COTTOX CULTURE. 



stream made a little bay or gulf. From this circumstance 

 the seed was universally known as " Petit Gulf," or Gulf 

 Seed, and under that name has been so extensively used 

 in all parts of the South, except the Sea Islands, that it 

 may be regarded as the seed from which the " American 

 Upland" of commerce has been produced. Beginning 

 with the year 1820, and from that time forward, various 

 planters in different parts of the cotton growing States 

 have devoted themselves to the development and sale of 

 improved varieties of cotton seed, and certain styles of 

 cotton have for two, three, or four years, enjoyed a great, 

 though ephemeral popularity, and then, as suddenly, been 

 pushed aside for a new reigning favorite. 



The improvement of cotton seed as a business, and the 

 sale of the improved varieties, has enabled quite a number 

 of prominent and enterprising planters throughout the 

 South to realize handsome fortunes. It is probable that, 

 as a manure, cotton seed is seldom worth more than twen- 

 ty-five cents a bushel, or, at least, twenty-five cents judic- 

 iously expended in making good compost or barn-yard 

 manure will produce as much fertilizing power as can be 

 obtained from a bushel of cotton seed. But a good 

 quality of Petit Gulf, or Mexican, commands at least fifty 

 cents, and the choice varieties, such as the " Sugar Loaf," 

 the " Brown," the " Hundred Seed," and many others that 

 could be named, such as the "Banana," the " Multibolus," 

 the "Prolific," under ordinary circumstances, command 

 from one to three dollars per bushel. A bushel of cotton 

 seed weighs from twenty-five to thirty pounds. An acre 

 produces, of the cotton wool, say four hundred pounds, 

 and of the seed fourteen hundred pounds. Thus, for ma- 

 nure, the product of an acre in cotton seed is worth eleven 

 dollars. 



It is practicable for every cotton grower by selec- 

 tion, improvement, and judicious cultivation, to pro- 

 duce an improved seed. Now, how is this to be done ? 

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