The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-08-04
statistics Of the Cotton Culture.

Owing, undoubtedly, 10 the coucen-
tration of cotton culture upon The most
fertile lands. and from the fact that the
area of production embraces almost c1-
clusively the highly fertile loviauds living
NJ the head Of the great est. Francis
bottom, in the southeas tern corner Of
the state, Missouri stands AT the head
of the list in average Weld per acre. pro-
ducing 6O-l00 of bale lof 47j pouuds)
to the acre. Arkansas comes second.
and produces its COG, $50 bales on some
what over million of acres, making the
average product per acre 5S-lOo Bv
+ far the greater portion uf the cotton
produced comes from the eastern and
southern portions of the State, which
contain large proportion of bottom
lands, while in the extreme northern and
western counties but little cotton IS
grown The Census Department figures
indicate that the average production of
cotton per acre, in 1877, in LJuisina,
was $500 of bale, in Mississippi,
46-l00 in Georgia, 3l-l0O; IN Alabama,
$1,000, and i'm Florida. 22-lOO
The great State of Texas stands third
in the list of total production. while
first in population among the cotton
ptAlAN IlOitis ttA AAtiEtl lii Nlt-lA IltI acre
-37-100 of bale. This latter fact may
surprise some persons, bur il is in part
accounted for a. an accident Of the sea
son, the year Of 1879 having been an
unusually dry one, aud therefore cspec-
tally untavorable 90 country in which
so large a population Of the staple is
grown on the upland soil, Among these
the heavy black prairie soil, 50 highly
productive in favorable seasons, are no
toriously the first 10 suffer from drought.
In ordinary seasons the average yield In
Texas would approach that of Mississip-
pi or South Carolina. The returns show
that - per cent, OF the cotton product
of Texas is grown in the northeastern
portion Of the Statc-north of the thirty
second parallel and east of the ninety
eighth meridian, and that within this re-
giou the propuction is highest in the
adjoining Red River. the pro
duct averaging 40-loO ST bale per acre
Southwark of the thirty second parallel
the average yield is 3tl0O per acre.
The coast counties produce but little
cotton inland between Red river and
San Antonio, about 30 pcr cent. of the
total product is grown on black prairie
land the average product per acre ON
such land being On 1870 34I0u offs
bale per acre. Within the last decade
the region of production has extended
Eeventy-hvc miles westward
Mississippi stands first i'm product,
sixth in population and in yield per acre.
Twenty-sevcn per cent, OF the cotton
product Of the state comes from the
Yazoo bottom, while over one-half of
the whole is produced ia what might be
termed the frst-clas~ uplands, viz the
table-land belt bordering the Mississippi
bluffRnd the two prairie belts. The Ligh
production l. due to the fact that quito
one-half Of its territory j. occupied bv
soils Of exceptional fertility and the fact
that it Is the one pursuit to which the
devotcs itself
Georgia stands slightly ahead of Ala
lama's average cotton product per acre.
The inference, from careful study OF
the detailed figures, is that while Mis-
sissppi is still partly within the period
Of the first flush Of fertility, and Geor-
gia has reached the stage when the use
of fertilizers is renovating her fields, the
soils Of Alabama have passed the first
stage, and her population has not vet
realized the necessity Of sustaining the
soils powers by fertilization
The cotton production Of Tennessee
i concentrated upon a comparatively
small area Of highly productive land.
and this fact accounts for the yield Of
4G-i00 Of a bale per ACRE. The cases OF
the two Carolinas, with respect TO cot
ton production, are nearly alike Ina
both States the average cotton pro-
duct per acre Is high, az compared with
that of Georgia aud Alabama, and in
the case Of North Carolina, approaches
that Of Mississippi itself; North Carroll
ia, 44l00 and South Carolina, $500
per acre.