197 



In connection with the investigation to fix the basis of area, prelimi- 

 nary returns relative to the present crop were received. A synopsis 

 of those received after the middle of May is as follows : 



During May preliminary returns were received from 316 cotton 

 counties. The season is reported late in nearly every instance, from ten 

 days to two weeks generally, but in some cases three and even four 

 weeks. More than two-thirds of the returns make the season too wet, 

 especially in time of planting and gerfniuatiug. In some districts the 

 past two weeks have been too dry. The stand is reported good in a 

 majority of the returns from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, 

 Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, rather above the average in Arkansas 

 and Tennessee, and scarcely average in Louisiana. The condition is 

 represented below average in Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas, slightly 

 below in Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and average in 

 Alabama and in the Carolinas. 



The following brief extracts are from the correspondence of the 

 present mouth : 



Virginia. — Greenville : A good stand, but very backward. 



North Carolina. — Gaston: About all up; a few fields ia fine order: the stand gen- 

 erally good, but a large per cent, backward. Gates : Noav up, but looks sick. Columbus : 

 Seriously injured by frosts. Franklin: Stand fair ; farmers busy in "chopping." Lincoln: 

 Checked by dry weather anc\ cold nights. IVuync : Late, but the appearance superior to 

 that of last year. Camden : Stand good. Mecklenhurgh : The stand very good ; more fer- 

 tilizers used than last year. Pamlico : Frost, May 19, killed all the cotton on loose swamp- 

 lands. Wake: Stand injured by cold and dry weather; rapidly recovering. Alamance: 

 Looks badly. Edgecotnbe : Generally the stand is very good. Duplin : Planting retarded 

 ten days by bad weather ; that planted before May came up promptly and looking unusually 

 well. It was too dry, until the 25th, for that planted later to germinate ; at least one-half in 

 the county just coming up ; stand unusually good. Wilson : The stand not good, and the 

 plant small. Onslow : Stand not good. Perquimans : Fair stand, but backward, and looks 

 much worse than usual. Anson : Two to four weeks late. 



South Carolina. — Georgetown : Good stand, and growing. Orangeburgh : Two or three 

 weeks late. Edgefield : Indifferent stand, but, according to an old adage, half a stand will 

 yield a full crop. Greenville: Last year the rule was, " cotton-fields and corn-patches ; " 

 this year, "corn-fields and cotton-patches." Union: A remarkably wet and cold spring 

 seriously retarded the planting and growth, rendering it " possum-eared;" now suffering for 

 lain ; stand generally good, but deficient in all red lands. Newberry : Stand generally good, 

 but two weeks backward. Barnwell : More promising than usual. Laurens : Early planted, 

 small and dying ; late, not yet up to a good stand. Lexington : Late good stand, and 

 growing finely. Darlington : Good stanch and doing well. 



Georgia. — Columbia : Looking well in some localities ; in others, sickly. Muscogee : 

 Very small, stand imperfect ; two weeks late. Randolph, : Much killed by the frosts. 

 Troup : Never saw a better prospect. Willcinson : Planting unusually late, owing to rains. 

 • Webster: Small, but healthy, and good stand. AJcDuffie : Dry weather prevents the cotton 

 from coming up in stiff clay-lands ; twenty days later than in any spring for thirty years. 

 Douglas : Area planted equals that of last year, which was 10 to 12 per cent, below average. 

 Walker: A good stand, but late, and very small. Gwinnett: Good stand, and fair prospect. 

 Hart : Stand good, but very small. Laurens ; Very small, and not healthy. Clayton ; A 

 fair stand ; most of the farmers have it chopped. Cotceta : Excellent promise. Marlborough ; 

 Plants very small, but healthy. Floyd : A dry May ; late planted failed to come up ; stand 

 poor, Putnam: May a first-rate month for cotton. Hancock: Very backward, owing to 

 late spring and excessively dry weather. Cherokee : Kept back by extremely dry weather. 

 Carroll : Much killed by cold nights, and that standing looks badly. Lincoln : Small ; no 

 rain in May. Upshur : Two to three weeks late, but good stand and fine prospect. Pu- 

 laski : Good stand, but two weeks late. 



Florida, — Jackson : Complaints of cut-worms and a bad stand, but has grown finely 

 the last ten days. Gadsden : Two weeks late, but healthy and vigorous. Columbia : 

 Looking bad ; too cool and wet. Leon : Has suffered from lice, but is doing well. Suwan- 

 nee: Very backward and defective in stand, owing to late wet spring. Much injured by 

 cotton-lice. 



Alabama. — Hale : Small but good stand and usually free from grass. Saint Clair: A fair 

 stand. Clarke : Stand good ; rain badly needed. Montgomery : Clean cultured ; good size 

 and with a fair show of fruit-forms. Franklin : Looks wonderfully well. Lawrence : A 

 month behind, but the plants vigot^ous and growing. Conecuh : Very clear from grass ; 

 prospect never better. Walter : Small but in good condition. Wilcox : Favorable weather 



