17 
is 90 per cent., leaving one-tenth of the crop ungathered on the 1st of 
December. 
Weather.—The meteorological conditions have been somewhat un- 
usual, and their effect somewhat difficult to calculate. The growing 
season has been of almost unexampled length, and yet the weather has 
not been quite in a medium degree favorable for gathering, and scarcely 
for maturing. Many reports in all the States represent highly favor- 
able conditions of maturation and harvesting, but a still larger number 
in every considerable section are unfavorable. Not a few in all the 
lower belt of States report an absence of killing frosts up to the date of 
return, and several report the first destructive frost on the 7th or 8th of 
December; and yet so late a season, instead of increasing the crop, is 
held at many points to be the cause of diminished yield. This ap- 
parently anomalous result is not unreasonable the present season in 
those large districts of best production, in which the growth of wood 
was late and too vigorous, and moist and growing weather continued 
long after the usual time for the decay of the stalk and maturing of the 
top-crop. Even in December blossoms and young bolls were present, 
and ripening was delayed until heavy frosts appeared, followed by blasting 
storms, which not only prevented maturation, but destroyed much of 
the open fiber. : 
Rains have,been too frequent and rough storms have occurred toa 
greater extent than last year, tending to diminish the expected product 
and delay the work of the pickers. 
The effect of a long season, increasing the yield on uplands and 
advanced growths generally, with the drawback of a lack of frostto stop 
growth and hasten ripening; and, per contra, the injurious results of 
storms and unfavorable weather, may together, if carefully analyzed, be 
held to indicate a somewhat less favorable autumn than that of 1874. 
Total quantity produced.—lt isalways difficult to combine the records of 
the most accurate crop-history, taking into due consideration the germina- 
tion, the stand secured, the cleanness of weeding, temperature, drought, 
storms, floods, worms, frosts, efficiency of labor, and other causes of success 
or failure ; yet upon a careful analysis of all these influences depends our 
knowledge of the crop prior to its actual presence at the cotton-marts 
of the country. The Department returns made an increase of about 2 
per cent. in the area of the present crop. The record of condition for 
five months, from June to October, furnishes another important element 
in the calculation. It would not do in every season to rely upon an 
average of condition for the season, especially if there was a con- 
tinual upward progress in the record of one season, and a downward 
movement in the other, with which comparison is made; but the past 
two seasons have a substantial agreement in that respect, and the aver- 
ages of each ought to bear some relation to crop-prospects in October. 
We find the average of this period in 1874 to be 83 per cent. of a 
standard of unimpaired vitality ; in 1875, 93.5 per cent. As the crop of 
1874, with fine autumn weather and late frosts, was 3,833,000 bales, the 
expectation in October on this basis would be 4,317,000 on an equal 
area, and 4,403,000 on the actual area. Then it is found that the yield 
of lint is 4 pounds less than last year on every 100 pounds of seed-cotton, 
which causes a reduction of 176,000 bales, leaving the prospect 4,227,000 
bales. But it would appear that the present season has been less favora- 
ble than last year for perfecting and opening the bolls, and for gathering; 
and yet the delay of killing frosts has been remarkable, tending in some 
-Situations to increase of yield, and in others to continued growth of the 
whole plant rather than the perfecting of its fruit, thus complicating the 
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