The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1869-10-15
SEA ISLAND COTTON.

The most beautiful and costly specimen
OF cotton is the sea island, cultivated with
in the limits of Georgia and South Carolina
on islands belonging to those States. 1t is
distinguished by the length, sickness and
strength of its staple, and is manufactured
IN Europe into the finest kinds of fabrics
Lace is made of it not much inferior to
linen. 1t consequently commands higher
price than any other cotton in the markets
OF the world. The States referred to have
been engaged in its culture for upward OF
three-tourtbs of a century, and many large
fortunes have been made by it, Attempts
have been made to raise it in other parts
of the world, in the same ATTITUDES, but
without success. 1t is raised in the low
lands of South Carolina and Georgia. Dor
dering on the sea-board, but it is an infe-
rior article to that of the sea islands, and in
order to maintain an approximation to the
latter in quality, new and fresh seed has
to be obtained from the islands every few
years. Transferred into the interior, to the
midland districts, it rapidly degenerates
! from what is called long staple into short
staple cotton.
Thore are different classes of the sea island
cotton seeds, which are well understood by
sea island planters, some of whom have
been very curious and particular in the Sc
lection of the seed.
When it was certained by Kinsley Bur-
den, ESQ, a scrutinizing observer, that some
stalks In his cotton field produced bolls
more remarkable for the tirmness, beauty
and length of the fibre than the great bulk
OF his crop, he took pains to select those
stalks from the rest, and have the bolls
ginned separately and he found that the
seed was crowned with a silky tuft that
distinguished it from the ordinary black
seed cotton. This seed he took care, the
next season, to plant in q field separate
from the rest of his crop, and succeeded in
raising an article, inferior in quantity, but
far superior in quality, and commanding
much higher price abroad than what was
raised by his sea island neighbors While
he kept his own secret, he enjoyed mo-
nopoly of this superior article, and was
rapidly becoming rich by his discovery.
1t did not long, however, remain concealed
from the scrutiny of prying eyes. The
temporary success of this gentleman led sea
island planters generally to be more atten-
tive to the selection of the seed, and it was
finally ascertained that of the black seed
cotton, which had been planted indiscrimi-
nately, there were several grades, capable
Of being distinctly marked by the superiori-
ty of the staple. 1t then became favorite
amusement of planters and their families,
after the desert was removed from the ia
BILE, to cover it with small heaps of cotton
seeds, and have such as were marked by
any peculiar traits separated from the rest
with a view to subsequent experiments
BY this means the culture of the black seed
cotton was carried to the highest degree
of perfection; the quantity of the crop
being diminished, however, in proportion
to the tneness of the staple.
The soil of those islands, in its natural
state, is sandy and barren, and is rendered
productive only by skilful and laborious
tillage. The best dressing for the land is
marsh mud, which the neighborhood sup
plies in abundance. The plant as com
pared with that of the mainland, rises only
to a medium height, and the largest pro-
duct seldom exceeds one hundred pounds
cleaned cotton per acre. The sea breezes
impart peculiar softness to the atmos-
phere in those ATTITUDES, and the climate is
supposed to contribute more to the idiosyn-
cracies and superiority of this queenly
plant, than any other cause whatever
Those islands, before the late war, were
dotted all over with palaces, indicative of
the wealth of their aristocratic inhabitants
but during and since the occurrence of that
great calamity, these garden spots of South
Carolina and Georgia were, and have been,
to great extent surrendered to the sable
race, who, we imagine, have not conduced
much to 1.-The march of improvement"
Within the last year Or two very fine pro-
ducts of sea island cotton have been raised
in the vicinity of this city.-Ne,o Orleans
Times.