The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-10-11

f'.,IltI,tf t ...IsI'.s,r,
- The cotton gin; was invented in 1898.
The culture of cotton was begun in the
Southern colonies in 1770. It was an ex.
pertinent for which the older, nations of
the world were not prepared, and was
suited only. to a bold and adventurous
people, In 1884, the year after the close
of the Revolutionary war, a vessel from
this country, that had carried to LIVER,
pool eight bales of cotton, was seized in
that port upon the suspicious charge of
illicit trade, ground on the presumption
that so large quantity of..cotton could
not possibly have been the production of
the United States. Eleven years later
than this, in 1885,, when the commercial
treaty which bearsithe name,of Mr.. Jay
was negotiated between the United States
and Great Britain, one article of the
treaty, as it originally STOOD prohibited
the expectation from this country, in
American vessels, of such articles as
Great Britain had previously imported
from the West Indies. Mr.. Jay was sur.
prised to learn subsequently, that cotton
was included in this prohibition, and still
more surprised to be made acquainted
with the fact, of which he was till then
wholly unaware, that cotton. was becom-l
ing an article of export from the United
States. The culture was continued, amid
difficulties and embarrassments which
constantly threatened its, abandonment,
till in 1871 the whole amount of cotton
exported from. the United States was but
189, ,316 pounds. The next year, that pre-
ceding the invention Of the cotton gin,
the amount exported was diminished
$4,000 pounds. There was, in fact, from
the incipiency of the culture to the period
of this invention, no indication of any.
tendency to an increase of the production.
The chief difficulty in the prosecution of
the enterprise had been found to be the
extremely slow and .laborious process of,
cleaning the green-seed cotton, or ..sepa-
rating it from the seed and so serious
had this embarrassment. come to be re-
garded, that the cultivators were gener-
allysinclined, to yield to it as aninsuper-
able objection to what had been the grand
design of the undertaking; namely
the raising Of cotton for the European,
market. aJa. 80 f,7,,D
The green cotton seed is that which is
commonly known as the upland or bowed
Georgia cotton, by which name it is dis
tinguished from that produced in the is
lands and low districts near the shore,
called sea island, or black seed cotton.
The latter is the finest kind, and derives
its name from the circumstance of its
having been the first cultivated in this
country in the low sandy islands on the
coast of South Carolina. It will not
flourish at distance from the sea, and.
its quality gradually fdeteriorates as it is
removed froul 'the salutary action of the
oceans spray" It, has longer fiber
than other cottons, and is of a peculiarly
even and silky texture, which qualities
give it its superior market value. The
expression "bowed, ~ which is9applied to-
upland cotton, is descriptive Of the means
that were employed for cleaning it, or
loosening the filament from 'theIseed, pre-
vious to the invention'6f the, cotton gihi.'
The process was similar to that employed
by hatters for beating up wool osthe
proper consistency. for felting. Strings,
attached to bow, were broqght'in con:
tact with a heap Of uncleanedl cotton and
struck so as to cause violent vibrations,
and thus to open the locks Of cotton and
permit the easy separation Of the seed
from the fiber. The cleaning was like
wise done wholly by hand, the work ofthes
bow-strings being scarcely more efficient
than that accomplished by the nngers OF
the slaves. In either caseii the process
was discouragingly tedious and, slow
Whitney's cotton-gin ovetcame all this
difficulty and furnished the means Of
separating the seed and cleaning the cot:
ton with such economy of labor and time
as at once to give a spring to the agricup
tural industry of the South, and an inn.
petus to what in few years; compare!
lively, became one of the most important
branches of the commeree and rnanufac-'
lures of the world. 80 ''''ii!'.'ip H'iH,
. is1l. l.Ltfi!'