Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-09-01
ssFPTEMBER- 1870.

bales. over the production of the preced-
ing year. But this fact Affects prodpetlon
Never before IN the history OF
Southeru agricultural industry were the
fall and winter months as favorable as
those of 1863 for gathering the cotton crop.
The cotton-p picking season in he low
lands of the Mississippi and Alabamas
and along Red river and almost every
where in the South, was such that despite
defective systems of labor, almost the
whole crop was saved. It is the generally
opinion that the number Of ne
groes in the South Is rapidly lessened,
and very certainly no supply Of labor has
been drawn from China or other sources
which NAV enable cobtOn-grOwers to save
A crop greater than that which taxed the
labor system Of the South last year to is
utmost capacity. 1t is also true that he
nresent appearances Of cotton fields
indicates greater wealth Of production
than will be realized. Rains have been
abundant and the stalks have grown
too l~uxuriautly and shed the torms.
The estimate Of the crop Of 1870 is per-
haps exaggerated and the recurrence OF
another such picking season as the last
is almost impossible.
1t deserves to be borne in mind by all
who are interested in his crop that the
efforts madesto establish factories for its
eonsnmPtion in the South have reached a
DOlQL LndL Will tBll 10 AOAAl6 64tG4tO n nv
export. Tennessee has thirteen mills II
operation to-day, EMPLOYING fifteen hum
dred operatives. Georgia and Alabama
have taken hold more resOlutely and com
pIetsd many mills, hat are said to COM
pare f2vorably with the best Of the Eastern
States. There are six completed or in
course of construction in Mississippi;
that at Stonewall, above Mobile on the
New Orleans road, making goods that
compare successfully with products Of the
Atlantic mills. In fact, mill Owners Of
the South only fear that too much capital
will now be directed, especially because
of the disturbed condition of Europe, into
this channel. There are nearly thirty
millions of cotton spindles in~iCOntinental
Europe, a large proportion OF which are
located in Germany and Francs. With
the spindles in those countries idle, and
the Germans and French impover-
ished by war, the consumption Of
| goods, it is assumed, will be materially
eurtailed. with the result Of a marked
depreciation in values. But b fall in
prices may stimulate consumption in
peaceful countries, and thus, to some K
tent, cOunteract the depressing efforts Of
war. The South committed a grave error
this season, in devOting all its energies
to the great staple, to the neglect Of food
crops. If il had added five psr cent. to
the increased acreage instead of twelve,
anu ubNObEA S1N1A POI 0hs AtaLNAN-1r 80
prospects now would doubtless have been
better. Three millions of bales, at one
hundred dollars a bale, are worth more
than five millions at sixty dollars, for
there is a saving in bales, freight and la
Dor, as we'll as a difference in
price, besides a reasonable di-
versiication of industries at all
times desirable. The New York gamblers
have entered into contracts to deliver
eottonsi in October ar I6@l6Hc-three cents
less han current quotations. These hg-
ures need not ave any terrors for the
readers of the APPEAL. Thanks to a
\ providence who has curtailed the crop and
so insured the planter, eve against his
viii, a paying price for his cotton. Were
these figures to prove a correct forecast,
/ the planting interest would indeed have
received a severe blow, as it would require
all of their Iessened profits, or in default
of profits a portion of last years savings,
to pay for the food they of necessity have
to buy. But his forecast will, we pre-
dict, prove totally incorrect. The Franco
Prussian war may end as abruptly as it
commenced, or, if not, the cotton MANI
featuring industry of the b~elligerent ma
tions may be transferred to England
IN the United States, while the East
Indian growth Of cotton may be subject
to a material curtailment-