ECONOMIC GOODS AND THEIR VALUATION 41 



than was possible in the old regions. The obvious result was 

 falling prices and an unprofitable industry in the old cotton 

 regions. 



Another illustration, which is of particular interest to-day, 

 may be drawn from the Burley tobacco situation in Kentucky. 

 Burley tobacco was first grown in Kentucky in the northern 

 part of the bluegrass region. This is a rough country where the 

 soil soon lost much of its fertility. The industry gradually 

 spread southward into the counties of Scott, Bourbon, Franklin, 

 Woodford, Fayette, and Jessamine. These counties contain 

 the blue limestone region known as the heart of the bluegrass 

 country. This is a region of unusual natural fertility. A 

 large proportion of this land had remained in bluegrass pastures 

 from the first settlement of the country. As the tobacco in- 

 dustry commenced to encroach upon this fertile region the 

 farmers found it exceedingly profitable to plow up the old pas- 

 tures and plant tobacco. Under these conditions the supply 

 of tobacco was increased enormously. Prices fell, but the 

 farmers in the new regions of production were making large 

 profits at prices which meant starvation to the growers of the 

 old Burley tobacco centers. The result was the " night rider " 

 movement in 1908, which was a strike in the dark, figuratively 

 as well as literally. The men fighting for higher prices came 

 from the regions of high cost of production. They failed to 

 understand that the fundamental cause of falling prices was 

 the fact that an increase in the supply was being produced at 

 a reduced cost. The " night riders " forced practically all the 

 Burley tobacco growers to omit growing tobacco in 1908 with 

 a view to securing a high price for the 1907 tobacco crop then 

 in the hands of the farmers. This method of limiting the supply 

 was temporarily effective, and prices rose to a level far above 

 that necessary to stimulate an adequate supply. The next 

 two years brought an unusual expansion of Burley tobacco 

 production on the rich lands of central Kentucky followed by a 

 decline of this crop on the poorer tobacco lands in the northern 

 edges of the tobacco region. Many look upon this episode as 

 a victory of the farmers over the tobacco trust, and there were 



