345 



The following' are the averages of August and September of both 

 years : 



states 



North Carolina 

 South Carolina 



Georjria 



Floriila 



A labaiiia 



Mississippi 



Louisiana 



Texas 



Arkansas 



Tennessee 



99 



84 



86 



85 



93 



104 



99 



93 



108 



107 



95 

 97 

 94 



102 

 90 

 89 

 83 



105 

 87 

 83 



The prevalent drougl^ts of July were succeeded by rains in August, 

 too copious for the best results in the Mississippi Yalley, and quite inju- 

 rious in heavy soils of the eastern belt, causing rust, shedding of leaves 

 and fruit forms, and to some extent rotting of the lower bolls. There 

 is a rank recent growth, which will yield largely with a favorable and 

 long autumn season, or prove a disappointment in case of an early kill- 

 ing frost. In . some parts of Texas drought continued for nine weeks, 

 but the seasonable rains since the middle of August have placed the 

 fields in high condition in all except the most severely-parched localities. 



Losses from prevalence of insects will scarcely be a factor in calcu- 

 lating the product of the present year. A few counties in Florida and 

 Lower Georgia report the caterpillar ; the boll- worm is more numerous 

 in Lowndes, Mississippi, and heard from in a few other counties ; lice 

 are mentioned by some correspondents ; and in Covington, Alabama, the 

 correspondent reports a new enemy, w hich he calls " a minute gnat," 

 which harbors on leaves like lice, producing widespread and serious in- 

 j^^ry. 



As compared with September, 1874, the only States now reporting 

 lower condition are South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida ; and in the 

 Mississippi Valley the improvement is very marked, particularly in 

 Tennessee and Arkansas, in which the averages were very low in 1874. 



A large proportion of the cotton-area of the country is represented in 

 the September returns, which include no less than sixty cotton counties 

 in Texas, and seventy-six in Georgia. 



The returns for August showed an improvement of the cotton-crop of 

 4 per cent, in North Carolina, 1 in Mississippi, and 4 in Arkansas. These 

 States were largely favored with the same conditions of growth which 

 secured their high averages of July. Texas maintained her x)revious 

 figures, the drought in some counties, being counterbalanced by fine 

 weather in others. Tennessee lost 2 per cent., mostly on account of in- 

 juries to bottom-crops from excessive rains. In Louisiana the average 

 declined 6 per cent., on account of local drought, though several parishes 

 reported very promising crops. This injurious influence cut down the 

 average of Georgia 11 per cent., of South Carolina 15 per cent., and of 

 Florida 16 per cent. Lice and caterpillars were reported in two or 

 three counties, but no damage to the crop noted. 



Virginia. — Sussex : Better than for the last seven or eight years. Rlclimond : Fine 

 growth bnt shedding its bolls. 

 North Carolina. — Wilson: The rust has become general, and but little of the cot- 



