The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-01-12

Tho state Commissioner II Agriculture
Jaws n htx last report that this /. Is not con-
sidered a cotton county, and raises hsHe
or no COLON for market" Now, venture
me assertion. and have made many In.
ouirjes. that as many bales Of cotton were
made In Mecklepburg last year as hogsbeads
~ tobacco. The people In the lower end.
adjoining North Carolina. have for years
considered II their money crop. and its cul.
tiyatlon exceeds that OF tobacco. In That
norton Of the county which i tributary TO
Petersburg. while this Is to Richmond, l
am Informed gins are accessible from every
neighborbood, country merchants trade Tor
the staple, AID IL Is also baled and shipped
| by the planters.
In the upper end Of the county and in The
vicinity OF ClarksvIlIe, GIN, run by steam,
has been In operation for several months,
where the raw material l. bought, gipned,
baled, and shipped. In going TO Novem-
Der court saw more wagon-lOads OF cotton
on their way to this gin than would ordl.
uariIy see In the regular season. over the
same road wagons OF tobacco going TO mar
ket.
Mr. William Russell, large and success
ful farmer on the Siaunton river in the up
per end Of this county, failed in tobacco
plants last year. and decided in May to ex-
pertinent with cotton without fertilizers.
He planted on his usual tobacco land five or
SIX acres, and the yield was over 5000
pounds of seed cotton, or equivalent
TO about 1000 pounds ginned. The
costs and labor OF cultivation, gathering,
and marketing, were so much lighter,
cheaper, and expeditions than tobacco, that
he will this year plant on more extend
ed scale. The results OF the expert
ments Of others in the same c0mmu-
nty were also equally gratifying. AT
the Oak. Hill farm. below Mr.. Russell, the
manager, who had cultivated cotton in Ten
nessee and Alabama. says some OF his cot
ton was as fine as any he ever saw In those
States. The staple is excellent, ana those
who baled and shipped to Petersburg real
lied good prices. Other great advantages
OF this crop are that it does not impoyerish
the land, having but few lateral roots; does
not REQUIRE very rIch soil or much rain, nor
even deep plougbing; women and children
can be employed in its management !;
| its exceeding cleanliness and its ready
marketable condition all commend II. But
the summum bOn,tm Of lis superiority rs
crop for us is the fact that you can have the
money IN your pocket for II before CHRIST
mas, while with tobacco YOU have TO wait
until the ensuing summer before you can
strip. order, prize, ship, and sell.
The theory about cotton being confined
to certain belts OF country has all been eX-
poded since the manufacture ana introduce
lion of quickly-actin9 artificial fertilizers.
IL planted early, properly manfred, well
thinned, and kept free OF grass the Dolls
will mature and open before the 'rosts OF
autumn. With an available and not eXpen-
slye chemical compound. prepared by hon.
est and competent men, the effects Of climate
can be counteracte1 in the production OF
this staple In this latitude as eflectually as
time and distance have been annihlated by
the electric current. Il. ID. j.
p. ). In the Palmer's Springs district.
one of The eight districts Of this county, 600
bales Of cotton were made last year.
L. ID. j.
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, VA, Jan. 10, 1881.