no 



Remarks on the Cultivation of Cotton. 



[July 



out between the bars of the cage — then picked or motted by women- 

 then ginned, lastly, picked again to remove stained portions, broken 

 seeds, &c, and is then finally packed for the market." " The leaves 

 and pods of long staple cotton are smaller than those of the short; the 

 pod of the former opens into three, that of the latter into five." This 

 s far from constant, as the pods of all my short staple cottons have 

 but four segments. 



" The cultivation of short stapled cotton is less expensive and les3 

 precarious ; the winds are not so high in the interior, the valves of the 

 pods do not open so much in ripening, and less is lost by the cotton 

 falling out spontaneously. The short staple pods are allowed to hang 

 on the plants till they are white with wool, so that they may be reaped 

 at one or two gatherings, instead of ten or twelve employed in the 

 Sea Islands, and therefore half the cost of labour." 



* It may be remarked, however, that short stapled wool is of better 

 quality, when grown near the sea, than at a distance, and it thrives 

 most luxuriantly in alluvial soils a little impregnated with salt. In 

 Louisiana, between the Arakansa and Red river, the soils are deeply 

 tinged with red, and well seasoned with salt, and give the most abund- 

 ant crops of the best quality cotton. There the English acre produces 

 about 1000 lbs. seed-cotton, or 250 ginned, while in the hill country, 

 from the Mississippi to the Carolinas, not more than 500 lbs. of seed- 

 cotton can be obtained." 



" The average produce for both long and short staples is about 

 500 lbs. of seed-cotton, or 125 ginned, per acre. Some fields produce 

 double that quantity, but they are exceptions which can never serve aa 

 guides to just conclusions, respecting either the wealth or productive- 

 ness of the country — the besetting sin of agricultural statements is 

 their exaggerations." 



This statement falls more within the bounds of probability than the 

 very exaggerated one of Captain Basil Hall, who informs us that from 

 12 to 1600 lbs. is the average produce per acre of ground throughout 

 the United States. 



In the Indian peninsula, the average produce, in eleven districts, the 

 two principal cotton ones not included, is, for all kinds of cotton, 

 430 lbs. of seed-cotton per acre. This result is not a great falling off 

 from Mr. Spalding's estimate, when we consider the greater degree of 

 care bestowed on the culture, and the more productive kinds in cultiva- 

 tion; and holds out a strong inducement to us to persevere in the at- 

 tempts we are making to cope With the Americans, in working this 

 rich mine ; the more so, now that that favoured country has supplied 

 us with her own weapons with which to engage in the honourable 

 rivalry, of contending who shall most contribute to the comforts and 



