Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-12-23
THE SOUTHERN STAPLE
The Culture Of Cotton aed lss Foreign
Competition.

THE SOUTHERN STAPL,
The Culture Of Cotton azGl Lss Fsrei
II Compeflffon.
The question of cotton culture
the South is evidently one of vii
! importance. Heretofore this b
been our principal product, and Il
chief source of wealth and pro
perity. It is the peculiar yield
the majority of our lands, an
therefore, upon its development
a crop every interest is largely col
eerned. Previous to the late WIS
theplanting system embraced q larp
number of acres to the hand. An,
this, under the then existing state q
affairs, was not without profit. Th
condition of labor has howeye
changed. The interest of the Sout
now is to save all the labor it can
and by proper culture and care t.
determine the question, how mucI
cotton it is proper to raise to tn,
acre The Macon (Georgia) Tele
graph, furnishes the following est
mates, prepared by a planter of ex
perience on this subject, and which
is well worthy of consideration
eff cotton is planted five feet
apart each way, two stalks in the hill,
In one acre there will be three thou.
sand two hundred stalks. If each
stalk produces 90 HA-
90 bolls, the yield per year will be 4 bale.
IOO boils, the yield per acre will be II bales.
200 bolls, the yield per acre will be 8 bales
500 bolls, the yield per acre will be Al bales
400 bolls, the yield per acre will be 81 bales
800 bolls, the yield per acre will be bales
If planted eight feet apart each
way, two stalks in the hill, in one
acre there will be one thousand
three hundred and fifty stalks. If
each stalks produces
50 bolls, the yield per acre will be } bale.
100 bOlls, the yield per acre will be Z bales.
200 bolls, the yield per acre will be II bales.
300 bolls, the yield per acre will be 2 bales
400 bolts, the yield per acre will be u bales
800 bolls the yield per acre will be 81 bales
1.-The foregoing is calculated on
the rule of hundred bolls to the
pound, but good quality of cotton.
and luxuriant growth will average
far above that Now, of course,
when the writer talks of three, four
and five hundred bolls to the stalk,
he is speaking of transplanted cot
ton, with the calculation that it will
begin to mature early in June, and
continue to produce till frost-say,
in this latitude, five and a half
of actual production.
. " Who will undertake to say how
many bolls of cotton a luxuriant
stalk will produce with such oppor-
tunities ? All we can say is, that
we saw cotton stalks last fall, seed
ed in April, which we have no doubt
produced three hundred matured
bolls to the stalk, and these stalks
sown in the usual way-say rows
five feet apart, and plants about IF
teen or twenty inches apart in the
row"
1t is evident that the true policy
is to raise as much, by superior cul-
tivation to the acre, as possible 1t
not only enhances the value of the
lands but there is a great saving in
the fencing and labor. For, as has
been well said, eff the planter can
raise as much on one acre with the
same labor and money expended on
it as he could raise on FIVE, with
that labor and money, the question
of economy is settled FOrby con-
fining himself to one acre there is
saved the fencing and the exhaus
ton Of four acres and more than
half the labor Of gathering the
crop"
And this mode of culture is the
more easily accomplished in this
State by reason of the immense
amount of valuable phosphate lately
developed at our very doors. From
the Ashley to the Ashepoo there
has been discovered the richest de-
posts of phosphate known to any
section, and in such quantities as
can scarcely be exhausted by any
demand for half a century. The
fact is that the discoveries made
show that South Carolina will here
after, for years, supply the richest
peosphates for the development of
the soil. ...-..... 49,.
The efforts of foreign countries
have for years been concentrated
upon entering into successful COM
petition with Southern cotton. The
New York Daily Bulletin in allud-
ing to this subject says: .--r..
"The efforts of the government
and capitalists of England to extend
the era of cotton cultivation in other
countries besides the United States
show no abatement of energy and
enterprise. In every part of the
globe where cotton can be raised
English capital and brains stimulate
its culture, and supply as far as can
be all the deficiencies arising from
the peculiar situation of the soil and
the cultivators. To emancipate
themselves from dependence upon
American cotton is an object to
which English manufacturers attach
a high degree of Importance. Upon
the success of these efforts they re-
gard the question of the monopoly
Of the cotton supply as dependent,
and to prevent the restoration of
the former supremacy of the United
States in the production of the great
staple, they spare no expense or
trouble. The immense political in
luence Of the government promotes
the efforts of private individuals,
and English officials and consular
agents in every part of the world,
to carry out the designs of the Man
chester Cotton Supply Association.
" The latest information relative
to the culture of cotton in other
countries besides the United States
shows that a company has been
formed in Melbourne for the cult
vation of cotton and sugar in the
Feejee Islands, the soil and climate
Of which are said TO be favorable for
the growth of these products. In
the cotton province of San Paulo,