1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



67 



and under skil/lil management, consisting of 500 

 acres of open land, cost, - ig 10.000 



His effective force are 50 hands — cost, 30,000 



And, 15 mules, with plough-geanng, &c. 



cost, - - - . 1,500 



His gin-house and machinery, cost, - 500 



Thus, with a capital invested of - $42,000 

 B commences his cotton crop. The whole 500 

 acres being well cultivated, shall yield him the 

 ma.ximum average of 1000 pounds raw cotton 

 per acre, making, gross, 500,000 pounds cotton as 

 the saved crop. Now, it is a minimum calcula- 

 tion to allow only three-lburths loss by ginning, 

 &c. To be fair, we however, will now allow ii. 

 500,000 pounds raw cotton will, therefore, give 

 125,000 pounds of clean cotton, fit for market. 

 B sells, as his crop, 125,000 pounds cotton at ten 



cents, - - - 012,500 



Deduct expense o( negroes, cost of bags, 



&c., ----- 2.500 



Ijeavcs him about 24 per cent, gain on 



invested capital, or - - Jg 10,000 



[s this not a fair calculation ? and does it not 

 show a very profitable investment? Let us pro- 

 ceed, however, to our second instance; viz. cotton 

 and sugar combined. 



Second. 



D. has an estate like B., both in land, and ef- 

 fective laborers. It is worth the same, !g40,000 

 D having an intention to make sugar, 

 has outlaid in mules, and e.xtra re- 

 quisite machinery, - - 5,000 



Thus, with an invested capital of ^45,000 



D. begins planting : he plants 400 acres cotton, 

 and the remaining 100 acres of his land, in sugar 

 cane, being the largest proportion of cane, his 

 knowledge of the climate, and the efficiency ofhis 

 laborers can permit him to make : he has the same 

 seasons as B, and his cotton yields him the same, 

 per acre, viz. 1000 pounds. The season for cane 

 is an average one ; and there being more risk in 

 climate for its success, than for cotton, we will not 

 take the average yield in Louisiana tor the cane, 

 (though strictly it would be but just,) but assume 

 that D has to mattress his cane, to save it from 

 frost. On grinding it, it will still yield liim 1000 

 gallons of juice per acre, which is equal, under all 

 circumstances, to 500 pounds of sugar. (In Loui- 

 siana, 100 pounds of sugar, per acre, is an ave- 

 rage yield ; in the West Indies from 3000 to 6000 

 pounds : admitting, however, every uncertainty 

 of the climate, and the hurry of manufacture, D's 

 crop will turn him out as follows : viz. 



400,000 pounds raw cotton equal to 



100,000, clean, at 10 cents, - $10 000 



100 acres cane at 500 pounds per acre ; 



50,000 pounds sugar at 10 cents, - 5,000 



50,000 pounds of sugar will drain at 



least 4000 gallons molasses,- - 1,200 



And the "scuu)mings and refuse" of the I 



mill will, with washings of sugar 

 and molasses cisterns, return by dis- 

 tillation, a barrel of rum for every | 



hogshead of sugar ; i. e., 1,800 



gallons spirit for 50 hogsheads 



1,350 



Total proceeds of crop - - . ^17,500 



Deduct same average expense as before 

 for negroes, &c., 2,500, and add 

 thereto, for extra expenses, attend- 

 ing the manufacture of sugar, 

 $500 - - - 3000 



Leaves D. nearly 33 per cent, gain, or $(14,550 



The above I hold to be a very moderate esti- 

 mate on the sugar cane, and it evinces my desire 

 to give the cotton every allowable advantage in 

 the estimate by my giving 1000 pounds per acre 

 of that staple, and only 500 pounds of sugar. I 

 do not myself f|uestion the practicability of the 

 above combination, and that it is profitable, is 

 there shown in the accuracy of figures. That it 

 has not yet been attempted here, has been owing, 

 originally, to the limited capitals of our first set- 

 tlers, the want of the requisite practical knowledge 

 and efficient machinery^ and, lastly, to the mono-' 

 mania which the rise of cotton has created. The 

 fiiilure, likewise, heretofore, when sugar mania 

 ran as wild as cotton bigotry does now, of those 

 experimentalists, who imprudently ventured their 

 all on sugar, has caused the very mention of 

 the staple to be considered synonymous with 

 " loss;" and enough to rank hs advocate as ano- 

 ther of the " visionary theorists." This does not 

 present my impartial consideration of the matter; 

 and should not deter a right view of the subject, 

 merely because we have only, as yet, the errors 

 and failures ofotbers to attract our attention. That 

 because an entire crop of cane is here, at all times, 

 hazardous, and most often ruinous, does it ne- 

 cessarily follow that the plant, sui generis, is impo- 

 verishing, and, with all its luxuriance, unprofita- 

 ble? The season for manufacture may not admit 

 of the saving of 500 acres of cane; but it assu- 

 redly will admit of 100 acres being profitably 

 saved, with 50 effective hunds, and requisite ma- 

 chinery; and that too, without any serious sacri- 

 fice of cotton, or great loss of labor. It is erro- 

 neous, as is here generally believed, that the ma- 

 nufiicture i.f a sugar crop will essentially interfere 

 with, and diminish the cotton crop. In the pro- 

 portions of one-fifth cane, there can be no such 

 interference — admitting that the earliness and se- 

 verity of frost, is such as to compel the immediate 

 service of all your laborers to the security of the 

 cane. Your50 hands will mattress it, (100 acres,) 

 in three to five days — where it may lie for a 

 month. Half your force, wUh tried machinery, 

 will then manufacture it in a fortnight, without 

 any extra labor; and your other remaming half 

 of laborers will certainly, at that season, save all 

 the cotton that is liable to fall. It is not, however, 

 one year in ten, that the season would compel this 

 entire disposition of your laborers; and certainly 

 your chance of revenue from two crops, not liable 

 to the same disasters, (for none can deny that the 

 cotton plant has nearly as many risks to run before 

 its fruit is saved, as the cane,) is more than equi- 

 valent to a moderate loss, by a heavy blow of cot- 

 ton. No one should attempt the cane cultivation 

 as a source of revenue, with a less force than 50 

 efTeclive hands ; and 1 attribute the heretofore 

 failures of su;jar here, in a great measure, to over- 



