PROCEEDINGS OP THE FARMERS' CLUB. 829 



from the fact that it readily sold in Philadelphia, in 1787, for 

 two shillings sterling per ponnd. 



The progress made by individual enterprise soon attracted the 

 attention of Congress, who, in their first reform tariff bill, laid a 

 duty of three cents per pound on that brought from other coun- 

 tries ; thus virtually acknowledging, and wisely too, the one great 

 natural law of protection. 



Whether it be the embryo of a great nation, a commercial 

 enterprise, or the humble plant that springs from the earth, each 

 and all must have protection in their infancy, or they perish. 



If we may be allowed to digress from this subject we would 

 say that it is our humble opinion that if the cultivation of silk 

 had received the same encouragement and protection that has 

 been extended to cotton, we should now have been as indepen- 

 dent of China for silk as we are for their Nankin cotton. The 

 invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney gave a new impetus 

 to the cultivation of cotton, for by this simple machine three 

 men, with the requisite power for propelling it, could prepare as 

 much cotton for market as fifteen hundred men could in the ordi- 

 nary w^ay. 



The increase in the production of cotton is shown in the fol- 

 lowing table : 



In 1800, about 35,000,000 pounds. 



In 1810, about 85,000,000 



In 1820, about 160,000,000 



In 1830, about 350,000,000 



In 1840, about 790,479,257 



In 1850, about ...900,000,000 



or two and a half millions of bales. 



What the exact product of the next decade has been we have 

 not yet learned ; but we see by the press that there was shipped 

 from New Orleans, on one day, the 21st day of January, 110,500 

 bales. 



Although the value of the cotton crop is not as much as that 

 of some other crops, yet, should it fail in this country, the effect 

 would be severely felt, not only by us but by most of the Euro- 

 pean countries ; for we produce two-thirds of the entire cotton 

 crop of the world, so far as exports show. 



The question now presented to us is how can we guard against 

 the embarrassing circumstances in which a failure would place 

 us ; can its cultivation be extended further north, or shall we 



