156 COTTON CULTURE. 



ical ingenuity, which attracted the attention of Mrs. G., 

 and led her to feel that Whitney could meet any exigency 

 in which invention and skill of this kind were required. 

 Not long after, Mrs. Greene was visited by several gentle- 

 men from upper Georgia, principally officers, who had 

 served with her husband in the war. Of these were Maj ors 

 Brewer, Forsythe, and Pendleton. They conversed 

 largely upon the situation and prospects of agriculture in 

 the opening upper country of the South, and expressed 

 regret that no means had been devised to clear the Upland 

 cotton from the seed, saying, that unless such a point could 

 be obtained, it was vain to raise cotton for the market. 

 Mrs. Greene interrupted their conversation, by saying, 

 " Gentlemen, apply to my young friend, Mr. Whitney ; he 

 can make anything." After showing them, as the results 

 of his ingenuity, the various mechanical contrivances 

 which he had devised and executed, she introduced him to 

 the circle, who at once made known the object to be ac- 

 complished, and the difficulties which were in the way. 

 Whitney, in reply, disclaimed any superiority of mechan- 

 ical genius, and added that he had never in his life seen 

 either cotton or cotton seed. Mrs. Greene then said : " I 

 have accomplished my aim. Mr. Whitney is a very de- 

 serving young man, and to bring him into notice was my 

 object. The interest which our friends now feel for him 

 will, I hope, lead to his getting some employment to ena- 

 ble him to prosecute the study of the law." 



The hint given to Whitney by these gentlemen was not 

 lost upon him. The season for cotton in the seed was 

 passed, but Whitney went to Savannah at once, and after 

 a long search, at last lighted upon a small quantity ; with 

 this he returned to his temporary home and communicated 

 liis intentions to Mr. Miller, who was then a teacher in the 

 family and afterwards married Mrs. Greene. A room was 

 assigned to him to which Mr. Miller and Mrs. Greene 

 were the only persons who were admitted, or who knew 



