The weekly clarion., 1866-12-13
nr. Conr. nnd JIG CoIten Crop.

At the last regular meeting of th'
Academy of Science Of New Orleans
DIR. j. $. Copes, read very interesting
paper on the subject of cotton. DIR
Copes has been travelling over the
Gulf States to know by actual exam
nation as much as possible of the ex-
isting agricultural enterprises, resour-
ces and prosperity Of the South His
mode of travel was on horseback, so
that he could enter fields, travel by
paths from field to field, and visit the
interior of neighborhoods and settle
ments, whenever it was important to
do so, without the necessity for a
wheel carriage road, His route was
up Red river, and thence across North
Louisiana into Arkansas After eX-
amining that State, DR.. Copes crossed
into Mississippi near Bolivar county.
From this point he turned eastward
through the Mississippi bottom lands,
via the settlements on Bogue Phalia,
Suntlower, TaIlahatchie, Yalobu-
sha and Yazoo rivers, to the up
lands about Greenwood, Grenada,
Carrollton and Walden, Miss, From
the latter point, upon the Mississippi
Central Railroad, with slight stoppages
and detentions in Mississippi and
Louisiana, he reached New Orleans.
His observations may be summed up
in few sentences. Bad and scanty
seed, together with a most unpro-
pitious planting season, made imper
feet stands and greatly retarded the
work of the crop. The rains and
disastrous floods of the season have
not been equalled in destructiveness
since the country was first cultivated. |
Not only were the crops of corn and |
cotton utterly destroyed but the
fences, and even houses were washed |
away, and the plantations themselves
so grooved into ravines, piled into
sand ridges, encumbered by driftwood |
and reduced in area by eaving on their
fronts that in many instances they will
be worthless till they can be cleared,
fenced, levelled, ditcbed, and the
immense drifts Of sterile sands which
overtime them in some manner dis
posed of
The drought Of June, July and Au-
gust, he thinks have never been ade-
luately considered. Its widespread
destruction of the corn crop has new
er been fully understood and severely
damaging as was this drought to cot
ton as well as to corn, this drought
was succeeded by excessive rains,
1ooding the fields to such an extent as
10 leave but little hope of bolls enough
10 re-seed the ground. The loss from
.his cause, occurring mainly upon the
BEST lands, is necessarily very heavy,
md makes a large subtrahend, not
Usually taken into account.
DR.. Copes gives his reasons for be
ieving that not one third of the
breadth of land which was required to
produce the last full cotton crop (1S60)
vas cultivated in cotton this year.
After making full allowance for lands
brought under cotton culture for the
irst time in Tennessee, Missouri, Hi
lois, Kentucky, Virginia and North
Carolina, he is still of the opinion that
in accurate survey and return would
how that the proportion is less than
me third Then, if we regard the
Inference in productiveness between
hose lands lying waste in Mississippi,
louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama
md Georgia, embracing the finest
olains and valleys for the culture of
his particular staple on the earth as
low known, and those newly expert
nented upon in the middle and West
IN States, we shall further see how
much must be conceded by the accep-
ance of any average ofproductiveness.
lie puts a full crop in the four States
.bove named down at 1866 bales,
nd the crop this year at S33, 1873 bales,
II one-half the average product per
ere, while we controlled the labor.
Dr. Copes' statement is probably cor
ect and puts damper upon the ex-
statements of northern shod-
lyites.
Thus it will he seen that Northern
egislation is doing much to encourage {
he cultivation of cotton in India, |
egypt, and Brazil and discourage it in
'ur own country, which before the war
vas furnishing eighty-four per cent of
he consumption of all Europe, and
otoriously with great profit to the
capitalists of the East. When justice
nd the public welfare are considered
Y Congress we may expect to recover
as the chief cultivators of {
be staple, but not before.
No DIsPATcHEs.-The lines were
own last night and storm prevail
1g North and South, consequently
re are without our usual dispatches