COTTON CULTURE. 167 



The large capitalist and the joint stock company who 

 go into the cotton business precisely as they would into an 

 oil speculation, or a silver mine, will, of course, make ev- 

 ery other consideration bend to that of profit. The ques- 

 tion with them will be, where and how to produce cotton 

 in such a way that a hundred thousand dollars invested 

 in the business will yield from twenty-five to fifty thousand 

 dollars annual returns. The salubrity of a country, the 

 agreeableness of the inhabitants as neighbors, the distance 

 from schools, churches, and villages, are matters of minor 

 importance with those who are seeking principally the al- 

 mighty dollar. The two grand requisites which the cap- 

 italist asks for in order to make a profitable investment, 

 are a fertile soil, and easy and cheap access. Of course he 

 must feel himself, to a great extent, secure from inunda- 

 tion and, if possible, from the ravages of insects. He 

 will hardly look at any other lands than rich alluvions, of 

 which there is a great abundance throughout the cotton 

 belt. He will find the requisite degree of fertility in any 

 of the superior cotton lands which are capable of produc- 

 ing a bale or more per acre, without manure and without 

 rotation. These on the tinted map, which faces Part II., 

 Chapter L, are colored red. By examining that map, it 

 will be seen that four of the Gulf States furnish a large 

 body of land of this description, and his choice will nat- 

 urally be made of one of these four States, Alabama, Missis- 

 sippi, Louisiana, including the southeastern corner of Ar- 

 kansas, and Texas. The superior lands of South Carolina 

 and Georgia are much more limited in extent, held at 

 higher figures, and not so much in market. This is true 

 to quite an extent of that admirable body of black land 

 in Alabama which lies between the two main rivers of that 

 State, the Alabama and the Tombigbee, and which is fully 

 described in the chapter connected with the cotton map. 

 As regards health, these cotton fields of Middle Alabama 

 are more desirable than any other rich lands in the South, 



