262 COTTON 
each pound produced on these less desirable lands, 
the commodity in its entirety will bring the same 
price, irrespective of the kind of land on which it 
was produced. 
It follows then that not the cost of the average 
crop, but the cost of growing that part of the crop 
produced at the greater cost or greater disadvantage 
will govern the market price of cotton. 
He who is so unfortunately situated as to grow 
his cotton at the greatest disadvantage gets no 
profit at all; while on the other hand profits go 
In proportion as cotton is grown with ease and 
economy. 
THE RANGE OF THE COST 
The statement is often made that cotton is grown 
now at a cost of from three to four cents per pound, 
and hence that there is a tremendous profit in the 
business of cotton farming—a profit of as much as 
two or even three hundred per cent. This being 
the case, we hear further, cotton sells at an un- 
reasonable price, and nets the producer a greater 
reward than economic conditions justify. 
That some cotton may be produced on some land 
and during some seasons at three or four cents per 
pound there is no doubt; but there is indeed a small 
acreage where these conditions obtain. Inno way, 
we argue, is it justifiable to use these exceptional 
seasons as a basis for estimating the cost of produc- 
ing cotton or for measuring profits—any more than 
itis justifiable to say that since some banking 
houses in New York City make annual profits of 
from 100 to 200 per cent, that is the profit realized 
by all banks throughout the country. The facts are 
