AGRICULTURE. 85 
aggregate production of 21,100,000"pounds, occupies the sixth rank 
among the tobacco-growing States of the Union, and that only five 
States, viz: Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and 
Ohio, produce this valuable commercial staple in larger quantities 
than we do. From the figures above quoted it appears that although 
civil war has exerted a depressing influence upon: tobacco culture, 
and although it shows a comparative decline during the last ten 
years, it still forms one of our most important agricultural interests. 
Missouri tobacco enjoys a high. reputation for excellence, and it 
admits of no doubt that our State includes within its borders the 
finest tobacco region in the Union, and that it is susceptible of 
producing a quality of tobacco equal, if not superior, to any other 
grown for home consumption or exportation. The counties of Frank- 
lin, Chariton, Pike, and Callaway, generally carry off the prizes at 
the yearly Fairs held in St. Louis, and the merchants who compose 
the St. Louis Tobacco Association, under whose auspices these annual 
exhibitions are held, are doing much by their intelligent liberality 
to promote tobacco culture in Missouri. 
Hemp—Cannabis Sativa, L. About thirty years ago, hemp 
began to receive extensive attention in Missouri, and soon became 
a leading crop in Saline, Lafayette, and other river counties. west 
of the Center of the State. The maximum crop was attained 
shortly previous to the war, when the annual yield amounted to 
nearly 92,000 bales or 17,000 tons. But the revolution in the 
system of labor resulting from the aboiition of slavery, induced 
many planters to neglect hemp, and ultimately to abandon its cul- 
tivation altogether. It is but little grown at present in any part of 
the State. 
Firax—Linum Usitatissinum, L., an oil and textile plant of 
considerable value and importance, has never received the attention 
its merits. It was formerly, and is probably yet cultivated to some 
extent in Clark and other counties in the Northeast, and in some 
of the interior river counties of the State, but the amount of seed 
raised has never been sufficient to supply the requirements of our 
large oil mills, while the straw has been almost wholly neglected 
and destroyed. The different plants of the natural family to which 
flax belongs, are generally remarkable for the tenacity of their fibre, 
the elegance of their forms, the beauty of their red, white and blue 
flowers, and the emollient and demulcent properties of their oleag- 
inous seeds. All of this family are beautiful plants. 
Tue Castor Bean—Ricinus Communis, L. Castor oil, like 
every other merchantable commodity of limited consumption, is 
subject to frequent fluctuations in the market, which have a ten- 
dency to discourage the producer. The plant is sensitive to frost, 
and its culture as a field crop has been hitherto mainly confined to 
New Madrid, Mississippi, and a few surrounding counties in the 
south-eastern part of the State. Owing to the low prices prevailing 
lately, it is questionable whether the cultivation of this oleiferous 
plant has not received a check for years to come. ‘The oil is now 
used to a limited extent in machinery and manufactures, and the 
discovery of new applications to the mechanic arts may increase the 
demand and stimulate production. When uninjured by insects or 
frost, and with fatr market prices, it is a profitable crop to grow, 
averaging not unfrequently from fifteen to twenty-five bushels per 
acre. 
Cotton—Gossypium. This textile plant was named by Pliny 
from the Arabic, and appears to be indigenous to both hemispheres. 
Columbus found cotton growing wild in Hispaniola, and Herodo- 
tus, the earliest historian who makes a mention of it, describes it 
as a wool-bearing tree in India, ‘‘ which has for its fruit fleeces 
more delicate and beautiful than wool.’’ Cotton belongs to the 
family of the Malvaceae or Mallows, and the only two species cul- 
tivated in the United States are, G. Herbaceum, common or upland 
cotton, and G. Barbadense, the celebrated Sea Island cotton. 
It is an axiom of agronomy that, in every branch of agricultural 
production, the profits must be made to depend on general and 
local conditions of climate and soil. Missouri being situated 
chiefly north of the isothermal cotton belt of the United States, 
our mean summer temperature is too low, and our growing seasons 
except in a few districts bordering on Arkansas, are too short to” 
make cotton culture profitable as a general crop. But if Missouri 
lacks the semi tropical climate essential to the existence of this 
“‘child of the sun,’’ our commercial metropolis, thanks to the 
energy and enterprise of the merchants of St. Louis, is rapidly 
gaining a position among the important cotton marts of the coun- 
try. The receipts of cotton in that city during the year 1871 
amounted to 41,572 bales, against 11,372 bales in 1870. This 
unexpected and most gratifying result is due, in a great measure, 
to the commendable perseverance and liberality of the President 
and Directors of the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Asso- 
ciation. At the Fair of 1871, the greatest agricultural and indus- 
trial exhibition of its kind held as yet in the United States, 
premiums amounting in the aggregate to the large sum of ten 
thousand dollars were offered by the Association for cotton alone, 
and the consequence was a spirited competition from nearly all the 
Southern States. The collective number of entries reached 516 
bales, of which 71 were from Southern Missouri, the latter compris- 
ing some very fine samples of short staple. The highest prize 
for Missouri cotton was awarded to Dunklin County. The 
- principal cotton-growing counties of Missouri, according to the 
Ninth Census, are, Stoddard, with 487 bales; Scott with 164, 
and Pemiscot with 136 bales; while some thirty counties produce 
quantities ranging from one to ninety bales. These facts show 
quite satisfactorily that, while Missouri cannot hope to rank among 
the leading Cotton States of the Union, and while this great king 
of textile plants must, in a measure, ever remain more or less 
exotic to our latitude,—its cultivation can be made sufficiently 
remunerative to augment perceptibly with progressing years. 
Hay AnD PasturEs. Missouri is weil adapted to the growth of 
the grasses, and many different varieties are disseminated over every 
part of the State. Native species, perhaps co-existent with the 
earliest races of aborigines, spring up on the hills, on the plains, 
and in the valleys by the water courses; fulfilling an important 
function in the vegetable economy of nature. During the past ten 
years, the total amount of the hay crop has largely increased, 
although it is doubtful if the average production has advanced. 
The medial estimate does not, in all likelihood, exceed one ton 
per acre; whilst with proper care, much larger crops could be 
obtained. Timothy—/PA/eum pratense, is the best known, most 
highly esteemed, and most extensively cultivated among our forage 
grasses ; it makes a somewhat coarse, but valuable and nutritious 
