Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1853-01-08
ssistUry and tarowth or Cotton.

"Cdt,on, which administers 30 bouiiti
fully to the Wants Of civilized as well as
10 satAge men. and 10 the wealth and
ecoii5lny oil the counties producing It,
stands pre-emihent III tile United States
both as regards Its s,ipetior staple and the
degree Of peffetlon u which it's ctiltiva.
tioii lla. been brought. One Or more ol
} ito species is fouhd gf5wing wild through
out the torrid zone, whence it Ibis beet
disseminated aud become all important
object Of culture in several countries there.
IL adjacent, from time ilntnemorial. II ID
| mentioned by Heroditns. as growing III
India where the natives manufactured it
into cloth by Theophrastus, as product
Of Ethiopia; and by Pliny, us growing
| ii Egypt, towards Arabia, and near the
borders of the Persian Gull. Newhof,
who visited China In 1865, says that it
was then cultivated in great abundance
III that country, where the seed had been
introduced ABOUT five hundred years before
Columbus found it in use by THE Aineri
can indians Of Cuba, in 1859 Corltz by
those Of Mexico, in 1919; Pizarro aud
Almagro, by the fncas of Peru, in 1852 i
and Cabaca de Vaca, by the nations Of
Texas and California in 1886.
or the precise period Of the first intro.
duclon OF the cultivation OF this plant
| into the North American Colonies, histoA
ry i silent. In a pamphlet entitled I" No.
| va Britannia offering most excellent fruits
BY planting iii Virginia" published In
London in 1909, it is stated that cotton
would grow as well In that province, as
/ in italy. It is also stated on the authority
or Beverly. in his history Of Virginia, that
Sir Edmond Andross, while Governor of
the Colony in i692, gave particular marbs
of his favor towards the propogatng Of
| cotton. which since his time has been
much neglected. II further appears that
it was cultivated for long time In the
eastern parts Of Maryland Virginia. Car.
olina, aud Georgia, III the garden. though
not at all as planters crop for domestic
consumption. In another pamphlet, en-
titled !" a State Of the Province OF Geor-
gia, attested upon oath in the Court OF
Savannah" in 1740, it was averred that
Large quantities have been raised, and il
is much planted: but the cotton which in
some parts is peranuial. dies here Ia win
ter which nevertheless the annual isnot
inferior to 10 goodness, but requires more
trouble in cleansing from the seed"
In about the year 1742, Mr. Dubreuil
| invented a cotton gin, which created All
epoch in the cultivation Of this produce il
Louisiana During the revolution, the
Inhabitants Of st. Mary's and Talbot
counties, in Maryland, as we'll as those OF
Cape May county, New Jersey. raised
sufficient quantity Of cottonio meet their
wants for the time. 1t was formerly pro-
duced In small quantities for family use
in the county oi Sussex, In Delaware. near
the head waters of the Choptank.
The Seed of the Sen Island cotton was
originally obtained from the Bahama TsA
lands, in about the year 1896, being the
kind then known 10 the West Indies as
the " "Anguilla cotton" Il was first cul-
tivated by Josiah Tanal and Nicholas
Turnbull, on Ski1away Island near Sa-
vanah, and subsequently, by James Spanld.
ing and Alexander Bisset, Oh st. Smonds
and on Jeky Islands, by Richard Leake.
For many years after its introduction, II
was confined to the more elevated parts OF
these islands, bathed by the saline htmos-
plere and surrounded l,y the sea. Gradu.
ally, however, the cotton culture was ex.
tended 10 the lower grounds, aud beyond
the limits of the islands, TO the adjacent
shores Of the continent, into soils contain
ing mixture OF clay, and lastly into coarse
clays deposited along the great rivers
where they meet the ocean tides.
Previous to 1894, the year after the III.
vention Of Whitney's saw-gin, the annual
amount Of cotton produced in North
America was comparatively inconsidera-
bic; !; but, siiice that period, there is prob
ably nothing recorded in the history Of
industry, including it's manufacture in this
country and Europe, that would compare
with its subsequent increase.
In the eastern hemisphere, the growth
Of cotton is principally restricted to the
maritime countries lying between the for
tie,h degree of north latitude and cores
ponding parallel south. On the easterly side
Of the Western continent, this plant will
perfect its growth in most Of the districts
adjacent 10 the tidal waters, including the
regions bordering on the Mississippi, the
Amazon. and the Panama, between lati4
tnde thirty-nine degrees north and forty
degrees south and on the west coast of
America, between the fortieth parallel
north and corresponding degree south.
The growth of this staple is chiefly
confined to India, China, japan, Australia,
Persia. Turkey. Southern Europe. Arabia,
Egypt, Algeria, Southern aud Western
Africa. the Southern section Of The Uni
ted States, British Gnianna. New Grena-
da, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, the |
West Indies, and numerous other ocean
isles.
According to DR. Royie, who has Re.
Gently investigated the subject. the differ
ent varieties of cotton may be classed UNI
der four distinct species. in the following |
manner
/ Gossypium indicum, or herbaceum,
the cotton plant Of India. China, Arabia.
Persia, Asia Minor, and some parts Of
Africa.
2 Gossypium alborenm, tree cotton,
indigenous 10 India.
8. GossYpium barhadeuse, the Mexican
or West India cotton, of which the Sea
Island, New Orleans and Upland Geor-
gia, are varieties. Il was long since intro-I
sluced into the IsIand of Bourbon, and
thence into Iudia hence it acquired the /