The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-02 00:00:00

THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON.

The Anglo-American 'limes says :
The following interesting letter from General.

R. V. Richardson, Vice-President of the United
States Cotton Company, to Judge Thompson, Pre-

sident of the Atnelican Central Railway, was no{

intended for publication, but the information it
contains is of so valuable a nature that it has been
placed at our disposal :
London, England, Aug. 21, 1867.
Judge T. S. Thompson, President of the American Central
Railway.
DEAR SIR, —I cannot express too strongly my gratifica-
tion at the prospect of building your road under auspices
so favourable to energetic progress and speedy completion.
Running on an air lino from the Mississippi River to Fort
Wayne, thence by the shortest route to the cities of Phil-
adelphia and New York, when completed it must be
the great thoroughfare of cotton to the spinneries in
the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania,

New Jersey, New York, and the New England
States. The great cotton zone of North America
extends from the Atlantic Ocean west to the Rocky Moun-

thins, between the parallels of 30 deg. and 36 deg. 30 min.
north latitude. The Mississippi River cuts this zone on
its middle line from north to south, and the largest por-
tion constitutes what is called the valley of the Missis-

sippi; and this valley of the cotton zone contains a trans-
verse belt, about forty miles wide, of alluvial lands, called
the bottom or delta of the Mississippi River, extend-
ing from the mouth of the Ohio to Baton Rouge, a
distance, with the course of the river, of about eight
hundred miles. This delta is the richest body of

lands on the globe, and the bast adapted by soil, sunshine,
and showers, to the cultivation of the Green seed and
Upland varieties of cotton. Here these varieties attain
their best develop'tnent and make their greatest yield. The
soil of this delta is of recent alluvial formation, and is of

surpassing fertility to a depth of forty feet. It is so rich
that it could be imported into England to ba used as
a fertiliser with good profits. In climate and soil
this delta is superior to those of all other countries
for the production of good merchantable cotton. This
delta produced in 1860 about one-half the crop of that
year, which was over 5,000,000 bales, weighing each 400
pounds. This delta is likewise highly favoured in having
that magnificent "inland sea"—the Mississippi River—to
pass through it. Indeod, this great river is the father of
this delta, since it has been formed by the action of his
waters, and he is therefore the groat aqueous channel of
commerce through, from, to, and (Amcor' this delta and
the world. There aro two principal cotton marts upon
this river, situated respectively at the southern and
northern verses of this cotton zone. New Orleans is the
elder and larger market, having the advantage of being
situated 120 miles from the mouth of the groat river, and
also being the entrepot and depot for the forci3n and coast

trade of this valley. Memphis is a young, prosperous city,
enjoying the advantage of an equable and genial climate
and central continental position. Under the old regime 01
water communication only New Orleans was thopeorloss
queen of commerce for this magnific nt valley, but since the
great interior bosom of the Continent has been interlaced
with rants ays, Memphis, situated at the Upper or Northern
verge of this cotton zone, has steadily grown to be a cotton
mart. The spinners of the States mentioned have been
discovering that it was their best policy to buy supplies of
raw cotton at Memphis, because it was so much nearer
and accessible to them at all seasons of the year. Hence
the largest portion of cotton heretofore for the last ten
years received at Memphis has been purchased by these
spinners, and has been transported up the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers to St. Louis, Cairo, and Cincinnati, thence taken
by railroads and carried eastward into the States mentioned.
These lines have been zigzag, and therefore long, tedious,
and expensive. The great desideratum has been, and is,
to carry the cotton on steamboats to some point on the
Upper Mississippi River to a point about the latitude of
Philadelphia and New York, there place it on a line of
railway that runs, as the crow flies, to these cities. Thus
we save distance, circuitousness, delay, and cost
.in the
transportation of cotton from those who make to those
who spin. The American Central lino, leaving the Upper
Mississippi at New Boston, thence by Fort Wayne, Pitts-
burg, Harrisburg, branches to Philadelphia and the city of
New York by linos of nearly equal distances, supplies
this great want. The Mississippi is at all times navigable
except when impeded above the mouth of the Ohio
with ice in the winter. The distance from Memphis
to New Boston is about 650 miles by the river. A
line of steamboats could be organised to ply between
Memphis and New Boston, touching at intermediate
places, carrying bales of cotton already compressed for
ocean ship:neat to bo freighted over your road east-
ward, and these boats returning could carry coal, taken
from the end of your road, the product of mines on your
line to Memphis and intermediate places. In 1860 the
receipts of cotton at Memphis were about 500,000 com-
mercial bales, and over one half was skipped up the Mis-
sissippi for interior consumption. This line of boats having
a certain return cargo of coal, beside their coasting trade,could
afford to carry cotton from Memphis to New Boston for
$1 per bale, Each bale of 4001b5., by the use of improved
presses, could be compressed into 40 cubic feet. Estimat-
ing the cubic contents of a car 50 feet long, 8 feet wide,
and 10 feet high at 4,000 feet, wo shall find it capable of
holding 100 bales of cotton, weighing 20 American tons.
If the car can support this weight, the capacity to hold is
sufficient. The freight, at my latest advicos from New
York, for a bale of cotton from Memphis to the former
city by either of the two lines now usually employed is
le. the pound, or $4 per bale. The routes aro the one
down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, thence by gulf
and ocean ; the other by rail through Tennessee,
Mississippi State, Alabama, and Virginia to Norfolk,
thence by ocean to the city of New York. A
third route, which is now a little more costly
than either of the others, is up the Mississippi
and Ohio, and thence by present railway facilities to
New York. By your road the cost will be about as fol-
lows : —By boat to New Boston for each bale, $1; the hire
of a car to carry 100 bales at $5O per day for two days
(that being the time it would take to load and carry the
load over your part of the line), $1; and for ono more day
to destination, 50 cents, making total freight on a bale of
cotton from Memphis to New York $2 50e., saving $1 50c.
per bale. Now when you remember that the American
cotton spinners consume each year over 1,000,000 bales of
cotton, much of which, and more, is grown in this great
delta, you can see in a moment a complete revolution in
the transportion of cotton, as to lines and routes, from the
producers of this great Mississippi Valley to these spinners
of the States mentioned. The larger number of the spin-
ncries are situated many miles interior from the Atlantic
seaports, so that the cotton going to them by ocean must
after it reaches the seaports take river, canal, and rail, to
roach its destination; whereas the cotton which goes up the
Mississippi River, thence by your road, intended for these
interior spinners, would not go to any seaport at all, but
would roach its destination before getting to any
seap ,rt whatsoever. But as 1 have shown that your
line will be the cheapest to the seaports of New
York and Philadelphia, so I show that the cotton
raised in the delta of the Mississippi, designed for ship-
ment abroad, would also seek your line. Let us suppose
1,000,000 bales of cotton produced in this delta to pass
over your roar, to supply the domestic and foreign demand,
this would give you 400,000,000 pounds or 200,000 Ameri-
can tons of freight, requiring 10,000 cars, carrying 20 tons
each, to move it over your road. The distance from
New Boston to New York is about 800 miles. Your
freight for moving this quantity would be about
$1,000,000. All the shipping points on the Mississippi
River, even from New Orleans up, would contribute
this freight.. The principal points, however, would be
Vicksburg, Napoleon, Helena, and Memphis. T his great
delta, and an immense country adjacent to it, is
destitute of miooral coal deposits, so far as yet known.
It now draws its supply of this mineral fuel from the coal-
fields of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Illinois. I under-
stand that a superior article of bituminous coal underlies
much of your road, and that valuable mines are now ready
to bo worked as soon you Call Zito tin outlet to market.