tires will be required 

 during the present year and that 60,000,000 at least will be 

 needed to cover the requirements of 1921. On the basis of this 

 consumption the American tire industry will need approximately 

 315,000,000 p>ounds of tire fabric, which to produce will consume 

 nearly 400,000,000 pounds of cotton. Experts say that the avail- 

 able supply of long-staple cotton will hardly be sufficient to cover 

 this year's demand and will fall 70,000,000 pounds behind re- 

 quirements during the coming year. Who .will doubt, then, that 

 the fabric situation is to-day one of the most important problems 

 of the automobile tire industry? 



It seems paradoxical that such a situation should occur in the 

 United States, the largest cotton-producing country of the world. 

 But the fact cannot be denied, and at the present time no other 

 remedy can be found than to acquire as much of the foreign 

 long-staple cotton as may be induced to come to our market. 

 The boll weevil and the indolence of our cotton growers are 

 both to be blamed for this situation. Having had a practical 

 monopoly for many years in the production of the best long- 

 staple cotton, so absolutely essential to the manufacture of many 

 cotton fabrics, our cotton growers have permitted not only this 

 monopoly to pass from their hands but have also looked on while 

 the pest destroyed what was left of the former possessions. To- 

 day the Sea Island production is practically negligible and the 

 American tire industry is dependent upon foreign producers for 

 one of its most important raw materials. Of the best Sea Island 

 quality there is not enough produced to go around, and the fact 

 that approximately half of it is grown in our own market is im- 

 material. Of the lower grades of Sea Island and the best Egyp- 

 tian product less than 10 per cent are produced in the United 

 States, while England controls 89 per cent of it by way of the 

 British Empire and the occupation of Egypt. Moreover, 70 per 

 cent of the lower grades, comprising Egyptian, .^merican, and 

 the Peruvian group of long-staple cottons, is produced inside the 

 British Empire. Of course, steps have already been taken to 

 remedy the situation, but the excellent results obtained so far 

 in various sections of the United States cannot satisfy the in- 

 creasing demand for the product coming from the .American 

 tire industry and other industries that are buyers of this grade 

 of cotton. 



The wave of high prices, produced by the war, is now well 

 past its crest and the chances are that prices will decline. The 

 break having started in one part of the market will soon spread 

 to other branches of the industry and it is difficult to see how the 

 tire industry can keep up prices if reductions in many other 

 fields become necessary. Experience has shown that, whenever 

 there is a general decline in prices, a downward movement inde- 

 pendent of the cost of production usually follows, resulting in 

 financial loss to those factories who are caught napping. Two 

 alternatives are left to an industry in such a situation. One is 

 to get out of business and the other is to increase the supply of 

 the raw material, which in this instance is long-staple cotton. 



LOCATION OF VISIBLE SUPPLIES. 



There is no doubt that the latter way will recommend itself 

 most favorably to our tire manufacturers. It is the only alter- 

 native that will make possible the continuation of business and 

 avoid an all around reduction in the fabric specifications of the 

 American automobile tire. But the possibilities of adding to the 

 existing resources of long-staple are only in part within the reach 

 of our cotton consumers. Of the available supply of 1921, esti- 

 mated to be 330,000,000 pounds, approximately only one-quarter 

 is expected to consist of American cotton. Practically all the 



rest, excluding small quantities located in Peru, is to come 

 from Egypt. 



The determination of the price of the article, therefore, does 

 not lie in American hands. The market point of gravity has 

 changed to England and it is England also that will make the 

 price. No doubt England does not intend to put undue pressure 

 upon the American tire manufacturer in search of long-staple 

 cotton, but the situation is one that deserves the closest attention 

 of all who are interested in the production of tire fabrics and the 

 making of tires. 



Long-staple cotton, as represented by Sea Island and Egyptian, 

 is a variety distinct from other grades and qualities. It thrives 

 in certain regions of the world where conditions are especially 

 suitable for its propagation. But it seems to have its real home 

 in the Sea Islands. Only the climate and soil of these islands 

 produces from year to year that fine quality and length of staple 

 that is the characteristic of this cotton. In all other countries 

 where it has been introduced with the aid of seed brought from 

 the Sea Islands, it shows a tendency to deteriorate, and must be 

 improved by occasionally introducing new seed. The best staple 

 is produced in the British West Indies. A somewhat inferior 

 quality is grown in Florida, Georgia, and, during recent years, 

 in .•\rizona. Some of it is grown in the West Indies, but to-day 

 the bulk of the supply finds its origin in Egypt. That country 

 also produces by far the largest quantity of long-staple cotton 

 in the world and, together with its large output of Sea Island, 

 dominates the long-staple cotton situation. In fact the pre- 

 dominance of Egypt in this respect has been felt to be a distinct 

 disadvantage to international cotton trading, as it makes the 

 world's cotton industry dependent on one market for nearly 

 three-quarters of its total requirements of long-staple cotton. 

 The small production of long-staple cotton in the United States 

 or that of Peru cannot really be sufficient to relieve any shortage 

 that would be caused by a sudden breakdown in the Egyptian 

 supplies. 



LIMITATION OF EGYPTIAN COTTON SUPPLIES. 



Such a breakdown, however, is by no means an utter impossi- 

 bility. If proof were required for this contention, it is supplied by 

 the recent report of the British Empire Cotton Growing Com- 

 mittee that has made a very intimate study of the conditions 

 of cotton production in the British Empire with the avowed pur- 

 pose of making the Empire independent of foreign cotton sup- 

 plies. Egypt comes in for a great deal of appreciation. The 

 report points out the possibility, now unfortunately nearly an ac- 

 complished fact, of the likely destruction of the Georgia and 

 Florida Sea Island cotton crops and deducts from this the great 

 importance of Egyptian cotton for the future needs of the Em- 

 pire. American spinners that consume long-staple cotton have 

 similarly hoped to secure supplies from this source and it is 

 therefore important to state that the Eygptian resources are not 

 at all unlimited, in fact they have already reached a point where 

 little additional production may be expected. .Although Egypt 

 appears to be a very large country on the map, its cultivated area 

 is comparatively small, as it is closely narrowed in on both 

 sides by the desert. All in all, 12,000 square miles can be cul- 

 tivated and it would be utterly impossible to plant all of it with 

 cotton. In fact the great stress laid upon cotton production in 

 Egypt forms to-day a distinct danger to the economic balance of 

 the country which is exposed to very severe risks whenever the 

 crop does not come up to expectations. Also the best cotton, 

 that of the Sea Island variety, grows only in the so-called Nile 

 delta, where the total cultivated area does not exceed 3,100,000 



