Arkansas true Democrat., 1857-06-23
For the True Democrat. Cotton Lands upon the Arkansas River

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 MR EDIroR-In estimating the capacities of our State for producing cotton-that portion of its western division which lies upon the Ar kansas river, to-wit: the counties of Sebas- tian, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson and Pope, I think is very much underrated. 'Ts true pro- bably, in the counties indicated, so much cot ton cannot be raised upon the acre. as may be raised upon the acre below Little Rock, but still both soil and climate are sufficiently fa- vorable, as experience abundantly proves, to make it desirable country for cotton raising, especially in the river bottoms. By looking upon the map it will be seen, that from the mouth of the Illinois bayou, in Pope county, the Arkansas river, for upwards of one hun dred miles lies almost entirely in due western direction, that is from the point named to the mouth of the Canadian river, in the Indian country. The most northern point of the river between the two places is at Ozark, where Tn the liver bottoms, they average bale to the acre: and the river in its meanderings touches points twelve or fourteen miles below that l largest cotton planters who live about the distance named south of Ozark, that they can raise from twenty to twenty-two hundred pounds of seed cotton to the acre upon their upland. And it is fact beyond dispute, ascer- tained by actual experience that the river bot toms in this section yield a bale to the acre all the time. I have no doubt our most systematic cotton planters, who cultivate the bottom lands, average more. But suspect the cotton plant ing is no where, through this section, so sys- tematcally managed as it is by the large plan ters who live much farther south-under such process have no doubt but that twenty five per cent more may be raised upon the acre than is now averaged.
 have been informed that cotton planters below have got the notion among them that within the cotton latitudes-so many degrees west of the Mississippi river is equal to a degree north, disqualifying the soil, or rather the clm- ate for cotton raising purposes; becauseas, is de- monstrated by the direction of the great tributa- ries--the Arkansas and Red rivers--the land ele- vation increases as you go west This is true, but it does not follow upon that account, that the climate becomes colder. Elevation above level of the sea has the effect stated upon mountains and upon small elevated scopes of country, like the table lands in South Amer ica; which are in fact nothing more than large mountains But upon large region of coun- try, gradual elevation of large portion of the continent like that which lies between the Missouri and Red rivers about the longitude say of Fort Smith--no such result can take place. Heat is produced by the sun's rays coming in contact with the earth, and all that is wanting to make one region of country as warm as another region in the same latitude, whose elevation is several thousand feet lower, is eq,l1l erteat of level surface. The solar rays impart but little heat to the atmosphere, hence we find that even under the equator the upper parts of the highest mountains are covered with perpetual snows-but let the mountain top be extended to level area of hundred miles and you will find the snow all vanish; extend it still wider and you would find it become still warmer, until the heat of the lower elevation was attained.
 Below give you the "mean tempeYut,nes r of certain localities of which Whtem rsh Is- land, Geo, Camden, s. C., Fort Smith and Memphis are laid down by the authorities as cotton districts See Pat Office Rep, Part 2d, 1885, Art Climatologv.