30 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 1 



highly probable. The filaments of unripe cot- 

 ton, are transparent cylindrical tubes. When 

 ripe, even before the capsule bursts, tiie tubes col- 

 lapse in the middle, forming semi-iubes on each 

 side, which give to the fibre, says Mr. Baines, in 

 iiis able treatise on the cotton manulaclure Jof 

 Great Britain, when viewed in certain lights, the 

 appearance ol" a flat ribbon, with a hem or border 

 at each edge.* Unripe coltonf is finer than that 

 which has attained its full age, but is deficient in 

 the other essential attributes of a perfect staple, 

 strength and length. Some of the filaments, in- 

 deed, are not the eighth of an inch long, and un- 

 til several days after the opening of the capsule, 

 are found doubled or curled, full of watery and 

 oleagenous particles; the cotton is wet to the touch 

 and IS of a brown hue. In this slate, unless dried 

 in the sun, it becomes more or less mouldy; the 

 superfluous oil from the seed, which ought to have 

 escaped, is diffused through the mass; the color 

 soon changes; heat is generated; and the staple, 

 originally strong, is quickly perceived to be mate- 

 rially aftected. Hence, it is not surprising, that 

 in immature cotton, distinguished, as it is known 

 to be, for its delicacy of texture, variableness in 

 length, and want of pliability, when sub|ected to 

 the mildest mode of treatment to free it it-om ex- 

 traneous matter, the threads should cross and mix 

 with each other; thus forming artificial nitters. 

 Within a lew years, the action of the sun, with a 

 view to the desiccation of the wool, has been sedu- 

 lously avoided by, perhaps, a majority of our 

 planters. The daily gatherings are spread in 

 houses, or under scafibids erected for the purpose, 

 and thus the drying process, if a i'cw exposures in 

 that way is worthy of this appellation, is conduct- 

 ed. That the practice is radically wrong, for the 

 reasons already assigned, the committee firmly 

 believe. Damp cotton, also, can neither be ginned 

 nor cleaned but with difficulty: this of itself is a 

 serious objeciion, to which may be added the in- 

 dubitable fact that, from its too unctuous proper- 

 ties, the floating dust of the atmosphere tends to 

 Its discoloration. 



From these observations, it will appear, that 

 nitters are either natural or artificial, and that both 

 are primarily to be traced to a defective stai)Ie, 

 arising from diseased plants; that the artificial 

 nitter may be generated even by the common 



* " The twisted and corlc-screw form of the fila- 

 ment of cotton, distinguishes it from all other vegeta- 

 ble fibres, and is characteristic of the fully ripe and 

 mature pod. This form and character the fibres re- 

 tain ever after, and, in that respect, undergo no change 

 through the operation of spinning, weaving, bleach- 

 ing, printing, and dyeing, nor in all the subsequent 

 domestic operations of washing, &c. &,c., till the stuff 

 is worn to rags, and then even the violent process of 

 reducing those rags to pulp for the purpose of making 

 paper, effects no change in the structure of these 

 fibres." — From the difference between the elementary 

 fibres of cotton and flax, the latter being transparent 

 tubes, cylindrical, and articulated or joined like a 

 cane, it has been incontestibly proved, that the mum- 

 my cloth of Egypt was linen. 



"f By immature or unripe cotton, is meant cotton, 

 that, from unfavorable seasons, 8tc. &,c.. is made to 

 open prematurely^ The pod, about half the size of 

 the full grown boll, becomes black, and, as soon as it 

 lias been hardened by the atmosphere, bursts and dis- 

 closes the imperfection of its fruit. 



method of preparation, unless the cotton be judi- 

 ciously dried; and that the means to which the 

 manuliicturer is obliged to resort, are evidently 

 calculated to bring about the same results. 



Of these samples, Nos. 1 and 2, which are "illy 

 got up," are lumpy and stringy, of a deep yellow 

 tinge, and weak and uneven in fibre. The cot- 

 tons, from which these are taken, it is likely, were 

 never dried: it is still more probable, that th«y were 

 the product of a scanty harvest. No. 3 is of natural, 

 color, open, and, in texture, strong and long. It 

 is necessary here to remark, that the stringy ap- 

 pearance of cotton is not always, or even mainly, 

 the fault of the planter. It arises principally from 

 the same cause to which the nitter is referable; the 

 iraperfectness of the staple, or the immaturity of 

 the fruit. This was especially true the last year. 



To two considerations, pertinent to the matter 

 under review, it may be proper to advert. Ir> 

 every field, no matter under what sinister circum- 

 stances the crop has grown, there are small sec- 

 tions in which the plants come to perfection and 

 bear healthy fruit. From these, the cotton that 

 is picked is marked perhaps by every characteris- 

 tic of the best staple, yet, almost from necessity, 

 it is thrown into ihe general bulk. Again, in har- 

 vest season, the laborer cannot stop to examine, if 

 he had the ability to know, the variant qualities of 

 the cotton he is engaged in gathering, but pro- 

 miscuously the bad, the fair and the good, are 

 blended. This is unavoidable. Subsequently the 

 stained is separated li'om the white, but the weak 

 and strong continue together; a part only of the 

 most deficient of the former, being afterwards de- 

 tached by the whipper. 



On the immediate topic of inquiry, the commit- 

 tee ask leave to conclude with the following sug- 

 gestions: 



1. The necessity of dying cotton in the sun, for 

 three or four hours, as its dampness may seem to 

 indicate. 



2. Select seed for planting, not with a view to 

 superiority of staple, but the production of sound 

 cotton. For that purpose, choose from healthy 

 stalks those pods that are fully blown. 



3. The first pickings should be set apart, and 

 not mixed with the general crop. The fibre is 

 weak and short. The same course ought to be 

 pursued with cottons gathered after a storm or 

 much rain. 



4. Cotton ought to be thoroughly cleansed be- 

 fore it is carried to the gin. If it be well done, 

 the after-labor will be trifling, and the fault of 

 over-handling avoided. Too much pressure on 

 the roller gives to the cotton a matted appearance; 

 if the pressure is unequal, it will be stringy. 



Before closing their report, the committee would 

 offer a few reflections, not irrelevant, they trust, 

 to the occasion. For many years the sea-island 

 crop has scarcely repaid the toil and perseverance 

 incurred in its production. From highl)'- unpro- 

 pitious seasons, the ravages of worms, and the 

 cultivation of a plant, peculiarly delicate and un- 

 fruitful, it may in verity be said, that it is annually 

 a subject of congratulation with the planter, if his 

 necessary expenditures do not exceed his profits. 

 Except 1826, when the exportation was about six 

 millions of pounds, from 1833 to 1835 inclusive, 

 the production was less, by from one to seven mil- 

 lions, than at any former ppriod sinee 1821.* 



