322 
THE COTTON CROP. 
a good mowing machine for their use another 
season, there being two on the ground better 
than any before used. There was a flax-break¬ 
ing machine, recently invented, which breaks up 
the straw, when freed from the seed, and cleans 
out and separates quite perfectly, the shives, or 
woody portion from the long fibres. This, taken 
in connexion with the late discovery for altering 
the texture from the unyielding wiry touch to 
a soft, cottony mass, is undoubtedly destined, 
soon to bring the comparatively neglected in¬ 
terest of flax culture to its former elevated posi¬ 
tion among American products. 
The Fruits , Vegetables , Flowers , Grain , Honey , 
and Dairy Products were not numerous, but 
many of them were of great excellence. 
The Annual Speech , by Senator Douglas, was a 
good one; but though adroitly shaped, to give 
the most effective point to the speaker’s peculiar 
views, without eliciting anything beyond the 
smallest amount of censure, it was, nevertheless, 
open to pointed criticism, which we have neither 
time nor room to make. 
THE COTTON CROP. 
The following letter was addressed to the ed¬ 
itor of the Mobile Tribune. It is written by a 
commission merchant of that city; a man in 
whose sound judgement and accurate estimates, 
the public have great confidence. If Mr. Hen¬ 
ry’s opinion proves correct, cotton must rise 
considerably. We have been of the opinion all 
along, the past summer, that it had fallen below 
a justifiable mark, considering the delicacy of 
the plant, and great precariousness of its crop. 
But, one extreme begets another:— 
I left Mobile in July, and have since been 
travelling in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, 
and have been carefully observing and inquir¬ 
ing diligently, respecting their cotton and other 
crops. 
Before proceeding to give my views as to the 
extent of this cotton crop, (so far, made up by 
personal observation a good deal,) I will state 
my estimates for the crops of 1849 and 1850. 
On the 31st of Aug. 1849, my estimate 
was a crop of 2,150,100 
That crop turned out to be 2,097,000 
On the 31st of Aug. last year, my esti¬ 
mate was a crop of 2,200,000 to 2,300,000 
That crop by yesterday’s New York 
statement, will make 
2,350,000 to 2,375,000 bales. 
Each of these estimates, you will perceive, is 
very nearly correct, but the great falling off in 
the weight of the bales last year or for the crop 
of 1850, received in 1850, ’51, would reduce the 
number of bales down towards 2,200,000 of 
equal weights of those of 1849. 
By many, it is said nothing can be told as to 
the extent of the crop at this season of the year, 
and the above remarks I introduced for their 
satisfaction. 
I return, then, to say, that the cotton crop of 
1851 will not exceed 2,100,000to 2,200,000 bales* 
It may fall very much below, but it cannot ex¬ 
ceed those figures. Before I left Mobile, the re¬ 
ports were favorable, generally, for a full crop, 
though various complaints were coming in from 
some quarters. On my route I found portions of 
some plantations doing well, and other portions 
nothing. Some crops promise finely, others 
poorly. As a criterion for Alabama, I will state 
that plantations which late in July promised a 
heavy crop, have so completely shed their forms, 
blooms, and small bolls, that they cannot yield 
over a two-thirds crop. This relates to planta¬ 
tions where all the lands are fresh and strong. 
On those of a sandy and light soil the falling otf 
is still greater. On plantations, where, before I 
left for Georgia, I supposed had 900 pounds to 
the acre, made beyond casualty, and which 
were covered with forms and blooms, I find on 
my return, not only all those blooms and forms 
have been shed, but many of the bolls that were 
then showing finely, and a frost on the first of 
October would do no serious injury to them. 
There are now no forms or blooms on the cot¬ 
ton, and it is too late for forms to come, for them 
then to bloom, and for the bloom to mature the 
bolls. You know forms, or squares, precede the 
blooms, and from the first appearance of the 
square, or form, some three weeks must elapse 
before it becomes the bloom; in two days, the 
bloom drops and reveals the boll, and in six 
or seven weeks, this boll, if it holds on, bursts 
open, and the cotton can be picked. This is 
the process. Well, all will see it is now too 
late, inevitably, for the wind to do all this. 
Corn crops, in Eastern Alabama, are good, so 
of wheat, oats, &c. In Georgia, the corn crop 
is very poor, generally. Cotton on their old 
lands is very light, and on their fresh and bet¬ 
ter lands, much poorer than they promised to 
be a month ago. 
Hurriedly as I have been compelled to write 
this, if it furnishes any information which may 
be desirable to the public, it is at your service 
Geo. G. Henry. 
Caunnanugge , Macon Co., Sept. 1, 1851. 
