264 COTTON 
NORMAL FLUCTUATION OF PRICES 
Eliminating the waste of ignorance which plays 
a part in cotton production because of the presence 
of the illiterate tenant, when the price falls below 
the cost of production because of overproduction, 
poor producing lands are dropped from use; those 
engaged in cotton farming receive smaller returns 
and less cotton is produced until consumption in- 
creases so as to use the product as rapidly as pro- 
duced. Were one-fifth of the present acreage 
to be put to some other use, cotton would immediate- 
ly advance in price: the four-fifths quantity would 
yield in value a gross revenue perhaps equal to 
or greater than the five-fifths at the present time 
and at present prices, consumption remaining the 
same all the while. On the other hand, were con- 
sumption to decrease one-fifth and production re- 
main the same, the price would decline until either 
consumption sion mereace again or enough cot- 
ton lands be abandoned to balance supply and 
demand. 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION 
This adjustment between production and con- 
sumption, as we have said, is regulated by the in- 
evitable law of supply and demand, which at times 
may be influenced by attachments with other com- 
modities that may be or may not be substituted, 
thus adding further complications to the situation. 
So cotton growing and cotton spinning long have 
been working partners; although they have had 
their quarrels, they are fairly adjusted so that sup- 
ply and demand operate within rather narrow 
limits, conditions being in no wise open to serious 
