SEA ISLAND COTTON INDUSTRY. 5 
(e) Having once introduced Sakellaridis cotton to make a given 
line of goods, it is a hard matter to change to another cotton which 
may be just as good. The customer usually grows suspicious when 
the mill changes the appearance of its goods, and he must be argued 
with and coaxed into taking the goods. For this reason, if for no 
other, a mill prefers to run on the same kind of cotton all the time, 
and it is as difficult to turn back to Sea Island as it was to turn from 
Sea Island to Sakellaridis. 
(3) TJie deteriorated quality of Sea Island cotton. — Another cause for 
the lessened use of Sea Island is that its quality is not so uniform 
and good as it was formerly. ''It has run down." That it has dete- 
riorated is admitted on all sides. There can be no question of the 
fact. Some of the causes of this deterioration are not hard to dis- 
cover, while perhaps others have escaped notice. The most serious 
cause of deterioration in the interior regions has been the refusal of the 
Carohna growers to seU planting seed to others. This decision not 
to sell planting seed came about as the natural result of the situation 
in which the planters found themselves. In 1902 the culture of Sea 
Island cotton was introduced in the West Indies. Seed was bought 
from the best Carolina plantations, and some of the expert Carohna 
growers were hired to teach the people of St. Vincent, Antigua, the 
Barbados, and other islands how to raise and prepare this crop for 
market. The effort to grow the cotton in the West Indies was suc- 
cessful beyond expectations, and within five or six years the Caro- 
hna farmers commenced to feel the West Indian competition. They 
resolved to quit selling seed to anyone — not only to the West Indies, 
Florida, and Georgia, but also to their feUow islanders. The small 
farmer on the islands, if his seed was not good, could not buy the 
better quahty or the more prolific seed of his neighbor. He was 
forced to plant such seed as he had, be it ever so inferior, or else to 
turn to Upland cotton or to truck crops. As a matter of fact, many 
farmers have turned largely to Upland cotton. James Island, S. C, 
had more than 100 acres planted in Upland cotton in 1913. Jolins 
Island and Wadmalaw Island had more than half of their cotton land 
planted in Upland seed, and Edisto Island had nearly as much Upland 
as Sea Island planted. Here at the fount ainhead of Sea Island cul- 
ture short cotton had been introduced and was being grown in ad- 
joining fields and in many instances in the same field. Cross pollen- 
ization by various me^ns, including bees and other insects, rendered 
it practically impossible to keep varieties pure and up to the old high 
level of quality. No matter how careful and expert the Sea Island 
cotton planter might be, he labored under a serious handicap on ac- 
count of the nearness on all sides to Upland short staple. The result 
has been, as was to be expected, a general deterioration in the qual- 
ity, through hybridization, even in the most favored section of the 
Sea Island producing area. 
