SEED AND PLANT DISTRIBUTION. 57 



staples. Tt is also important to run the gin at a lower rale of speed 

 than iii ginning ordinary short-Staple cottons. If these precautions 

 are observed the long-staple Upland cottons may be very satisfactorily 

 ginned on any ordinary saw gin. As previously stated. Mr. Griffin and 

 Mr. Allen have regularly had their crops ginned on ordinary saw gins, 

 and the product has uniformly sold at from 14 to 16 cents or more 

 per pound. 



It is also important that growers of long-staple Upland cottons give 

 special attention to the marketing of the product. The writer last 

 season saw several hales of long-staple Upland cotton sold to a buyer 

 at a small interior town in South Carolina for 10 cents which were 

 certainly equal to bales of similar cotton which he saw sold in the New 

 Orleans market the week following at 1.") cents, when ordinary cotton 

 was selling at s[ cents. Many of the failures with long-staple Upland 

 cotton have been due to the lack of experience on the part of the 

 grower in the matter of marketing. Many buyers take advantage of 

 the growers' ignorance and purchase cotton for 1° cents that is worth 

 15 cents and realize the difference themselves. Until buyers inform 

 themselves on the value of long-staple cotton and pay reasonable 

 prices, it will have to be consigned to general long-staple markets 

 such as New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, etc.. or to some of the 

 large New England markets. 



SEA I SLA NO VAUIKTIES. 



The Seabrook selection of Sea Island cotton is adapted to light, 

 sandy land of good fertility. It is planted in rows 5 feet apart, with 

 a distance of from 18 to 20 inches between the plants in the row. 

 Greater care must be given to the cultivation of Sea Island than is 

 usualty given to. Upland cotton. The land should be thoroughly pre- 

 pared and well fertilized. A suitable rotation with corn, cowpeas, 

 peanuts, or other crops should be practiced in order to avoid the 

 exhaustion of the soil produced by many successive cotton crops. 

 Cultivation should be very frequent. In the Sea Islands the cotton is 

 cultivated on an average of once a week until August. Here the cot- 

 ton is grown on high beds and the soil is drawn up around the plants 

 in cultivation. This method is not recommended for Georgia and 

 Florida, however, where the more economical method of level culture 

 will probably pay the best. 



Particular care is necessary in picking and handling Sea Island cot- 

 ton in order to obtain the highest price. Sea Island cotton requires 

 to be picked often — every week or ten days — in order to avoid stain- 

 ing by the weather. All trash, bits of bolls, immature and diseased or 

 yellow locks must be picked out by hand. The seed cotton should be 

 spread on a platform and exposed to the sun for several hours to dry 

 before storing. It must be ginned on a roller gin and be packed 

 carefully in bags without high pressure. 



