GOSSYPIUM. 



OR COTTON. 



Alabama, from 4 of an acre gathered 1,060 Ibs., 

 and expected 200 Ibs. more. Mr. Aldridge, 

 who first cultivated tht* cotton, it is said raised 

 3,000 Ibs. per acre this year, and refused 

 $30,000 for his crop of 30 acres. Dr. J. H. 

 Taylor, from 22,000 Ibs. of seed cotton, ginned 

 13 bales of 600 Ibs. average, or 35 Ibs. of clean 

 to 100 of seed cotton. Jesse P. Taylor, well 

 known here, weighed 425 Ibs. of Petit-Gulf and 

 the same of okra in the seed, and ginned each; 

 the result was 124 Ibs. of ginned Petit-Gulf, or 

 29 Ibs. to the 100, and of okra 156 Ibs., or 36J 

 to each 100 Ibs. of seed cotton. The staple is 

 decidedly finer." 



The price of the seed here offered for sale is 

 $100 per bushel, $20 per gallon, and $5 per 

 quart; which are stated to be the Alabama 



- in Cotton as prepared for the Manufac- 

 turer. The cotton manufacturers in England 

 having met with certain defects in the sea-i>Iaud 

 or lon.r-staple cotton, which they thought might 

 lied by proper attention in the primary 

 manipulation, have recently addressed a com- 

 miniic 'iiou on the subject to Messrs. Browns 

 aii'l Welsman, extensive cotton importers in 

 Liverpool, to be forwarded by them to the 

 planters in the United States. From this we 

 extract portions which indicate the defects 

 complained of, as well as the qualities most 

 by the manufacturer, to all which it 

 may l> the interest of the producers to give 

 attention, especially since the competition 

 which has sprung up in other parts of the 

 wor M. The Manchester manufacturers say, 



"We have often, in conversation with you, 



expressed our regret that the growers of fine 



sea islands, in so many instances, injured their 



cotton l>y stringing and matting it in the getting 



up; and in hope of drawing their attention to 



vt through the medium of your house, 



to trouble you. with the following ob- 



onSi 



"Fine cotton yarn is esteemed in proportion 

 as the thread is uniform in substance, free 

 from lumps, and strong. The latter has been 

 decidedly improved by the introduction of the 

 select seed cotton ; but the levelness of the 

 thread has been impaired rather than other- 

 id this arises from the multitude of 

 small white specks, or nitters, with which the 

 staple of the finer and softer kinds of sea- 

 vsiands, and the select cotton seed particularly 

 abounds. 



"In examining these nitters through a mi- 

 croscope, we find them in general composed 

 of kinds of fibres, presenting an appearance 

 much resembling the misletoe plant in this 

 country, and for some time we feared they 

 were excrescences peculiar to the fine fibre, 

 and inseparable from it; but the two recent 

 samples of beautifully fine select seed cotton, 

 sent us by you, are so free from this defect, 

 that \ve have now a strong impression they are 

 chiefly produced by an uverhnt'tHins; in the get- 

 ting up; at least we can multiply such nitters 

 here, by mismanagement in the cleaning pro- 

 cess ; and we have no doubt the same effect is 

 produced in America. We would, therefore, 

 strongly urge the planter's attention to this 

 point; for in all cotton goods, such as giuze, 



muslins, and laces, it takes immensely frorr 

 their value and beauty, and limits the use of 

 the finer yarns, which are chiefly used for 

 these articles. As an instance of this, we may 

 state, that one of our customers informs us he 

 frequently pays from 9^/. to L<. per yard, upon 

 his finest muslins, for picking out the nitters 

 one by one with a needle, after the goods are 

 woven an expense which is equal to from 

 10s. to 30s. upon each pound weight of muslin. 

 Our experience has proved that the softer and 

 more silky the staple, the more easily it is nit- 

 tered ; and, as the spinners possess no means 

 by which nitters can be removed from the cot- 

 ton when once formed, the only means of re- 

 medying the evil is to priTi'nt titeir formation. 



"To this point, therefore, the attention of the 

 grower should be strongly directed. Jill unne- 

 cessary h,i idling, ii'hif>f.n^, tutting, or stinking of 

 the cotton ought to be avoided. It should be as 

 well cleaned as possible, but yet free fiom 

 stringine$s, and the fibres be left in the loose 

 and disentangled state they appear when just 

 separated from the seed. If this were attended 

 to, it would materially improve the appearance 

 of fine yarn, and remove the never-ceasing 

 complaints of the fine muslin manufacturers, 

 and, \ve are perMia.!>"l. t--n.l to increase the 

 consumption of fine cotton . 



The committee to whom this letter was re- 

 ferred reported: '-That the matter to which 

 their notice had been directed is one of deep 

 importance to the grower of that valuable 

 staple production. If. in consequence of his 

 neglect or want of skill, a pound of mus- 

 lin, which would otherwise command its full 

 price, is depreciated from 10 to 30 shillings, 

 duty and interest obviously impel him to the 

 providing of a remedy at once prompt and 

 efficient. 



" Through the politeness of Messrs. Browns 

 and Welsman, three samples of cotton, being 

 specimens forwarded from Manchester, were 

 received from Messrs. Gourd in, Matthiessen 

 & Co. These samples' are endorsed as fol- 

 lows : 'No. 1, illy got up and nittered;' 'No. 

 2, illy got up and partially open;' 'No. 3, well 

 got up.' In examining the 'nitters' in No. 1, 

 through a microscope that magnified one thou- 

 sand times, they were discovered to be, in ge- 

 neral, of a globular form, and to consist of fila- 

 ments of cotton, with interstices of various dia- 

 meters, readily reducible in size by pulling the 

 long threads attached to the mass. This, how- 

 ever, could not always be done, as the knot of 

 fibres constituting the nitter was in many in- 

 stances too strongly formed. The committee 

 next proceeded to the examination of samples 

 of seed cotton. In about a pound, personally 

 gathered by one of them, from fully matured 

 pods, produced from healthy plants, no nit*ers 

 were observed. In the same quantity picked 

 from diseased stalks, which bore defective fruit, 

 several were seen. These were subjected tc 

 the test of the microscope, and precisely the 

 appearance that characterized those taken from 

 the ginned cotton in No. 1 was exhibited. Re- 

 peated inspections since have produced^ no 

 marked variation in the general results. The 

 committee, therefore, with confidence deduce 

 the inference, that preparation, except perhaps 



5b9 



