CHAPTER X 



COST OF COTTON PRODUCTION 



ONE of the hardest problems for the cot- 

 ton farmer to solve with any degree of 

 accuracy is cost of production. There 

 are so many factors to be dealt with which are 

 beyond man's control that no real basis for esti- 

 mating the cost of the year's operations can be 

 made. In nearly every other business there are 

 some known quantities upon which to base cal- 

 culations. To the farmer nothing is absolutely 

 sure, especially is this true with the cotton 

 farmer. Climatic conditions perhaps mean 

 more to him than to any one. The returns 

 for his year's labor must of necessity depend 

 upon the caprice of the rain, the wind, the 

 frost or the depredation of numerous insect 

 pests. Any one or all of these may in a very 

 short period turn a flattering prospect for a 

 bountiful crop into almost a complete failure. 

 We may take the statistics showing total 



