The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-04-19

heavier; In Great Britain lighter Tho fabric made by
the Lawrence Manufacturing Company, known as LII,
Is representative OF this average
This quantity OF cloth would furnish 500 0o0 900 per-
sons Eve pounds or twenty yards each annually. u
the 900 bales OF cotton the United States now fur
nsh about in each year. and our proportion
is year by year increasing. Tue eight last crops.
raised by tho labor Of reemen. exceed the eight last
crops before civil war; then raised mainly BY the
labor OF slaves, In the number OF than 900 600
bales II. then IL service TO men to provide for
them the largest quantity OF the material that best
meets their need for clothing In this ono respect our
rank Is assured
AMERICAN Capabilities
Thcn Let us mark the extent TO which We have yet
trencned upon resources In this production less
than two per cent OF the area OF tho
cotton States used. What we may
yet accomplish may be better comprehended
by considering tho condition Of u single State. We
VIII select Texas being the State now making
the most rapid progress In population production and
wealth Few persons can realize the facts In regard
TO this great State except by comparison In area
1t exceeds the German Empire by about 10000
square miles; IL has land ana climate lifted for tho
growing or almost all the products OF the temperate
zone; Is undcrlain to large extent with coal But
respect cottou less than oEehalf OF one per
Of its It last produced onc-half Of all tho
cotton consumed the United States, and four per
cent Of its would hc capable OF producing all tho
cotton consumed in Europe and tho United States,
or 900 bales Whenever he fertile land 0! Texas
which constitutes nearly thrcc-iourths us area, is
settled with the same density Of population as Massa-
chusel,s person to each three acres il Will con-
tain nearly 40, O00, 900 people.
Under what conditions Is this work OF cotton produc-
ton now accom- Pushed yot 10 be doncY No longer
no ha In baro ft N alay
bu by labor OF irecmon and largely Of trceholders
on tho farm. LII most OF tho states where u IN now
grown cotton constitutes the saiabe or money crop
Of the farmer who, in other respects Is becoming en-
tircly independent to his subsistence. Raising food
ana meat to a greater extent than ever before the
Southern farmer slili finds cotton the mems where
with TO furnish himself with money Tor other pur-
chases Cotton beng therefore more and moro tho
surplus crop profit o tho farmer us distinguished
from the panter Of old time II becomes moro
difficult to determine It's cost, its annual
quantity until each years crop has been ac
tuaiy delivered; or the price At which It's pro-
duc,ion Will DO checked In Texas the State that has
increased It's crop about eighty per cent over Tho
largest anewur CROP by far the largest portion Is now
raised by farmers owning their own lands Her last
crop was nearly 70oo0o bales, and within one or TWO
years at artnest It will be 1000 900. mostly cultivated
by white labor
COST OF PRODUCTION.
In answer TO q very extended inquiry lately made
tho writer has received estimates Of tho cost OF The
production Of cotton ranging IRON SIX TO fifteen cents
per pound the latter cost however, having been gwen
by one who on $40 OF lana mndc only four bales
tho previous year. Tho general range OF the estimates
OF cost were six ten cents. But one answer TO
the question OF cost the most significant. One
said I'll have n nephew twenty years vi age who,
without the least detrent to hrs schooling, and work.
ing saturdays produced tour bales OF cotton II may
DO asked what did this lads cotton cost 10 produce
Tho average estimate Of cost ID nine and sixtenth
cents per pound those who give the higher rates
basirg estimates upon tho purchase OF provisions
at present prices those who give the estimates Of SIX
to seven cents basng them upon provisions being
raised on the iarm The significant fact In ali
the estimates Is that the lowest come from Texas,
North Carolina and Georgia, which arc essentially
farming States while the highest come from Mississippi
and louisiana. the STATES which were formerly par
excellence the country Of the largo planters
IMPROVEMENTS
According to these returns. the centennial year Is
also marked by greater improvements than ever DO.
tore In the selection OF Seed IN the Improvement Of
Tools the OF fertilizers and In tho average crop
per acre, positive evidence having been gveE Of the
production OF 500 pounds OF lint or Glenn cotton on
single measured In Georgia. TWAS not claimed
that this had could be profitable, but II Is Sig
nicant OF the experiments that are beng tried In
many places The average estimates OF profitable work
range so 100 10 900 pounds OF lint or clean cotton
per acre. according to the quality OF the soil and the
kind Of work done or tho fertilizers used Tho last
ten years also witnessed the conversion Of tho
seed OF tho cotton plant into many useful articles but
little known before.
In respect TO the estimates of the cost OF raising
cotton IL does yet appear that any very
data exist under the now system; skiul men, who,
Immediately after the war, feared utter ruin unless the
price could DO maintained al twenty cents per pound,
now admit having made fair proat ut ten cents. II
NAV DO doubled whether tho cost be defined.
II the farmer can raise ample supply OF grain, veg
etables meat and fruit for subsistence, and also
produce less Gotten for sale the cotton repre-
scnts profit surplus rather than cost and under
such circumstances its production would not cease, al
though IL might be checked, even II II should decline
to six eight cents per pound.
OLD AND METHODS.
The future increased production OF cotton In the
United states and the tmo within which our staple
will take the place OF all inferior grades is there
fore, only question OF numbers aud intelligence In
respect intelligence Is not to be questioned that the
planter OF old time had far more skill than many
of the farmers Of the present day. but tho system Of
labor TO which thut skill was applied imposed bad
that could not be surmounted, and It enforced
the use OF tools and methods unit for the purpose.
These methods may have assured prosperity to the
the cost of the many, but II was the high price
and not the low price OF cotton that limited tho extern
Of the crop. Twenty years since every balc that
could be made by the force then upon tho cotton field
was required Tor use and under tho steadily advancing
price the capital needed for opening new fields
steadily increased with the advancing price OF slaves,
until In 1860, Il atty per cont more to buy aud
stock plantation to raise tho cotton Tor given
factory than II did 10 build the mill anu Ill
II with machinery. All this has changed and In the
nvo years last rassed moro than a million persons
have migrated from other States from abroad TO the
fcre lands OF Texas ana the Independents freebooter
viii only DO prevented from making more and moro
cotton each year by the low price and by tho high