﻿AGRICULTURE. 
  167 
  

  

  the 
  exact 
  date 
  both 
  of 
  the 
  invention 
  and 
  the 
  patent, 
  and 
  

   the 
  terms 
  on 
  which 
  its 
  use 
  was 
  accorded. 
  

  

  Whitney's 
  gin 
  was 
  introduced 
  into 
  Georgia 
  in 
  1794. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  following 
  year, 
  it 
  came 
  in 
  use 
  in 
  Mississippi, 
  

   so 
  speedily 
  was 
  its 
  value 
  made 
  known 
  through 
  the 
  

   whole 
  cotton 
  region. 
  

  

  In 
  1795, 
  Daniel 
  Clarke, 
  living 
  then 
  near 
  Fort 
  Adams, 
  

   in 
  Wilkinson 
  County, 
  had 
  one 
  constructed 
  almost 
  entirely 
  

   by 
  a 
  Negro 
  mechanic 
  owned 
  by 
  him, 
  chiefly 
  from 
  a 
  rude 
  

   drawing 
  and 
  an 
  imperfect 
  description 
  obtained 
  from 
  a 
  

   traveller 
  who 
  had 
  seen 
  Whitney's 
  gin 
  in 
  Georgia. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  known 
  that 
  several 
  gins 
  were 
  in 
  operation 
  in 
  

   Adams 
  county 
  previous 
  to 
  the 
  evacuation 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  

   by 
  the 
  Spaniards.''' 
  

  

  In 
  1798, 
  cotton 
  was 
  shipped 
  from 
  a 
  gin 
  of 
  Thomas 
  

   Wilkin 
  s, 
  on 
  Pine 
  Ridge, 
  near 
  Natchez 
  ; 
  it 
  was 
  then 
  put 
  

   up 
  in 
  round 
  bags. 
  This, 
  next 
  to 
  Clark's 
  gin, 
  on 
  his 
  

   plantation 
  near 
  Fort 
  Adams, 
  was 
  probably 
  the 
  earliest 
  

   construction, 
  and 
  must, 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  referred 
  to, 
  have 
  been 
  

   in 
  operation 
  about 
  two 
  years. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  then 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  ab- 
  

   sence 
  of 
  mechanical 
  skill, 
  the 
  first 
  machinery 
  employed 
  

   was, 
  of 
  course, 
  rude 
  and 
  imperfect 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  

   the 
  first 
  rags 
  or 
  saws 
  manufactured 
  were 
  hammered 
  out 
  

   of 
  hoe-blades, 
  and 
  had 
  only 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  teeth 
  to 
  the 
  

   inch. 
  Well-made 
  and 
  tempered 
  saws 
  were 
  worth 
  five 
  

   dollars 
  each, 
  separate 
  from 
  the 
  other 
  machinery. 
  The 
  

   price 
  of 
  giii 
  stands 
  is 
  now 
  about 
  three 
  dollars 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  

   per 
  saw. 
  The 
  improvement 
  in 
  machinery 
  having 
  ob- 
  

   viated 
  the 
  old, 
  tedious, 
  and 
  expensive 
  process, 
  the 
  seg- 
  

  

  * 
  Mr. 
  Dunbar 
  mentions 
  being 
  from 
  home 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  in- 
  

   specting 
  a 
  cotton 
  gin 
  in 
  September, 
  1795; 
  and 
  states 
  that, 
  in 
  HOT, 
  

   cotton 
  had 
  become 
  the 
  " 
  wiiversal 
  crop''' 
  of 
  the 
  District 
  of 
  Natchez. 
  

  

  