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1244 An American Dilemma
rose from an average of 492 million bales annually in 1925-1929 to 1,856 million bales
in 1 93 3-193 7* At the same time a tremendous increase in the production of synthetic
fibres occurred. World production of rayon and rayon staple fibres, which in 1920
had been only 33 million pounds, increased from 458 million in 1930 to 1,948
million pounds in 1938. It has been estimated that the production of these fibres was
equivalent to 78,000 bales of cotton in 1920 and 4,583,000 bales in 1938.*
“These two factors, the upward trend of cotton production abroad and the shift in
demand to rayon, are the most responsible for the sharp reduction of the demand for
American cotton. It seems to be certain that these factors will continue to influence
the situation in the future and the American cotton producers cannot be expected to
retain their present markets—much less to regain what they lost, unless some way of
expanding domestic consumption can be found. Other innovations—for instance, nylon,
recently introduced on a commercial basis—^have come into the picture lately and do not
brighten the market outlook for cotton.”**
That the cotton economy has suffered much more during the depression and recovered
much less after the depression than American agriculture in general is evident from the
following figures: ®
Index Numbers for Gross Cash Income from Marketings
All Cotton and
Year Products Cotton Seed
1925-1929 100 100
193a 43 31
1939 71 41
Yet, even so, cotton was still in 1939 the leading money-income crop of the whole
country, giving the American farmers $609,000,000 in cash as compared to $397,-
000,000 from wheat, $367,000,000 from truck crops (all vegetables, except dry
edible beans, potatoes, and certain garden plot crops), $326,000,000 from corn, and
$264,000,000 from tobacco. None of the crops, however, could compete with milk
($i>353>ooo>ooo)> cattle and calves ($1,274,000,000) or hogs ($821,000,000).^
^ Lange, “Trends in Southern Agriculture,” p. 43,
® lbid,y pp. 23 ff.
® Ibid,^ pp. 1 1 and 24 ff.
^ The number of cows and heifers kept mainly for milk production increased by 23
per cent between 193® and 1940. The national increase (17 per cent) was not much
* See: I. W. Duggan, “Cotton Land and People,” Journal of Farm Economics (February,
1940), p. 197.
‘’Lange, “Trends in Southern Agriculture,” pp. 16-17.
* Adapted by Lange (“Trends in Southern Agriculture,” p. 42) from U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics: ig^o, pp. 544 and 5525 and Bureau of Agricultural
Economics, Income Parity for Agriculture^ Part I, Section i. Calendar Years 1 91 0-193
(Preliminary, 1938). The figure 41, used as the index for cotton and cotton seed for 1939,
is only approximate.
^U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics: 1940^ pp. 544-545.
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