FARMERS' REGISTER— COTTON GIN. 



361 



two varieties of cotton, and a cotton that is possi- 

 bly a liybrid between them, have arrived at the 

 greatest perlection. It is tiiere that soils vvhicli are 

 deeply tinged with red, and heavily seasoned with 

 salt, which ail the tributary streams of Red River 

 flowing in Irom the north, bring with them, give 

 Ibrth the most abundant crops, of the best (juality 

 ot' these descrij)tiuns of cotton. Directing myself 

 by the inlbrmation received irom one or ivvo 

 friends who have property there, I should say, with 

 reasonable diligence and attention to the object, 

 10 J J lbs. of seed cotton, or about 250 lbs. of cot- 

 ton wool may be expected .o the English acre, 

 while the average (jroducts of the hill lands troni 

 the Mississippi to North Carolina should not be 

 taken at more than 500 lbs. of seeil cotton, or liaU' 

 the quantity, nor do I believe there is any material 

 diii'erence uj)on the great scale of jjroducts through 

 this wide extent of' country, judging tor myself 

 from j)ersonal observation, lor 1 have i)assed 

 through all these districts, yet scarcely a year passes 

 without the newspapers announcing some new dis- 

 covered land of promise within these Avide limits, 

 themselves misled by some single or partial result, 

 or stimulated on by land speculators, a curse of no 

 common character to a new country. Eut in 

 whatever cause originating, the evil is the same. 

 These rumors tail among a people already heated 

 with a desire of change — a people quite sensible 

 to present evils, but not reflective enough to hold 

 in remembrance that every wave of the hand 

 without necessity, and every momentary evolve- 

 ment of time without uselulness, is a waste oi 

 power and waste of time irreclaimable to human- 

 ity. The system of agriculture through all those 

 districts, is essentially the same. \'ou And the 

 Virginian upon Red River; you find the North 

 Carolina man, the Souih Carolina man, and the 

 man from Georgia, along side of him; aii}^ im- 

 provements, any increased quantity of product, by 

 any new course of cultivation, spreads like the 

 fire of the American prairie, a spark has carried 

 it, and enkindled it, far in advance of the mass of 

 flame that rolls alter it. Any substantial improve- 

 ments therefore, that is made in Virginia, or Geor- 

 gia, Irom this extension of mind, Irom this inter- 

 mingling of men, is as likely to be reflected back 

 upon the intermediate country from Red River, as 

 to reach it, from its first source. The system oi 

 cuh.ivation is therefore the same: the moment the 

 cultivation of cotton spread into the interior coun- 

 try, fiom the shores of Georgia, and South Caro- 

 lina, the hand-hoe was exchanged for the jjlough. 

 The latter instrument had been employed at all 

 times, and in all cultures in the hill country of 

 the southern states; in no agricultural country 

 were oxen or horses cheapei-^ in no agricultural 

 country were soils freer for the plough-share, but 

 it was not ada])ted to the sea coast, because the 

 land is so little above the waters that ebb and flow, 

 that many drains, mconvenient to the ploughman, 

 are required to carry ofl" the surface waters, the 

 trees too, of necessity sentl their roots along the 

 surface, rather than vertically in quest of mois'ture, 

 and many of them like the live oak are scarcely 

 destructible by time. They too obstruct his course; 

 but above all, the plant" under cultivation sends 

 its roots around in quest rather of nourishment 

 than down in quest of moisture, and must not be 

 too rudely dealt with; tliese various causes, have 

 finally, after long experience, fixeJ the hoe 

 Vol. II.— 28 



husbandry upon the sea coast, and carried the 

 |)lough husbandry into the hills. The short staple 

 cotton, is therefore as exclusively cultivated by the 

 I lough, as the sea island cotton is exclusively cul- 

 tivated by the hoe. The manner of treating the 

 plant is really the same, the hoe dressing the land 

 more neatly and garden like, the plough breaking 

 up the land more railically, and extending far more 

 widely its o])eration, for the quant ity of force employ- 

 ed. The consequence has been, that while four Eng- 

 lish acres is the quantity cultivated upon the sou 

 coast of Georgia, and Carolina with the hand hoc, 

 eight acres is about the quantity cultivated of slioi't 

 staple cotton in the interior with the plough. It is 

 the ridge husbandry in both instances that is no^v 

 pursued, more neatly executed in the first instance 

 bv the hoe, and more roughly by the plough in 

 the second, but still the same. The month of 

 April is the best time of planting either variet} . 

 The distance between the ridges is most generally 

 fivTfeet, the ])lants left m the drills, varying from 6 

 to 24 inches, dependent as before stated upon the 

 expected growth of the plants. Two other cir- 

 cumstances contributed to aid the cultivation of 

 short staple, extrinsic of soil or real products. The 

 winds of autumn are far more violent upon the 

 sea coast of Georgia and Carolina, than in the in- 

 terior countrj^, and the capsules that contain the 

 sea island cotton expand more than those that con- 

 tain the short staple, so that the first has to be 

 gathered much more frequently, fiom the fields than 

 the last, or it falls to the ground, and is lost. The 

 consequence is, the general gathering to the labor- 

 er, per day, is more than twice the quantity of short 

 staple, than of sea island, for it is allowed to hung 

 upon the plants, until they are white with the open 

 cotton, so that there is only two and at best three 

 gatherings of the one, to ten, or twelve scanty 

 gleaning-s of the other. This one circumstance, 

 more than any other, gives to the grower of short 

 stajjle cotton, the power of something more than 

 duplicating the quantity of cotton wool produced, 

 by the same quantity of labor expended. But it 

 is time, that we should look back, and see if there 

 has been any thing omitted, necessary to be 

 known, in the cultivation of the cotton plant or in 

 preparing the cotton avooI in the L'nited Slates, 

 Cottons of various kinds, grovv^ well, and per 

 feet their fruit, from the southern borders of 

 Virginia, to the south Vv-estern streams of the 

 Mississippi, a space of 1200 miles, and from 

 the sea, lor 200 miles into the interior, through this 

 wide space of country, in every soil, whether of 

 clay, or loam, or even sand, the cotton plant will 

 grow, and p.roduce its seed and wool its accom- 

 paniment, provided the waters are kept well 

 drained Horn the suiface of the land. The quan- 

 tity of products will of course depend upon the 

 soils, whatever they may be, containing these in- 

 gredients which constitute fertility in ail countries, 

 which neither experiment, or the philosophy of 

 chemistry has yet been able fully to discover, or 

 define. The mean quantity given of 100 lbs. of 

 sea island cotton wool, to the English acre, and of 

 125 lbs. of short stajile cotton to the same quanli- 

 ty of land, we believe, not materially wrong, but 

 the quantity of labor to bring forth these results, 

 are very difl'erent. The sea island cotton is cul- 

 tivated "neatly by the hoe, the short staple more 

 roughly by the plough, still it is, or should be, the 

 ridge husbandrv in both uistances. The plants 



