The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-12-07
THE sEAsIsLAKD QUESTION.

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ton Sections.
THE EDITOR OF THE NEWS.
A change in the agricultural pursuits OF q
people is matter of grave moment, and no
slight or incidental causes should move
thereto.
On the other hand, to persist in losing
business, is worse than idle. 1t becomes
duty under such circumstances bravely to ac-
cept the necessities of the case, and embrace
the new field of industry with many cohn-
dence in ourselves to wiring from the occasion
an honest subsistence, if not riches and
honor.
Our coast, at least, perchance in the memo
" Of a few still living, made rapid and COM
plete change from indigo to long cotton, 30
that the indigo vats, where we watered our
horses in boyhood and marvelled over. were
the everyday business resort OF our grand
fathers.
So again the inland swamps were entirely
deserted in the rice culture, and river plan
tations substituted at an enormous outlay
in reducing to cultivation the tangled bog
prairies-whether we regard the wide and ex-
tensive canals, the theading quarter drainage,
the treacherous tidal banks, calling for no
little engineering skill, and immense and con-
tinuous labor in construction, Improvement
and repair.
The change from indigo to cotton heard
in youth, discussed before the st. Helena Is
land Agricultural, Society by those familiar
with the management and profits Of each
crop. The wholesome economy of the change
was.entirely indorsed by the informed deba-
tors of the question.
The great success in the change OF rice
fields is known to all. Yet in its incipiency
what q huge venture was it. 1t is now con-
templated to substitute upland for sea islands
Shall we do it, and to what extent' This is
worth. considering. In thus doing, we must
consult the past as well as the present.
F This subject is not new. 1t was gravely
mooted, and, indeed, tried. to some extent, in
Lower st. Luke's some thirty years ago. be-
lieve the experiment was made here, and then
all along the coast. It was not continued
The low price of sea islands had induced the
abandonment thereof; there were not few
potent reasons for resuming Its cultivation.
They, amongst others, were these:
The plantations on the coast at the time
were crowded with laborers, (Florida being
then but little better than an Indian wild.)
The sea island cultivation involving small
acreage, in comparison with uplands, it was
found necessary, in adopting the latter, either
to increase the area by purchasing lands or by
planting the fields over without following.
The first was not feasible, for there were little
or no lands in market, and those that were
could not be had at prices bearing any proper
relation to the value of lands in the interior.
Then, If the upland system Of cultivation
practced at the time, with shovel, plough, &C.,
was introduced on our fields, taking up from
year to year our loose, friable soil, rapid i'm
poverishment was sure to ensue, besides caus-
ing the lands to sob in wet seasons, and thus
stripping the plants Of their fruit. The culti-
walton adapted to sea islands was doubtless
found not suitable to Hplands, for have been
informed by highly Intelligent and prac-
tical planter, who moved from the coast
to saundersvllle, Ca, not long before the
war, that he had o small piece Of upland
cotton worked there by one of his coast
slaves in the most approved low country style,
and found to his surprise that 1t was an utter
failure in comparison With the cotton worked
IN the usual manner. It is more than pro-
bable our planters made the same mistake In
snpposing what twas sauce for the goose
was sauce for the gander." Be this as it may,
In the meantime sea islands rose in market
value The common class Of uplands then
planted could have no comparison In product
iveness to improved varieties of shor. cotton
since introduced, indeed had little advantage
In this regard over certain productive vaFic-
ties of sea islands then planted-the ''Littc
Black" and others. Many productive and finer
selections Of sea Islands, Of high market value,
were also introduced at or about this time.
Then, too, the system of manuring began to be
more generally practlced. So sea island cal-
ture took new impetus and grew apace with
the fertilization Of the soil, which became
subject Of great interest, aal found more
careful development, on the whole, on Edisto
Island, though possibly carried by individuals
elsewhere to a greater extent than was prac-
ticed even on this once favored and beautiful
island, so well known as the garden-spot OF the
State.
Notwithstanding this recurrence to sea
islands might seem to indicate its greater
adaptabillty and profitableness, in the opinion
of the olden time planters, which, doubtless,
was the case in their situation, yet am re-
minded Of the oft-repeated remark Of the
upland planters Of our district, who could raise
either variety on their lands They used to
say that whenever coast negroes are sold at
the courthouse upland planters nearly always
bid them Off over the heads Of the coast
planters. The opinions of these men were
worth far more than tho asking, and re-
garded their views in this direction as of great
favor at the time. With this brief outline of
past experiment and opinion, what of the facts
of the day! Do they justify the change! Our
circumstances differ much in material particu-
lars from the past
We no lo"ger have troops of slaves on our
backs, nor are we forsOoth any longer on
theirs. Our fields arc wide open before us,
labor comparatively scarce, our lands at
merely nominal value, uplands greatly out
rank us in comparatively market values, and
&ho,o q, M ,,oocihIo chnncp f0r year3 ut least