BARLEY. 



301 



exports of cotton (amounting; to more than 

 $1,400. 000, Onf) in the last forty-thren years), 

 nor by tlio imnicnso proportion of llio ineiuis 

 wliich it has ftiriiirtliod this country to meet 

 the onomi:ms fichts continnally incurred for 

 imports from Britaui and the Etn'opean conti- 

 nent — COTTON havinj:; for many years consti- 

 tuted 1-2, 3-5, or 7-10 of the value of tho ex- 

 ports of the Union. But it was the introduc- 

 tion of the cotton-<;in which first gave a hi<,'h 

 v;Jiie and pennnnent inark(>t to the pul)lic 

 lands in the Soiith-W'csl. Tiie rapid settle- 

 ment and iniprovenient of alinust tlu; eiitii-e I 

 Slates of Alal>ama, Mi.s-sissippi, Louisiana, 

 Florida, and Texa.s, is mainly due to the en- 

 larged production of cotton con.sequent upon 

 the iiivenlion of Whitney. The States of 

 Georsria and Tennessee have iilso been largely 

 benefited by the same means in the disposal 

 of their domain, a vast portion of which must 

 have remained unoccupied and valueless but 

 for the immense increase of facilities for the 

 preparation of cotton for tlie market. In tho 

 three States of Alabiuna, Mi.ssissippi and Lou- 

 isiana, the sales of tho jniblic lands of the 

 General Goveniment amounted to l!),099,.'30.'j 

 acres, during the eleven years enduig on the 

 30th of June, 1844 — yielding to tlje Nationid 

 Treasury more tlnm $:{0,000,000. The sales 

 of upland cotton lands by the United Suites 

 land-oflices have amounteil to many tens of 

 millions of acres ; and none lla^e been sold at 

 a lower rate tlum $1 25 an acre — a large pro- 

 jwrtion at a higher rate. 



It is to be remaj'ked, fin;Jly, that tho cot- 

 ton-gins now in use throughout the whole 

 South are truly the original invention of Whit- 

 ney — that no improvement or successful vari- 



ation of the essential parts has yet been effect- 

 ed. The actual dtiractciristics of th(! macliino 

 (tho cyluider and l)rushJ,tho sole real instru- 

 ments \>y which the seed is removed and tho 

 cotton cleaned, remain, in cotton-gins of even 

 the most recent mimufiicture, precixrly ax 

 Whitney left I hem. Tho principle has not 

 been altered since the first cotton-gin was put 

 in motion by the inventor, though great im- 

 provements have been made in the applica- 

 tion and direction of the moving force.s, in the 

 employment of steam-power, in the running- 

 gear, and other incidentals. Every one of 

 tho various cotton-gins in use, under tho 

 names of different makers, contjiins the essen- 

 tials of Whitney's patent, without material 

 change or addition. The brn.sh and the cyl- 

 inder remain, like Fulton's paddle-wheel, un- 

 changed in form and necessity, however vast 

 the imjirovements in tho macliinery tliat 

 causes the motion. 



A more imposing result of mechanical inge- 

 nuity direct(!d to the benefit of a whole na- 

 tion, and, through it, of inankind, has not 

 been recorded in the history of the human 

 mind. Certainly there is no patriotic Ameri- 

 can who will not rejoice to accord to this emi- 

 nently useful, though basely wronged invent- 

 or, tlie judgment so well expressed by Mr. 

 I/anman — that " Whitney earned tho credit 

 of gi\ ing a spring to the Agriculture of the. 

 South, vvhich has been continued, unimpaired, 

 to this day — a credit that will endure while 

 the cotton-plant whitens the ])lantatioiisof the 

 South with its snowy harvests, or the ma- 

 chinery of the cotton-factory clatters upon the 

 waterfall !" 



BARLEY. 



THE FOUR-ROWED AND TWO-ROWED VARIETIES. 



We do not know when we have read a letter with more pleasure than the one 

 which follows this — not more, as the reader may suppose, on account of the in- 

 formation it imparts, than the free, enlightened spirit which dictated it. Surely, 

 such acts of courtesy, and readiness to impart the knowledge of practical experi- 

 ence, ought not to be so uncommon as to call for remark, although always to be 

 received with becoming thankfulness. But is not the fact so ? Those who 

 have enjoyed the opportunity to judge must have perceived how lamentably dif- 

 ficult it is to get farmers to write down what they know. Many of them would 

 sooner sit down and be mesmerized for a tooth-pulling, than to take pen in hand. 

 Not so, as all must liave perceived, with men of other professions — " business 

 men," as they are called. Is it that farmers' minds, like their hands, become stiff 

 and rusty ? If so, let them accustom themselves to read — ay, to read even The 

 Farmers' Library, if they can get nothing better. That will keep their minds 

 in exercise. And let them write notes on what they see, and require their sons, 



(637) 



