The Arkansas banner., 1849-06-12
Analysts of .hs Cotton Plnn. aud seed.
BY TnoMAs ]. SUMNER


 The natural history of ihe cotton plant, and im- proveinent In its culture, in the cotton growing States. are interesting subjects. Originally the pfo- ductieH oith tropics, has, couniry. travelled far into the temperate region, and houTishes on a belt of several hundred miles wide; extending from Virginia along the sea coast to western limits ihe Cult oi Mexico. CongeL iaIty of climate, and soils has carried The cultivation of this pant which is not certainly 4scertaned have been indigenous to the United States, much further than it was al first expected it would ever be extended; and it has become the staple Of all those parts not actually mountainous iu ihe southern States. Whilst lis cnlture has most rapidly advanced and increased in every section, the planters of the old cotton grow ing States from the exhaustion of their soils, and the lack of proper systems of rotation and manuTng have been Thrown iR the back ground in the scale of profitable production, by their favored rivals ihe fortunate possessors of the virgin lands of the southwest. II this deficiency Is to be Iemedied --i the fertility ot those soils out in the oft repeated production of cotton Is 10 be restored and permanently improved for the future culture oI this crop, for other systems ol tiilage 1t must be done under proper understanding of what cohsitu- ents are 10 be restored. 10 the so 10 supply The places of those of which t has been robbed. How far correct analysis of the cotton plant and seed wI enable the present generation of planters to remedy the lack of fertility in their impoverished soils and enhance their future produc for this crup, tt Is difficult 10 determine; but it is no matter of speculation to assert that il is essentially necessary for the Improvement ot the soil for the cereal crops that the past industrious despoiling of the natural elements should furnish guide for their restoration. The analytical hyesIg stions made by the author, and for their correctness receiving the sanction of Professor Von Lebig the most celehs led chemist ol the age, and given to the world in their present shape, are not intended the basis of new theory for the production Of the cotton plant. but metely suggestive of aids, and by returning to the soil what has been taken from it, bring about restoration of fertility, which will render its cul,iya ton profitable to ayicuurists in any other market. able crops. When, however, we reflect that of the one thousand million ot pounds of cotton proiaced m the world, upwards of five hundred and fifty mil lions of pounds grown in the United States. We readily see that ihe importance of this crop swelling {" this enormous amount since l7SI when ii was doubted at Liverpool that so much as eighk boles could be produced Tn ihIs scountry--demands all those scientific aids by which other nations have fostered their staple agricultural productions, and thereby contributed io naoaaI prosperity. England, hy her commercial entrrpriLe. assumed the pinnacle of national rank. The cotton plant its productions and adaptation 10 human wants, by manufacturins skill will give the blood to nyigorae our pIosp.ftv What picture ot prosperity would e. presented if We manufactured m Soath Carolina all the cotton grown m the State, and had sufficient commercial capital and enterprise 10 concentrate the exporta,on and exchange of the manufactured material at our Queen City Charleston , Added to this how mue h more pleasaht would be the prospect ahead. if the cultivation of this crop SO regulated and carried out that t would t the soil fof the increased after production of the grain crops-ihose crops SO essen. hai to the prosperity oi the world
 Southern Cultivator