THE RELATION OF COTTON BUYING TO COTTON GROWING. 7 



Upland long staple brings from 30 to 60 per cent more than middling 

 short staples. Both types can be produced in much larger quan- 

 tities at such premiums if the premiums are paid to the farmers 

 who produce the superior cotton. Paying high prices without dis- 

 crimination encourages the wrong class of farmers to plant long- 

 staple cotton, instead of securing the interest of those who might 

 place the industry on a substantial basis. 



There is no reason why the farmer who refuses to take the pre- 

 cautions that are necessary to produce good long-staple cotton should 

 get any more for his crop than for short staple. The new early- 

 maturing, long-staple varieties are as productive as most of the 

 short-staple varieties that are now being grown, and in some in- 

 stances even more productive, as in the case of the Durango cotton 

 in the Imperial Valley. On the basis of the present varieties the 

 greater cost of production of long staples Ues entirely in the greater 

 care that must be exercised to produce a more uniform fiber. The 

 farmer who will not take the extra precautions that are necessary 

 with long-staple cotton has no just claim for a premium. Unless 

 the most inteUigent and careful farmers can be enlisted, there is 

 little prospect that the culture of long-staple cotton can be established 

 or maintained in any community. 



The failure to discriminate in price to the farmer is so general that 

 many buyers do not consider it dishonest, but look upon it merely 

 as one of the ways of increasing the profits of their business. Yet 

 the policy is certainly wrong from the standpoint of agricultural 

 improvement, quite apart from the responsibility of the buyer to 

 pay the farmer a fair price. Indeed, many buyers do not have the 

 skill necessary to determine that one bale contains better fiber than 

 another. In such cases the question of dishonesty need not be raised, 

 but the effect on the farmer is the same. He will not continue the at- 

 tempt to improve his crop unless he can find recognition in the market 

 price of the cotton. It is no encouragement to him to know that some- 

 body else, whether factor, buyer, or manufacturer, makes larger profits 

 from his improved crop if he is unable to secure a share of these profits. 



As long as cotton is bought without regard to quality, it is useless 

 to expect that the farmer will take pains to grow cotton of better 

 quality. The additional care that must be given to the crop to pro- 

 duce superior fiber will not be applied by the intelligent farmer unless 

 he can be assured that the buyer will discriminate and pay more for 

 his cotton than for that raised by his ignorant or careless neighbor. 

 To buy all the long-staple cotton of a district at a flat rate, like 

 short-staple cotton, must be expected to have the same effect with 

 long staples as with short — that of encouraging the planting of the 

 inferior varieties rather than those of higher quality. 



