great quantity that is yielded by the soil of the southern and southwestern states. We here subjoin the form of the pod and flower of this species of cotton, constituting, in this country, a valuable kind for commerce. The different species of cotton that are found in the United States, are divided into two principal kinds, the sea-island and the upland. The several varieties grown in the different states, are, however, generally distinguished in name by the different states in which they are produced, such as Tennessee, New Orleans, and Alabama. The most valuable species, the sea-island, has a long and fine staple, and is peculiarly adapted to the manufacture of the finest fabrics. In the production of this species, an influence appears to be produced upon the fabric by a saline atmosphere, so that it is only cultivated along the seacoast and low islands of South Carolina and Georgia, where the plant may be directly exposed to the atmospheric spray of the ocean. Salt indeed appears to be a most valuable assistant to its full perfection, salt mud being the most approved manure; and in proportion as the cultivation of the plant recedes from the ocean, its quality becomes coarser and less valuable. Its texture is silky, possessing a sort of yellowish hue; and being long as well as strong in the staple, it is used for the spinning of only the finest quality of yarn. The quality of the different kinds, however, varies in a great degree, a difference of double the price existing between the best and the inferior species. The upland cotton is of an inferior quality, being shortstapled and coarser, and is confined to the lands at a distance from the coast. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, produce this species to a large amount, and as the new soil of the southwestern states has been cleared up, the cultivation has been extended, in a great degree, to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and other sections of that region; so that at the present time the great bulk of the cotton which is produced is derived from the southwest. The species which is thrown in the English markets as the New Orleans cotton, and that is produced upon the banks of the Mississippi, is of a fine quality, being glossy in its appearance, and although somewhat short in the staple, mixes freely with that which is longer. Next to this in quality is believed to be the Alabama upland, &c., that is not only short, but soft, valuable for the ordinary manufacture, and commands a good price in Liverpool. The species of cotton long known as the bowed Georgia, derives its name from the mode of cleaning it which formerly prevailed, a manipulation that was performed by means of a bowstring that was raised by the hand, and being let go, struck upon the cotton with such force that it was made more fit for the succeeding process. Another species of cotton of great value in the south, is the nankeen, of a yellow color, which, when manufactured, forms a beautiful fabric, and that is supposed to be the kind that was originally found in our continent. This cotton commands a much higher price than that which is pure white.* We have before alluded to the operation of the saw-gin of Whitney, which is principally used for the upland cotton, but not for the best species, as the action of this instrument is supposed to injure the texture of the sea-island. For the cleaning of this species, a roller-gin has long been used that consists of a pair of fluted rollers, about ten inches long and five eighths of an inch in diameter, that are fitted into a frame. To these the motion is applied, and the cotton being passed through them, is thus separated from the seed and prepared for market. Formerly a switch was used for the purpose of cleaning the cotton, but it was found that this mode of cleaning was too laborious to be attended with beneficial results. The mode of cultivating the cotton plant throughout the southern states is similar to that of the cultivation of the corn. It is usually planted about the month of March and April, although varying, of course, according to the climate, and requires to be regularly ploughed and hoed, in order to be kept clear of weeds. At a distance, a new cotton field resembles a field of green bunch-beans. Requiring a sandy soil, and water being its natural enemy, a species of land with a portion of argillaceous or siliceous matter appears to be the most favorable for its production. As it ripens in the fall, the bursting pods are picked out by slaves, who go through the field with a basket. After the harvest has been collected, it is placed in a cotton-house and the work of separating it from the seeds is commenced; and the cotton thus separated, is pressed into bales by means of a machine similar to a cider-press, and it is then ready for market. In the state of The manufacture of nankeen cotton is now carried on to a considerable extent at the south, and, if we are rightly informed, by Mr. John Forsyth, of Georgia, our Secretary of State. VOL. IV. NO. III. 28 Mississippi, from one to two bales is believed to be frequently the produce of a single acre, the price of cotton lands in that state varying from ten to forty dollars, depending, of course, upon their different quality, and the measure of their fixtures. Of the value of the sea-island cotton, forming, as it now does, but a small proportion of our general cotton production, we may judge pretty accurately, from the fact that in 1834, the export of this species of cotton was $8,085,935, and during the following year it was $7,752,936, the whole of this product being produced in the states of South Carolina and Georgia. It is believed that its cultivation may be much extended, especially in the territory of Florida; and the export, during twenty years, has been on an average of about eight millions of pounds, the principal portion being carried to England. The increase of the cotton production of the country has been gradual and solid, according to the extension of manufactures and the demand for the product. It is well known that cotton has been rapidly extended to the southwestern states as new colonies have spread themselves upon their territory, so that at the present time the main body of the exports is derived from that section of the country; and during the year 1839 and 1840, 954,191 bales were exported from the single port of New Orleans. The precise measure of this increase may be pretty well ascertained from the statistics of the country. It will be remembered that the amount of exportation contained in the subjoined table is exclusive of the quantity that is consumed in the manufacturing establishments of the United States. GROWTH AND EXPORT OF AMERICAN COTTON. Table, exhibiting the annual exports of cotton from the United States, since 1791; the value of cotton of domestic growth; and the total product of the United States, as compared with that of the whole world. 