368 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



present system is not advancing the true interests of either the pro- 

 ducer or the manufacturer, to say nothing of the ultimate consumer. 



The fundamental agricultural advantage to be gained by com- 

 munity organization is the production of uniform crops of cotton. 

 The cotton industry will show little improvement from the breeding 

 and distribution of superior varieties until better provision is made 

 for preserving the uniformity of select strains. Superior varieties are 

 of practical value only to the extent that they are preserved and 

 utilized for purposes of production. No matter how desirable in 

 other respects, a variety of cotton cannot be considered superior unless 

 it is kept uniform, nor can any variety be expected to remain uniform 

 unless selection be continued and admixture with other varieties be 

 prevented. 



In addition to gaining familiarity with improved varieties and 

 methods of selection, many other improvements could well be studied 

 by organizations of cotton growers. Cultural methods that appeared 

 satisfactory before the arrival of the boll weevil have become entirely 

 inadequate for the production of crops in the presence of that destruc- 

 tive insect. Local conditions of soil, climate, labor supply, and rela- 

 tion to other crops differ so much that each locality is likely to require 

 a cultural system of its own if the best results are to be secured. A 

 co-operative study of cultural problems by cotton growers' associations 

 would be a factor in local progress, for the community would profit 

 more promptly by the efforts of those who have the taste, ability, and 

 judgment to experiment with different methods and draw correct 

 conclusions. 



119. ORGANIZING THE COMMUNITY FOR PRODUCTION 1 

 BY T. N. CARVER 



Our plan for the organization of a rural community begins with 

 the committee on production. The greater part of the actual work 

 of production can probably be carried on most economically on indi- 

 vidual farms of a size which can be cultivated mainly by the labor 

 of one family. This calls for very little co-operation or organization. 

 But the study of the problems of production can undoubtedly be 

 carried on most effectively in co-operation. If a hundred men in a 

 community are all studying the problem of growing the crops of that 

 community, but each man studies alone and does not exchange ideas 



Adapted from Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1914, pp. 97-101. 



