404 
GOSSYPIUM  HERBACEUM. 
mer  fabrics  which  adorn  the  persons  of  the  gentler  sex.  As  the 
strong  pressure  of  the  packing  screw  would  injure  the  appear- 
ance of  the  fibre,  it  is  generally  brought  to  market  in  round 
bags,  much  in  the  style  of  wool  sacks,  weighing  from  275Ibs.  to 
350ft>s. 
The  Nankin  cotton  was  introduced  into  this  country  early  in 
the  history  of  our  cotton  trade,  and  cultivated  to  a  considerable 
extent  for  its  beautiful  buff  or  nankin  color,  and  was  highly  prized 
by  the  Southern  planter  for  his  summer  clothing.  It  command- 
ed a  high  price  for  many  years,  but  at  length  the  ingenuity  of 
the  chemist  and  dyer  produced  the  Nankin  from  the  ordinary 
Uplands,  and  at  prices  so  low  as  effectually  to  exclude  the  former 
from  market.  It  is  still,  however,  cultivated  on  a  small  scale, 
chiefly  for  domestic  manufacture.  Its  price  ranges  from  20  to 
30  cents  the  ft).  The  staple  is  intermediate  between  the  Uplands 
and  Sea  Island. 
Upland  cotton  may  be  stated  as  a  fairly  remunerating  crop  to 
the  planter  at  8  cents  per  pound,  and  the  long  staple  at,  say, 
23  cents.  The  mass  of  the  former  would  probably  be  classed  as 
"good  midlings."  Extremes  in  price  to  the  Georgia  planter 
for  this  variety,  say  4  J  to  13  cents.  In  the  competitions  of  trade, 
it  has  grown  to  be  a  custom  among  "  buyers"  to  pay  from  2  to 
5  cents  (not  often  the  latter)  over  the  fair  market  value  for  the 
first  lot  of  cotton  offered  in  their  locality.  The  annual  crop  of 
our  Southern  States  is  estimated  in  round  numbers  at  3  millions 
of  bags.  The  average  crop  to  the  acre  at  8001b  of  "  seed  cotton," 
yielding  from  30  to  33  per  cent,  of  marketable  lint.  Average 
crop  44  to  the  hand"  4  to  5  bales.  Extremes  2  to  10.  In  reckon- 
ing hands,  a  boy  is  classed  as  § ,  J  or  J  hand,  as  his  age  and 
ability  may  dictate.  In  these  estimates  the  "  force"  is  supposed 
to  make  also  the  breadstuffs,  vegetables,  fruits  and  forage  con- 
sumed by  man  and  beast.  The  late  picked  cotton  yields  more  in 
weight  of  seed  and  less  of  lint. 
This  product  of  the  cotton  plant,  viewed  in  the  light  of  its 
commercial  and  economical  importance,  becomes  one  of  deep  in- 
terest to  every  one.  It  affords  us  a  cheap  and  most  valuable 
clothing  material  for  the  masses,  which  nothing  else  could  replace. 
It  gives  employment  to  millions  on  millions  of  laborers,  and  a 
productive  activity  to  billions  of  monied  treasure.    There  is  no 
