350 
PROPOSED SAFETY LAMP.-THE COTTON CROP. 
PROPOSED SAFETY LAMP. 
Will you permit me the use of your columns, 
whilst I suggest to some of your manufacturers the 
policy of manufacturing a lamp suitable to the 
wants of a cotton planter. I have never seen one, 
though probably there may be such now in exist¬ 
ence. Any one can satisfy himself of the perfect 
protection from fire, whilst closed, of a lamp made 
of wire with fine meshes. I believe it was Sir H. 
Davy who invented the safety lamp for fire damp 
of coal mines, having first proved to his own mind 
that flame could not ignite without the meshes of a 
wire. I have tried the same experiment with cot¬ 
ton, and have no fear of throwing a lantern well 
secured into a pile of cotton with a lighted candle 
contained therein. 
I would advise the lamp to be made very strong, 
and the bottom heavy, so as not to be easily upset; 
the wire should be brass or copper, or of some 
mixed metal that will not rust, and the door be 
fastened by some strong mode. I presume a lan¬ 
tern about 6 inches square and 10 high could be 
made from $1 to $2, thus costing no more than the 
glass ones; and b)^ being made strong, would be 
more safe, less liable to be broken, and would last 
much longer. M. W. P. 
Edwards' Depot, Miss., October , 1846. 
THE COTTON CROP. 
From the tenor of our correspondence, and in¬ 
formation obtained from merchants here, who are in 
daily intercourse with eyery section of the cotton¬ 
growing region, we judge many planters are likely 
to fall into, if numbers do not already labor under 
error, with regard to the probable extent of the in¬ 
coming crop ; and as ignorance on the subject will 
cause disappointment and dissatisfaction with any 
sale the merchant may be able to effect, and as it is 
important that those who produce should be cor¬ 
rectly informed, we present you with such statistics 
and estimates, as will, in our judgment, lead to a 
more correct opinion than many now entertain. 
We will not enter into any reasoning, or submit 
any detailed evidence to substantiate our estimates. 
The details of our estimate will doubtless not accord 
with the opinion of some, but the aggregate will, 
we are confident, approximate to the true result. 
The following comparative table kept by the 
New Orleans Price Current, “exhibits the receipts of 
cotton at all the ports during the past season, end¬ 
ing 31st of August. We give this for the purpose 
of showing the extent of the late and preceding 
crop, and the relative increase and decrease at the 
different ports. 
Ports. 
Receipts in 
1845 and ’46. 
Receipts in 
1844 and ’45. 
Increase- 
Decrease. 
New Orleans,... 
Mobile. 
1,041,393 
421,966 
189,076 
251,405 
139,755 
15,700 
9,617 
21,732 
954,285 
517,196 S 
305,016 I 
426,361 
187,769 ! 
25,200 1 
12,416 | 
87,108 
95.230 
115'940 
174,956 
48,004 
Sava nnah,. 
Charleston,. 
Florida,. 
Virginia,. 
North Carolina,. 
Other Ports,. 
bales. 
| 12,299 
2,090,644 
2,428 243 
2,090,644 
446,429 
Decrease, 
337,599 
It will be perceived the increase at this port waS 
87,000 bales, or about one-twelfth of a full crop, 
and the decrease at Mobile, Savannah, Charleston! 
Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina, was 446,429 
bales, or about five-sixteenths of a full crop. 
From reliable sources of information, we estimate 
a full average product. 
Louisiana to be - - 365,000 bales. 
Mississippi, .... 470,000 “ 
Tennessee, ... 65,000 “ 
North Alabama, - - - 120,000 “ 
Arkansas, - 20,000 *• 
Total, 1,040,000 bales, 
which is about the amount received at this port 
during a good crop year. 
W e estimate then, in view of the lateness of the 
crop, destruction by worms and caterpillars, and the 
above and other data, the production of the United 
States, in round numbers, as follows:— 
Production of Louisiana. 200,000 bales, £ Crop 
“ “ Mississippi. 340,000 “ f “ 
“ “ Tennessee. 50,000 “ f « 
“ “ North Alabama. 90,000 u £ u 
“ “ Arkansas. 12,000 “ f * 
Receipts of New Orleans. 692,000 bale*. 
“ “ Mobile. 380,000 “ 
“ “ Savannah. 190,000 “ 
u 11 Charleston.290,000 “ 
“ « Florida. 150,000 « 
u “ Va. and N. Carolina. 20,000 “ 
“ “ Texas. 20,000 ‘ 
Total of United States, 2,742,000 ba.es. 
The supply of cotton for 1846 and ’47 i¥ Ay bfe 
fairly stated thus :— 
Stock on hand. 700,000 bales. 
Crop of the United States. 1,742,000 “ 
“ Egypt, Brazil, India, &c. 450,000 “ 
Total supply, 2,892,000 “ 
The consumption in Great Britain for six months 
in 1845, when prices were very low, was 830,266 
bales. For the same period in 1846, when prices 
were much higher than in 1845, the consumption 
was 775,509 bales, showing a reduction in con¬ 
sumption of 54,757 bales, as the result between 
periods of high and low prices. The consumption 
of the United States during the past year was 
422,597 bales. 
We may then fairly state the consumption for 
1846 and ’47, thus :— 
Great Britain. 1,550,000 bales. 
France, Spain, Continent of Europe, and | g Q0 qqq m 
North and South America, and West Indies 500,000 u 
Total Consumption, 2,850,000 bales. 
Supply as above, 2,892,000 “ 
Excess of supply, 42,000 bales. 
Our opinion regarding prices is, that they cannot 
be forced so high as many anticipate, and as the 
nature of the case would seem to warrant, from one 
cause alone, not enumerating others, and that is— 
cotton is shipped, as a general thing, too much en¬ 
cumbered with bills and cash advances, which 
tends to force it on the market, and sold at any 
price buyers may choose to offer, by which means 
the planter loses his legitimate control. 
We quote cotton to day as follows, and remark 
that the demand is brisk, and factors ready sellers. 
