COTTON 
263 
that on the basis of present acreage and cost of 
production : 
3 cents cost per pound represents 1% of acreage. 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
6% " 
% 
'0 
16% " 
9% « 
7% " 
'0 
1% 
This shows that even today when cotton sells 
for ten cents a pound one-tenth of the acreage does 
no more (possibly less) than meet the cost of pro- 
ducing it. Sixty per cent of the crop costs between 
5 and 7 cents to produce on the basis of mere cul- 
tivation. Thousands of acres of cotton are grown 
annually where the product pays only the rental 
and fertilizer bills, the tenant at the end of the sea- 
son receiving no compensation at all for his labor 
during the period of the growth of the crop. Were 
it not for his poultry, his pig, his potato patch, his 
few peas, and the extra work he does in the winter 
months, he and his family would starve or be 
thrown on the State. These are real facts, gath- 
ered at first hand from observation and experi- 
ence. Doubt them if you like ; but if you observe 
you will be convinced of their absolute truth. 
After awhile we shall abandon these unprofit- 
able acres ; we shall give them over to cowpeas and 
pasture, and use for cotton only those lands so 
adapted to the crop as to make it sure that they 
will net a reasonable profit. 
