New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-05-03
HOW THE COTTON CROP Is HANDLED, AM
HOW TT SHOULD BIB.

HOW THE COTTON CROP Is HANpLhp' AND
HOW IT SHOULD BIZ III
Let rs trace crop of cotton from 'ne
picking on the plantation to its tnal Oe''f
nation under the present system, then SNOW
the way in which we think it shoulo OY
managed, and lastly point out the saving
by the latter method. The old plan Oh
raising cotton on large estates involved
the necessity Of having an expensive gin
and press on every plantation. The poor
machinery of the press and the use OF ropes
instead of iron ties did not suffice to put the
bales in proper order for shipment. The
great size of the bales and the frequent
breaking of the ropes involved both
unnecessary cost Of freight and loss OF
cotton. When arrived in New Orleans
these large bales had to be drayed to the
cotton press where they were ICON
pressed" into bales of little more than
half the original size, for shipment to New
York or Europe. The drayage was paid
by the cotton press, while the cost OF com
pressing was betrayed by the ship.
Now if there is any one thing in the
South more certain than another, it is that
our planters viii have to abandon the old
plan Of raising cotton on immense plsnta~
tons to the exclusion of every other prod
net. From being planters they nnst be-
come farmers. They must put into prac-
tice that admirable system which has ena-
abled our Northern farmers to become rich
by raising wheat and corn.
Before the South can greatly prosper its
plantations will have to be cut up into
farms Of suitable size the owners will
have to 60 to work with their own hands /;
method and economy will have to take the
place of the shiftlessness Of former times /;
the farmer will have to raise his own ami
mails, grain, pork, etc. His profit will
result from the surplus he will have to sell
over and above the maintenance Of his
family, Of his stock, and help.
If the cotton interest is not entirely ruined
from the persistent effort Of the planters to
keep up the old theories and practices,
this surplus of the farmer will in the
Gulf States usually consist of from five to a
hundred bales of cotton. As it will
not pay to keep a gin and
press in order to prepare fifty
bales of cotton for the market, some enter
prising man in every neighborhood will
put up a substantial gin and press driven
by steam that will do this work promptly
and economically for twenty or more farm
ers. By the use Of powerful, double
geared press of the newest pattern he will
at the same time so compress the cotton
that it will be ready for foreign shipment.
In fact such g press, driven by a single
mule, can be made to press the very life
out Of cotton" as they say. This item
alone would save nearly half the cost of
shipment to New Orleans, and the entire
cost Of COMPRISING in the city, which now
amount to about two dollars per bale, not
including the inevitable less of more or
less of the staple in the frequent handling
variously estimated at from two to ten
pounds, and probably averaging some FIVE
pounds per bale.
As one good gin and press would be
made to do the work of whole neighbor-
hood, millions of dollars would be saved in
the shape of machinery on the cotton
plantations, while at least half the cotton
presses in New Orleans could then be con-
verted into factories or dwellings, and the
other half be probably used for cotton
warehouses, Millions Of money could in
this way be saved, nearly all of which
would go into the pockets Of the farmers
in the enhanced value Of the staple.
One or more country merchants at every
little town and shipping point should pur.
chase the crops in the neighborhood, and
send them, with samples, to the New
Orleans factor all ready for shipment
to foreign market. This would be an
accommodation and an immense saving
to the cotton producing farmer 1t is
precisely the way in which the grain
crop Of the North is now handled and
that some such system will have to be
adopted in the South is evident to every
one who knows anything about the mat
ter. That the cotton factors Of New Or
leans, who complain Of realizing no profits
under the present system, would not be
losers by the adoption of the proposed plan
we will abundantly prove hereafter, s
PUTEAKs ARTICLE ON TIE MISSISSIPPI
1s ne RIVER.
The almost simultaneous appearance Of
articles relative to the Mississippi river in
P,anGos's, the Atlantic, and the Gaia1g,
shows how largely the questions pertaining
to the father'Of waters " are interesting
not only the dWellers in the Mississippi
valley, but also the whole country. In fact
these are fast becoming national instead Of
local subjects, and we welcome any light
throSu upon them. rt4 wa
Speaking Of the delta Of the Mississippi,
DR.. J. o. Noyes says ..aish ioel.g (
These bottom lands need now mama.
nure, no fertiizing agents, but when Nv
and by the soil shall begin to lose ia