The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-05-20
More Cotton.

ll5.s;We md ihe following article In favor OF
l;nercaasne ethe aeg regate crop Of American
cotton SIN tbe May No::szof the Southern t''4'
Planter: c<zi.rs ira e4.i:2 49,
| "a friend OF ours has been good enough
| to hand us ietteriWhieh ne Iately receiveu
Ifrom the most distinguished cotton author
jtv. in Eurape. at IL dated the Attn uItimo.
In this letter occurs tue following: You
1 asked me some Years ago whether cotton.
1 nv which You. meant American cotton,
i woi,!d. eyer be. King. again. / answered.
/ yes. iii you increase your production sufn-
i GENTLY You areji in q fair way. The I'M
4 mort into Europe of all sorts, EXCEPT NORTH
i American. was in 1862, 100000 bales;
in 1912. $685., 1000 bales; in 1867, 2,2lS.-
/ 600 bales, and in ,1S77!'S,l l,52S, 900 bales;
/ nor is it likely to come 10 moTeln 1851,
| uItis TACT that, taking tbe<norInaI con-
] SUMPTION OF the world.,7, 100000 OF t0ases
i OF cotton are needed to meet the demand.
| The best we rhayesdone thus Tar IN tue
United States has been. IN round numbers,
five and one-fourth millions vi bales. There
| is, therefore, very considerable margin
still omen to us; for. except the limited de.
mand for SuratS Tor Indian cotton), for
Turkey-reds,' &c, American cotton can
and does substitute perfectly everything in
/ this line in the world. Last year witnessed
| the first shipment (and on ORDER u Ameri-
can cotton to India. It was used 10 mix
| with the native staple in the products OF the
| new factories lately erected there, and now
contesting with Lancashire for the trade OF
| that vast population. We see, then, that IL
ever people possessed an advantage over
everybody else on the globe it is the
people Of our own cotton States. and
that the point with them is not To
decrease production, but TO find out how
that production can be done with the great
est economy. and then carry it to the high
est point in quantity the demand will alb
sorD. With labor. free, who can tell acAdt
the minimum cost OF production really is or
can be made? we recoIlect to have seen
the details Of large crop raised IN South
Carolina few years before the war. The
crop was sold in Charleston atsiX cents Chot
six pence),a pound, aud although the whole
equipment of the estate was estimated at It's
full value, including interest on the COST OF
the land, it still netted the owner thirteen
per cent. We submit that agricultural
production now here else 10 the world will
show net result like that. except, it may
be, in our bright-yellow tobacco country
In looking over the seXpenditure' part OF
the account it was found that the provisions,
both for stock and negroes, lCere TQtSed at
homo and It was that Which put the bal
unce SO hrgely.on the right side. Is 1t not
possible TO raise these provisions now
They are being, raised in many parts OF the
cotton country. and where This is done we
hear lew complaints about the price OF cot
ton. .... h, Il. .,., ..... =.
at is hard to conceive OF any crop easier
or cheaper to raise, when you come down
| to the elements OF the account, Than cotton.
l fNr
side OF tobacco 1t is the merest cbld's play.
! II it were not so. how could we ever cx-
plain the enormous crops grown H.: the
| South since the war, harassed and worried
as that snction has been by the Vaccinations
of carpet-Dagsers and other scoundrels
foisted on it by the General Government?
SO, dear friends, don't despair. but raise all
YOU can OF this crop the world insists upon
wanting so much; but forget not that
i. grub lis an essential element IN the calcu-
lation, and that man is not wise who per-
sists In putting all his eggs into one basket,
Besides, God gave us heads for use, and il
4 we fail to use them we should not sport a
beard, hut really give ourselves over TO the
4 tender mercieS OF the focl-killer. We are
bis lawful property" -, 81 i"-#
We commend the foregoingto ourfrends
in the cotton region. 1T takes, IN our Iudg-
| ment, the true 'sround-Damely, not 10 de-
crease but increase production. AS long as
any considerable margin exists between the
price OF American cotton and the growtbs
| OF other countries, especially "Indla," the
latter will be used, either asa substitute for,
or to mix with, A American cotton, and this
is not desirable; it certainly should not be
to people, who understand their interests.
With American cotton at anythinglikefa
reasonable; price nothing can compete with
1t. Our !" uplands" have been So much
improved in staple, through the selection Of
seed and the gam in time secured by the
use OF chemical manures, that there is
hardly an appreciable difference between
their price, in the Liverpool market, and
that OF oil the .'black Seed" or long-stapie
cottons, excepting, OF course, our own
"Sea Island" -.
Before the war, when the laborer was the
employers property, it was possible to az
rive at the minimum cost OF production
with good rdculioi precision; with the la.
borer. free, and paid as be is, not in money, 1
but share Of the crop, ont OF which he
provides bis maintenance and medical at
tendance. we know Of no problem more
difficult or solution than that Of ascertain-
ing, with any sort OF exactness, how
cheaply cotton may be grown. As large as
our crop has grown to be, we really work
to very limited extent the. best Of our
cottonslands. It's cultivation is mainly con-
fined 10 the uplands, because it is. more
healthy to live there. The rich bottom
lands brought in, and the cotton picked
after it was made, it lis hard TO tell, even
with the labor now at command, W hat the
volume of the crop could be carried
to. We know this, that we have the
means, IL they are used, Of supplying the
demand OF the whole, world for this staple,
the only question being cue oil cheapness OF
production, and .cansequ enttreasonableness
or price. Our contemporary has pointed
out the vital clement In the question name.
az, the raising Mt home OF our food supplies
for man and beast Its folly to talk Of i'm.
porting them fsaaa other quarters, and still
he able. tossaew:aa taiesand Of the season a |
good balaDse on The credit side.of the Jae- \
count. h The experiments conducted by Di a
81. JULIEN RAyssgL, for some years past,
on The soils FroaBd i, l O. nail
tsSfFst ass1 SIS ~. ,tf.s fftt,f