Cooperation 195 



high prices. The exact significance of this movement 

 cannot be stated at this time, but apparently the curtail- 

 ment contemplated is designed to be of sufficient impor- 

 tance to affect the price of cotton." 



The Commissioner further says: "On the other hand, 

 attempts to fix arbitrary prices for the crop are not only 

 ill advised, but in so far as they are accompanied by con- 

 certed action or agreement are open to the same criticism 

 which would apply to similar combinations." 



Economic Mistakes of the Cotton Growers 



From another standpoint, the efforts of the union to 

 reduce production by restricting the use of commercial 

 fertilizers is an economic mistake. The smaller use of 

 fertilizer is followed by smaller yields per acre, which 

 therefore increase the cost of producing the cotton per 

 pound. Low yields mean high unit costs, while intensive 

 tillage usually reduces the cost of production. 



The reduction of the acreage by the cotton farmer is 

 said to have stimulated the efforts of the European spin- 

 ners to develop cotton production in Africa and other 

 tropical countries. The activities in the German spin- 

 ners' association and the English spinners' association 

 were stimulated in the beginning largely by the fear that 

 the American cotton supply would be cut off from Europe 

 by the advent of the boll weevil, by the development of 

 the spinning industry in America, and by the combina- 

 tions of American growers. 



Looking at the future of the cotton industry, it would 

 seem that the efforts of the cotton producers to reduce 

 the acreage or to fix a minimum price are superficial 



