74 
AGEIOULTUEAL STATISTICS. 
parts of the cotton plants draw from the soil, and which 
must be present in the soil to render it capable of pro- 
ducing this crop. 
Now, since the seeds weigh nearly four times as much 
as the cotton fibre in each plant, it is evident that, as they 
are very rich in saline matters, phosphates of magnesia 
and lime, and in the alkalies, potash and soda, they form 
one of the most valuable fertilizers to return to the soil. 
If the seed be sold and sent away for the manufacture of 
oil, the oil-cake, still containing all the saline matters, may 
be returned as a manure for cotton fields, and it will be 
found to be one of the best fertilizers, not only for that 
crop, but also for com, which requires a large supply of 
the phosphates and alkalies. 
It does not appear by these analyses that sea island or 
long-staple cotton plants appropriate any more chlorine 
or chloride of sodium than the short-staple varieties ; and 
it seems probable that atmospheric influences on the humid 
seaboard favor the growth of the long-staple cottons, and 
that the saline matters in the soil do not produce the dif- 
ference by their absorption into the plants. 
SECT. VIII.— AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 
We present the following table as a fair average for 
twenty years, including 1840 and 1860, of the productions 
of the cotton States. As to the land, improved and unim- 
proved, we are unable, at this date, to' speak with precision, 
but we believe the statement in the table is not far from 
correct : 