1805 1806 1807 of exports is 3,000,000 5,000,000 8,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 11,000,000 15,000,000 20,000,000 35,000,000 Upland. $5,250,000 48,000,000 520,000,000 55,000,000| 7,920,000 60,000,000 Sea-island. TABLE OF THE Growth and Export of AMERICAN COTTON.—Continued. 1808 949,051 9,681,394 2,221,000| 75,000,000 520,000,000 1809 8,654,213 42,326,042 8,515,000 | 82,000,000 1810 8,604,078 84,657,384 15,108,000 1811 85,000,000 80,000,000 555,000,000 8,029,579 54,028,660 9,652,000 1812 4,367,806 24,519,571 3,080,000 75,000,000 1813 4,134,849 14,975,167 2,324,000 75,000,000 1814 2,520,338 15,268,669 2,683,000 70,000,000 1815 8,449,951 74,548,796 17,529,000 100,000,000| 1816 9,900,326 72,046,790| 24,106,000 |124,000,000 8,101,880 77,547,448 22,628,000 130,000,000 6,457,335 86,013,843 31,334,000 125,000,000 1817 1818 1819 7,448,775 80,508,270 21,082,000 167,000,000 1820 11,569,015 116,291,137 22,309,000 160,000,000 1821 11,344,066 113,549,339 20,157,484 180,000,000 630,000,000 1822 11,250,635 133,424,460| 24,035,058 210,000,000 1823 12,136,688 161,586,582 20,445,520 185,000,000 1824 1825 9,525,722 132,843,941 21,497,401 215,000,000 9,665,278 166,784,629 36,846,649 255,000,000 1826 5,972,852 198,562,563 25,025,214 350,000,000 1827 15,140,798 279,169,317 29,359,545 270,000,000 1828 11,288,419 199,302,044 22,487,229 |325,000,000 1829 12,833,307 252,003,879 26,575,311 365,000,000| 8,147,165 290,311,937 29,674,883 350,000,000 1830 1831 1832 1833 8,311,762 268,668,022 25,289,492 385,000,000 820,000,000 1834 8,085,937 376,631,970 49,448,402 460,000,000 900,000,000 1835 7,752,736 379,606,256 64,961,302 475,000,000 1886 8,544,419 415,086,888 71,284,925 480,000,000 1837 5,286,971 438,924,566 63,240,102 500,000,000 1838 7,286,340 588,665,957 61,556,811 520,000,000 1839 5,107,404 408,516,808 61,238,982 500,000,000| It is supposed that the United States supplies about three fourths of the cotton trade of the world, and when we consider the value of this production to the wealth of the country, we cannot but regard it as of vast importance. Of the amount of capital invested in this production, it seems difficult to form any certain conclusion. New lands are continually brought into the culture of this staple, and extensive tracts are becoming exhausted as the soil, from time to time, is bereft of its fertilizing principle. The Secretary enters into a hypothetical course of reasoning, in order to show the amount of soil that is occupied by its culture, and the capital employed for that object. It is believed by him that at the date of his report, 1836, the whole amount of land that was used in the cultivation of the cotton in this country was two millions of acres. His estimate, which is in a great measure coniectural, being founded on general data, is based upon the average cost of cotton lands, wild or cleared, by the acre; the expense of clearing them, and also the labor required in production of a given quantity of raw cotton; the cost of labor, whether in the form of wages or otherwise; the expense of the tools that are used upon the plantations; the horses and other animals required upon them; the salaries of overseers; and taxes: besides other minor expenses. It is well known that the average price of wild cotton lands did not formerly exceed a half a dollar per acre, and in the new states it has ranged from one dollar and twenty-five cents to twenty dollars, depending, of course, upon the quality of these lands, their location, and the existing price of cotton; and actual settlers are frequently obliged, as in the new states of the north, to give from fifty to one hundred per cent to the original purchaser. The expense of clearing this wild land is believed to be from ten to fifteen dollars per acre; and when in a condition to be cultivated, it will yield from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds of clean cotton; while the production of the cotton land in the older states is supposed to be one hundred and twenty-five pounds clean, or five hundred in the seed. The price of cotton is, of course, constantly varying, from the operation of numerous causes; but, by the same report, we learn that during the month of June, in 1835, the upland cotton brought from 10d. to 123d. per pound, the Orleans from 10 to 13, the Alabama from 93 to 123, and the sea-island from 23 to 34d., in the markets of Liverpool. It is also alleged that one field-hand or laborer can cultivate, on an average, eight acres, and assist, at the same time, in raising from five to eight acres of corn. The price of field-hands has nearly doubled within the last ten years, so that those who would produce in market from four to five hundred dollars, can now be purchased only for about seven or eight hundred. The interest with which his calculation must be fraught, considering the present amount invested in the cotton culture, induces us to lay before our readers the result of his computation. 1st. The capital invested in cotton lands under cultivation, at two million acres, and worth, cleared, on an average, $20 per. acre, is The capital in field-hands, and in other lands, stock, labor, &c., to feed and clothe them, at $106 per year, on 340,000 in number, would require the interest or income of a capital, at 6 per cent, of The maintenance of 340,000 more assistants, &c., at $30 each per year, would require the income of a capital, at six per cent, of The capital to supply enough interest or income to pay for tools, horses for ploughing, cotton taxes, medicines, overseers, &c., at $30 for the first 340,000, would be $40,000,000 544,000,000 167,000,000 167,000,000 Making in all a permanent capital, if so used, equal to $918,000,000 2d. The capital in cotton land, as stated above, Capital in the purchase of 340,900 field-hands, at $800 each, on an average, $40,000,000 272,000,000 Capital in the other 340,000, to aid and to raise food, clothing, &c., at half price, 136,000,000 Carried forward, $448,000,000 |