SEPORT OP THE STATISTICIAN. 147 



210 bushels wheat, 150 of oats, 10 tons hay ; cured 7,000 pounds pork j 

 kept 75 head stock-hogs, besides cattle; and cleared $1,600. 



In one instance in Maury, 1,250 pounds seed-cotton were made. The 

 seed was rolled in land-plaster (50 pounds per acre) and 40 pounds more 

 applied as top-dressing when the plant was one foot high. It matured 

 three weeks earlier than cotton on same soil not plastered, which yielded 

 only 300 pounds seed-cotton per acre. 



In McjS^airij, there is a product of 1,000 pounds seed-cotton per acre 

 on 10 acres sandy upland, manured with stable and lot manure ; usual 

 culture. 



Missouri. — Our correspondent in New Madrid, Mr. G. 0. Thomas, 

 made in 1872 1,G00 pounds seed-cotton per acre. 



In ScoUj 30 bales were last year made on 40 acres. 



VARIETIES OF SEED. 



There is deterioration of seed in unfavorable conditions and unsuit- 

 able soils quite as marked in cotton as in other plants. Careless cult- 

 ure is the prolific cause of deterioration in the vitality and value of 

 every plant grown by the farmer as a crop. Favorable conditions as 

 surely secure improvement in seed as improper culture causes deterio- 

 ration. So surely does like produce like, that it is always unsafe to pro- 

 cure seed for planting from a careless cultivator, and profitable to select 

 it from the gin-house of a successful cotton-gTOwer. 



So well known is this principle of vegetable physiology that the 

 quest for the best seed has ever been lively and general among intelli- 

 gent cultivators. With an active demand, the commercial instinct is 

 invoked for a supply, selfishness readily leads to exaggeration, greed 

 sometimes oversteps boundaries of fair dealing, and then the doubting 

 or suspicious boldly declare all assumptions of improvement shams and 

 frauds. Thus, some of our correspondents say, " One seed is as good 

 as another." The truth lies between these extremes. There is great 

 advantage in a judicious choice of seed. There is no sort so immeasur- 

 ably superior as to commaad the preference uniformly of a mnjority of 

 cultivators in all States. It is probable that several kinds may each 

 have a locality and soil in which they have been developed and to which 

 they are best suited. When a correspondent asserts, as in Washington, 

 Mississippi, that " it is susceptible of proof that all the cotton in this 

 county is dwarfing," it is evident that either the seed or the style of 

 culture should be changed. Some correspondents in Arkansas leler to 

 the practice, which has become a necessity, of obtaining fresh seed every 

 few years from that prolific cotton region, the bottoms of the Arkansas. 



A careful consideration of the change of seed is therefore one of the 

 first requisites of v,isc and skillful cultivation. But credulity should 

 never usurp the place of belief in seed improvement, and enthusiasm 

 never be allowed to run away with judgment. 



Among the named sorts of general distribution, the Dickson, Peeler, 

 Cheatham, Boyd's Prolific, Simpson, and Petit Gulf are prominent. The 

 Johnston is found less generally east than west of the Mississippi. The 

 Horlong is frequently a preferred seed from Alabama to Texas. In 

 TexTis, a sort spelled Shupeck, Schupach, and in more ingenious ways, is 

 very generally commended. In AlabamaandGeorgia,many prefer aseed 

 called liamases. In the West, there is a fancy seed known as "Taylor's 

 Silk," and another called "Matagorda Silk," which are occasionally com- 

 mended. The Java Prolific is mentioned in Arkansas und elsewhere. 

 The South American Champion arid many other kinds, with some uamca 



