The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1846-11-18
AGRICULTURAL.
From The Soutb-Carn.i.ian.
OUR STATE.

It's agricultural CapitaI-tno much dcr0
ted to The purchase ut Lnnd and Nc
grors, and too 1.-THE to ImprOcc mcnts.
We have said, there is in sin,ih Carroll
ia, To" large an nm"nnt ni capital laid nu
nj very unprnductivc interest This i:
particularly true OF our Ag: ir,,l.uraI rnpi
tai. We inrrst too much in lands am, nc.
arors: nni too little on the improvement
"t th"se lands. 4 half century ago., thi.
impnvrrishinS system cx>trd all over the
Uni"n. Every whcr" ihc capitals, look r.
III the Investment &c his money in !ard--
b,.stovctl his labor upon them, without
having a care Ia the inpr"vr,nc rs If az
ricul'nrc; and was in consequence doomed
IL see the ,nduciivcnrSS "r his soil urau-
n!Iy diminishing. Within II few wears
back. u more judirinus system "r culture
has uhlainrd: science has cut,c in IL the
aid nf art, aud the farmer has been taught,
that II is better Ia buy nne acre, and en-
pend portion nf his ra,!nl IN its i'm
lrnvement, than rn hold two acres untrr
he old plan. In whatever States. there.
f"rr, agricultural improvements have been
intr"ncrd. the capital and labor "f ,lr
farmer have been prt,lur,ivrly employed.
Wherever the opposite course has been
pursued, impovcrshmrnt aud ruin have
fnllnwcd.
Let us dwell somcw4,a. upon Ibis view
Of the subject. a II over our State, our
planters have been complaining nr the
small ntcres, derived from their lands aud
negroes. Until very recently, the cry was
,l,at produce nf every ,'rscrip,nn had
come down ,n II mere nominal value; and
farming labor "r all kinds was pr"Ii,rss.
Gran, his - he tho case: are not such de-
inr al IN La
hnr? And just as certain rs there exist q
TTG"sc fur such drprcssi"ns, there likewise
rAi>t Il remedy.
We are M, nf those who be rirvr there is
an>aver. .pr"lurii"n nf cotton fnr The uses
of mankind. We rather lhink il cannot hr
shawn that there is yet nS larry" II market
Tor the consumption "f .hal article, SIS was
ever conceived by The musl lihrr, imagi-
nation. The milli"ns im China-ihc M.
rnernns newly discovered islands in the
Pacilic-lhe States nf Snuth America
the Yet unvisiled parts IF Airira.-in n
word, all the world is nprniE. markets
for This staple, aud all these markets must
and will lie supplied.
Nor are we nf ,hnSc wl,u are scared into
the belief, that the cotton plan,r, is srarv-
ing because tn" staple has come down tn lis
present depreciation. Almost every ihing
has nnn.inui'v c"nc down in price; and
This will appear 10 any one who will make
comparative scale "f The prices of our
own staples. with the prices al Tie manu-
facturcs of other countries. From an cX.
hihit now hrtnre us, we find, i,r instance
that ln.lS2O raw cation averaged in Liver.
pool, pence per- pound; while cotton
twist sold al 10 pence. In 1880, cation
hau i"mca To- only 7 pence in Tie pound;
while cotton twist hnh fallen to l2 pence.
THUS there had been in ten years il fall,
averaging only 3 pence on raw cotton;
while in the same period, on The manufnc-
turcd article, the depreciation was as great
as 7 pence:
This difference, VIC will bc told, arises
from the Improvements in machinery
which enables the manufacturer ,n sell 20,
much less. But may not similar improve
ments take place in the production of The
yaw material? II the pas; teaches any les
sons For the future, we are certainly war
ranled il such hope. Let il not he for
gotten that it is scarce seventy years sine,
cotton was introduced amongst us us NJ
ornamental flower-tha, people laughed II
the idea Of lis ever bccoming n staple com
modify; nnd until Whilncy's Cotton Gil
was introduced no one ever though, TIT
seed could be separated fron The wool, cx
ccpt by the ag lie fingers of monkeys train
cd for the purpose. Are ''e improvement
in cotton culture 10 ste . with Whilncys'
machinery? We can look over ,hccoi,o
plantations OF no portion OF our State.
without being convinced 10 the conlrar,
We can point To many planters in Soull