Economic Conditions in the Sea Island Cotton Industry

Report Introduction: At the request of the farmers living in the neighborhood of Charleston, S. C., forwarded through the Chamber of Commerce of Charleston to the Department of Agriculture, an investigation of the market and economic conditions in the Sea Island cotton industry was made by the Office of Markets during August and September, 1913. The extremely low price that prevailed, which was probably below the cost of production, the large stock carried over into the succeeding year in spite of the very small crop, the indifference of buyers due to lack of orders, indicated a condition of crisis which called for a thorough examination of, and an impartial report on, the condition of the industry. The field of this investigation was not limited to Charleston and the islands adjacent thereto, but was extended to include the Sea Island cotton districts of Georgia and Florida and to nearly all the American mills that spin yarns from this kind of cotton. Although Carolina Sea Island cotton is nearly all exported, it was impracticable to visit foreign countries to interview the manufacturers using it, hence this report does not cover completely the consumption of the Carolina crop. The object of this paper is to set forth as concisely as possible the results of this investigation. It is in no sense a treatise on agriculture.