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PAGE SIX Os Interest to the Wealth Creators ADVICE TO FARMERS. In a letter to the press Industrial Agent Richards, of the Southern road has the following paragraph: “There is little doubt but what the farmers of the south would be much better off financially and socially it their holdings were smaller. Some land owners of the south begin to realize this. An instance of this is seen wherein a leading planter lo cated on the Southern railway, pro poses to give outright, to any reliable white farmer, ten acres of land, and agrees to sell thirty acres additional, provided the purchaser finds he is able to properly cultivate (the in creased area. This proposition! is made to induce an industrious class to settle in his neighborhood. This land owner has more land than he can take care of, on account of the scarcity of labor, and he argues, that this plan will bring to his locality a sufficient number of desirable immi grants with families, from whom the supply of labor so much desired can be secured.” This is not an entirely new idea but it may contain valuable sugges tions for some of the farmers in Georgia. The idea is that the planter would experience better conditions and be better satisfied if he owned 80 acres of land valued at SIOO per acre than he would on a 320 acre farm valued at $25 per acre. The first named condition would imply better roads, better schools and better culti vation of the land with better re sults. There is no question that a small tract of land under careful and close cultivation is far better than twice the amount of land under care less cultivation at the hand of inade quate labor. —Augusta Herald. FRUIT RATES REDUCED. After making anumber of efforts, the fruit rate from Georgia has at last been reduced. Time and again the Peach Growers' Association of Georgia endeavored to get the railroad to give them some concessions, but invariably the re quest was turned down. The follow ing dispatch from Washington shows that constant efforts bring results: “The interstate commerce commis sion has declared unreasonable and unjust the freight rate on peaches charged by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company from Macon and Atlanta. Ga.. to Washington, Balti more, Philadelphia and New York. The rate complained of by J. J. Wax* elbaum was 78 cents per hundred pounds to Washington and Baltimore and 81 cents to Philadelphia and New York with a refrigerator charge of 12 1-2 cents per crate of twelve pounds, and shipments required to contain at least 550 crates. “The commission fixes the rate at 73 cents to Washington and Balti more and 76 cents to Philadelphia and New York, and the refrigerator charges at 11 cents. The new rates are to apply to shipments containing 20,000 pounds for thirty-six foot cars* and 22,500 pounds for forty foot cars- The new rate is to become effective July 15. The commission upholds the demurrage charges of $5 a day'on refrigerator cars for delay after the first twenty-four hours.” The freight rate reduction came late, but the fruit growers are of course delighted that it has come at last. —Dublin Courier-Dispatch. COTTON AT SIX CENTS PER SPOOL. The fact that the thread trust has raised the price of that useful and necessary article has attracted little attention save among dealers and persons who use a great deal of it. The addition of one cent to the price of a spool of thread will not incon venience many people and will be paid without protest. Let us see, however, what the effect will be with respect to results from the viewpoint of the thread manufacturers. Before the increased price was an nounced the thread manufacturer priced his goods at 55 cents per dozen spools. This price, however, was sub ject to several discounts whereby the dealer finally secured his thread from the manufacturer at 45.12 cents per dozen. There are 5 1-3 dozen spools to the pound of cotton, hence the manufacturer sold his finished pro duct at the fat price of $2.40 per pound. The new price, which has caused the retailer to add a cent to the price of each spool, is given as 67 cents per dozen, but being subject to the usual three discounts is finally found to be 54.97 cents per dozen, or $2.93 per pound for the finished pro duct. When compared to the price of other cotton goods this price seems extraordinarily exorbitant, not" withstanding the fact that the best thread is manufactured from the finest grades of long staple cotton. At 6 cents per spool, the present re tail price of thread, the farmer is buying his cotton back at $3.48 per pound.—Augusta Herald. GEORGIA’S COTTON CROP WILL BE QUITE SHORT. Commissioner Hudson’s Report Shows That the Condition of the Cotton Crop Is Very Poor for This Year. A very poor outlook for Georgia’s cotton crop for 1907 is shown in the annual June report of the state de partment of agriculture, which was given out Friday afternoon by Com missioner T. G. Hudson just before his departure for Jamestown. An average of 94.5 per cent, com pared to 104 last year, and the use of 92.6 per cent of commercial ferti lizers used last year are the primary causes of this outlook for a short crop. Then the fact that the average time of planting was twenty-three days later than last year and that 44 per cent of the crop had to be planted over contributes to the rather gloomy average of conditions and prospect of 71 per cent. The June report of last year showed 82 per cent. The shortage of labor is declared by