The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1868-04-28
More Careful Culture ofCotton.

There is nothing that does not improve by care
fus culture. This is proved by all our fruits
and flowers. We Were once riding with friend
! Through his magnificent estate, and he showed
us some Indian corn with grains three times the
size of the ordinary grains. We asked him how
he obtained such product He answered, .by
careful selection and cultivation. / selected the
very largest grains out of crop, and planting
them by themselves in my very richest land, l
cultivate them with the very greatest care"
1t is known fact that the most charming
roses are descended from the common wild stock,
which has neither beauty nor sweetness of anlell
but having been properly nurtured for ages, s,ch
Generation HIS sianrTse, till the rough wild rese
| has brcontS tho queen Of aowers. Nor has .he
Improvement yet stopped; for the roses of 1868
will be far more beautiful and far sweeter than
the greatest boasts Of our present florists.
SO 1t IS with the luscious peach. which was
once rough. wEinkled and foul-tasted bitter
almond, and the golden pippin, now without
peer III the productions OF our orchards, was once
The common crab-apple, that twisted the mouth
awry like green persimmon. ...-. e.
1t is strange that up to the late war the prin-
ciple of cultivation in the scientific sense in which
We have used it above, was not applied to cotton
but such was the fact. The growing of cotton
was properly NAMED planttng interest; for all
that was attended to Was the mere planting it in
rich ground. The principles of careful selection
and OF the dlllgent cultivation of the plant, were
ignored beyond the most primitive processes. All
that Was required Was rich groa.nd, and when
that became poor, or quilted, it was turned OUT
The consequence was that at the beginning
Of the late war, the land in many districts. that
twenty years before had been deemed inexhaus-
tlble had deterlorated to such an extent that the
planters were moving further West in order to
md lands rich enough to ptant in.
Yet in spite OF this wastetul and impropident
mode OF growing cotton, instead of cultivating,
such was the special adaptation of our climate
and soil to the cotton plant, that the product Of
our third rate soils SO far surpassed that OF the
very best of foreign lands, that no other cotton
but that Of America was used for anything but
the cOarsest fabrics, and no other produced
price that justified its being made the production
of country.
The cotton of India did not pay, even though
the labor of that country cost but twelve dollars
year for the best hands. 1t was so worthless
that no manufacturer would buy tits staple
was short, brittle and discolored; it was almost
impossible to clean it, and after it was cleaned
to spin it, The same was the fact with regard
TO the cotton of most forei en- countries.
But the war came, and the supply Of England
vas cut off. Her operatives began to starve and
face. hat necessity, which has been ever the
mother OF invention, caused them to try to invent
better machinery for the short staple All would
not do however, for nothing could be made of
it. The price Of cotton went up, up, up until
it justified the employment of scientific caltiration
III India i'll place OF merely rude pInntimy. The
consequence has been that the improved methods
of growing cotton have produced an article that
Is fully as good as the best Georgia npfands, and
often even better, and our people will be knocked
out Of the market if they do not pay more atten-
tion to cultivating cotton with view to improve
It's quality to such extent as to beat the rest OF
the world. -. s.. ---
Moreover the abolition of the duty on foreign
cotton will remove whatever protection our plant
have thus far possessed, and unless their cot
ton is superior to that OF the rest of the world
they never affo rd to raise IT,
We believe that the planter is gone forever
from the South; but the farmer will always -four
lsh in our section. Yet We would not advise our
farmers to abandon the cultivation of cotton en-
tirely. As said in former article there is
no reason why it should not be made an auxiliary,
money crop ON every farm, putting at least few
acres of it In cultivation. If our farmers will
| cultivate it with more care than they formerly
did, it will pay far better than ever. If such is
the soil and climate of the South, that with rude
ptaat,ny it was able to surpass the whole world,
with proper attention to the scientific culture of
| this staple to the extent which it has attained
| elsewhere, should still have the same advan-
tage that we had ten years ago, and again drive
| all other cotton but that Of America out OF the
| Liverpool market.-Aortok Jon,nal