COTTOX CULTURE. 75 



Carolina, there is reason to suppose that a variety of black 

 seed cotton might grow well on the heavy black lands of 

 Southern Louisiana. 



They have always been considered as sugar soils only, 

 but Mr. Preston planted a considerable breadth of land 

 near Donaldsonville with " Main " cotton seed, a variety 

 finer than any green seed, but not equal to the genuine 

 Sea Island. He found that in proportion as he receded 

 from the river bank the plant flourished. The plants near 

 the front were feeble, but in the rows that extended back 

 nearly to the timber, a distance of from two to three 

 miles, they grew better and better as the distance from 

 the front increased. 



The difference may be owing to greater freshness or 

 more moisture in the laud. If the sugar interests of 

 Louisiana decline, as the prospect now is, it may prove a 

 matter of great importance to know that black seed cot- 

 ton will grow well on those strong lands. Some experi- 

 ments are being made this year, (1867,) on these and sim- 

 ilar soils in Texas with black seed cotton from Egypt, with 

 what result remains as yet to be seen. 



North of the Arkansas River, there is a territory re- 

 sembling in its general features the cotton fields of Louis- 

 iana. It is drained by the White, the Saint Francis, and 

 the Big Black, and produces several thousand bales of cot- 

 ton, but is not likely to become remarkable for its growth 

 of this staple. 



MISSISSIPPI. 



Coming now to that half of the cotton belt which lies 

 east of the Mississippi River, we have the great cotton pro- 

 ducing State, which takes its name from the river that 

 constitutes its western boundary. And here, immediately 

 east of the river, and north of Vicksburg, we find a terri- 

 tory whose general shape is that of an ellipse, Vicksburg 

 being at the lower extremity, and Memphis at the upper, 



