98 



more than double that of the short staple. Great improve- 

 ments have been made in the latter by assiduous and careful 

 cultivators, by the selection of seed ; and its culture on fair 

 lands not exhausted by a ruinous system of tillage, is believed 

 to be far more profitable than the culture of Sea Island, owing 

 to its superior yield and the facility with which i* may be 

 ginned and prepared for market. D. H. 



SECTION III. COTTON SEED. 



MR. EDITOR : I am fully aware that many of my agricul- 

 tural brethren will think I am actuated by sordid motives, 

 while others will think I am fostering what is truly humbug- 

 gery, sales of cotton seed or anything else at exorbitant rates. 

 Should we all be so fearful of censure, as to advance nothing 

 but what is received as known by the vast body of agricul- 

 turists, we would always travel in a circle. I will, therefore, 

 venture to give my opinions on the subject of cotton seed. 



To be able to produce for sale two millions of bales, we 

 must cultivate full 2,500,000 acres to cotton. Suppose we 

 could, by dint of improved seed, increase the per acre yield, 

 or the per hundred turn-out of lint only a few cents per acre, 

 the gain would be immense. But suppose we could increase 

 every one-hundred acre planter's yield 100 Ibs. of cotton per 

 acre, we would add to his income a clear gain of $100 to $200. 

 Is this possible ? I answer, afte rtrying to improve seed for 

 about fifteen years, that I believe we can. 



Improved cotton seed attracted public attention in this 

 country, near on to thirty years ago ; and I well bear in mind 

 when Hollingshed cotton seed sold in Carolina. They were 

 nothing else but Mexican seeds ; and nearly all the improved 