Commissioner Hudson to be the chief cause of the reduction in acreage. The WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. bad weather in April is held respon sible for the lateness of planting and the necessary replanting and the cold days and nights in May are assigned as the cause of the present poor con dition of the crop. This report was made by Commis sioner Hudson and Assistant Commis sioner Wright from 750 letters from correspondents in practically every county in the state, from four to ten letters being received from each county. The report also indicates only 19 per ce(nt of a full peach crop, and oth er fruits show a poor prospect. All the grains show a reduction in acre age and poorer conditions than last year, planting having been late nearly everywhere. Average Date of May 29. The reports received by the depart ment bear an average date of May 29» and consequently the department’s report is given out as showing the conditions of crops on that day. If Georgia is to have anything like an average cotton crop it is still to be made, stated Assistant Commis sioner Wright as practically no cotton weather had been experienced up to the close of May. The state report of 71 is consider ably lower than the last government report, which showed 84. The detailed figures shown in the report will prove interesting and are as follows: Cotton. Average compared to last year? 94.5 per cent. Average time of planting, compar ed to last year? 23 days late. What per cent of the crop had to be planted over? 44 per cent. Condition and prospect? 71 per cent. What per cent of commercial fertilizers used on cotton in your county this year, compared to last year? 92.6 per cent. What per cent of the total area in your county is manured with either commercial fertilizers, home manure or compost ? 88 per cent.—Dublin Times. NEW YORK’S COTTON PRICES. The efforts of this or that official of the New York Cotton Exchange to de" fend the course of that institution are idle so long as its quotations condemn it. For example, on Saturday last spot cotton sold at the close of the day’s market at 13.25 to 13.50, and yet July contracts in New York sold at 12 cents. In New Orleans spot cotton, mid dlings, went to 13 cents, and July contracts ranged from 13.09 to 13.15. This really tells the entire story. In New Orleans futures and spot cot ton go along close together, the dif ferences being small and wholly nat ural, while in New York prices of contracts are rigged to depress the price of cotton. The New York prices are devised to please the New England spinrjers and to rob the Southern producers. The forthcoming congressional in vestigation was manipulated by Sen ator Lodge and his associates, but it will fail signally if it does not set forth the differences in the New York Cotton Exchange between the prices of contracts and the prices of spot cotton. As things stand, no one in the South except speculators pays any attention to the quotations of the New York Cotton Exchange. They are rigged to help New England at the expense of the South, and the South ignores ,them.—Birmingham Age-Herald. JUNE COTTON REPORT. The Journal of Commerce Issues Statement Covering Acreage and Condition of the Staple to Date —The Season Averages a Month Late. (Special to the Observer.) New York, June 6. —The Journal of Commerce will to-morrow publish its June cotton report covering acreage and condition. The report has been delayed one week, owing to the back wardness of planting. About 1,800 correspondents have been heard from, the average date of replies being May 30th, as at that date planting was still incomplete and the replies indicated an increase in acreage of 1.2 per cent. This is less than ex pected in view of the high price of cotton, and less than the best infor mation suggested a month ago. So much cotton has been plowed up and replanted that it is still too early to ascertain the facts as to acreage with satisfactory reliability. When re planting is finished it is quite possible that the above increase in acreage wil be augmented. Reports of conditions are exceed ingly poor, the replies indicating a con dition of 69 per cent, compared with 82 per cent in 1906, and 77.4 in 1905. This is 1.5 per cent lower than the June government report which placed the condition at 70.5 per cent, the lowest condition on record at this season. Too low temperatures and too much precipitation were the causes, of low condition. While a late season is not always a bad sea son, good weather is much needed to improve the condition and the pros pects are that there will be a good demand for all the crops at profita ble prices to the growers. Comparing with last year’s acreage North Carolina’s figures show 103.1 per cent, South Carolina 127 per cent, Georgia 101 per cent, Florida 102.1 per cent, Alabama 97.2 per cent* Mississippi 95 per cent; Texas 106.6 per cent; Arkansas 97.6 per cent; Tennessee 97.1 per cent; Mis souri 89.9 per cent, Indian Territory 103 per cent, Oklahoma 116 per cent. As already stated, the total acreage is 1.2 per cent over that planted last year. So far as the figures of condi tion are concerned, North Carolina is 80.2 against 76 last June: South Caro lina, 77 against 81.6; Georgia, 75.1 against 85.7; Florida. 80.9, against 84.1; Alabama 61.6, against 79.3; Mis sissippi 66.4, against 80.1; Louaiana 65, against 87.8; Toxas 68, against 84.8; Arkansas, 69.6, against 81. L; Tennessee 71.7, against 72; Missouri 77, against 76; Indian Territory 70.6,