New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-10-22
THE COTTON. CROP.

The agricultural bureau at Washington
must be remarkable institution. If its
object is to collect statistics as far as possible
from the truth, it certainly accomplishes that
object with marvellous success but if it is
designed to gather and impart correct infor-
nation, it affords brilliant example of the
useful art of chow not to do it" Auguste
Comte declares the true end and aim of
science to be the rational provision of phen-
omena. If this beadmitted there is certainly
very little of the scientific about the agricul-
tural bureau. We take it for granted that one
of the duties of the bureau is, to certain
extent, to give practical realization
of this theory of science, inasmuch
as the commissioner every year issues
an anticipative report, in which he estimates
the probable extent of the growing crops.
Now, this would be useful enough, if the esti-
mates even approached the truth; and the
facilities of the commissioner for obtaining in
formation are supposed to.be such as to impart
value to his opinions. But, whatever lucky
guesses he may have made in former years,
he has ruined his reputation this time by
putting forth an estimate for the cotton crop
of 1866, which is so absurd as to be utterly
ridiculous. Here are the results of his calcu-
laions Of the products of the different States,
computed from the reports of his agents in
various counties !" Alabama 1885, $50 bales;
Arkansas 146,957, Florida 21,71T, Georgia
49, AGO, Louisiana 281, 651, Mississippi 800, 626,
North Carolina Y, 757, South Carolina 70, 282,
Tennessee 296, 464, Texas 172, 5S5. Total,
1885, 4S5, which is, it must be confessed, an
admirable degree Of precision to be reached
under difficult and embarrassing cireum-
stances.
But without going any further than Louisi-
ana, the figures given for this State suffice
to show the utter worthlessness of the esti-
mate The largest crop ever made in Louisi-
ana was $4,000 bales; and that under every
favorable circumstance. This year part Of the
State which produced 100000 bales, has been
oyerfowed, and will yield only the scant crop
which can be wrung from a late planting; and
which has itself been cut short by rains,
droughts, and worms. It is highly improbable
that the alluvial region of the Mississippi, in
Louisiana will, this year, yield more than
25, 900 bales In the rest of the State the sea-
son has been peculiarly unpropitious and at
the outside not more than third of an
average crop will be gathered Take it alto
gether, we shall be doing well in Louisiana if
We get 100000 bales to market this year. 1t
is true that Louisiana has been the most I'M
lucky of all the States; but the circumstances
which have told against her ought to have
been well known to a gentleman, who like the
commissioner of the agricultural bureau, has
bis agents in every county and every neigh
borhood. If he has made so great blunder
here, there is no reason to think that he has
done better in regard to other States. The
commercial world will find out, alters while,
that the Southern people do really know
about the products of their own
sofia fact which seems to be disputed every
where just at present.