The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-06-06
Thoughts Oh Cotton Culture.
.There Is a way which seemeth right unto

.Thcre Is a way which seeneth right un'o
men, hut the end thereof is dcnth;'
rcndsrs i, few thoughts on tho production Of
cotton. and although my views may not be
endorsed by many farmers within the cotton!
belt OF the Cnrolinns. Georgia. Alabama ana
Mi>SiSGipuI, or cunsideredl by other farmers US
yissionmry. yet think they. arc entitled to
tie most serious cunsidcrntlnn.
/ beyin Win The unpalaiahlr, and 1t may be
startling assertion. that the production OF COZ.
ton BY II vast minority Of farmers In the above
named STATES, VIII be gradually abandoned.
The exhaustion OF the cotton soils In the sec
tions named, and the opening up and develop.
ing Of the cotton soils of the great southwest,
will bring about this revolution.
business several years ago required the
writer 10 visit thousands OF cation planters
from the Carolinas to MeHiro. ana tlnS nav.
ing good opportunity to observe me eieat
in the Two sections. he thinks he knows
whereof he aiiirms when he makes the above
unlmIatable assertion. The fact Is now pat
ent. though many may NOT recoGn'Ze "; thit
Georgia., Alabama and Mississippi can com
pete with the farmers cnltivAting The staple
on rich alluvlal soils of the Southwest. The
bottom land of Rcd River and ITS tributaries
for more ethan n hundred years to come furnish
the present worlds supply, and that, too with
out the aid Of q single ounce Of either dnmes-
tic or commercial manures. The soils OF Those
lands are so we'll stored with all the food the
cotton plant require. that on fields many
years under the plough would give little or no
prrccptible increase or production over the
natural soil, although supplied with quar-
trurle the AMOUNT OF guano we OF Georgia nm
nually apply to our soils. The lands there lie
SO smoothe and level That every labor-saving
implement which may be invented fHn De Az 4,
us with rare exception) 1t Is to buy gnanos at
fifty dollars per ton to coax our soils. with
more manure per acre than the land Is actual
.x-k - ~u, 1 hnf u IN ar.
prcciable crop. The culvntin", too, on our
rock ribbed hills must needs be lone without
the aid Of a single improved labor'saVln" lm-
plernent. My community Of farmers can con-
tend with such odds and survive, and farmers
will find the sooner the production or cotton
IL abandoned on soils which have to DC an
nuully coaXed with commercial f"rtiliZers, 10
make apprcciable crop, the nct,eI int US: !!
tempt Il com petition freight win certain de-
feat in the end. The farmers on those natural
ly rich soils of the Southwest can AFFORD 10
grow cotton by the present methods and nj
can't long do II and live. -
Abundant foou crops OF every description
which will grow upon our SOILS are our ohlS
hope, and this we must 40 or PERISH. v ra,
more successfully compel with the Norm
west, even on our exhausted SOILS. IN raising
food crops, than with our South western brcth'
rem In growing cotton. History informs Us
that the South Of Europe formerly produced
cotton In grcatahunhance having been driven
out by the competitor of other countries
such 4 state of things Is gradually but surely
descending upon the once tcenllhg cottoh
fields OF Georgia.
Buying fertilizers, under the present condi.
ton Of affairs, to enrich poor land TO make
cotton, is too much like buying gold dust and
sprinkling it In a poor gold mine In order to
have the grim and questionable pleasure an
uncertain profit Of digging IT out again. G0t
ton at from three to five cents Is only awaiting
a mechanical genius to invent and perfect q
cotton Harvester and Separator; and the close
o: the ninctceth century Is patiently expect
Ing lin. The time will come In the near I'll,
ture when the ficccy staple will be gathered
by the nimble fingers of steel Instead olhunan
hands. When this end arrives the southwest
will be more widely developed into c0ttnT
fields. which for many years afterwhrd VIII
give the world II supply of cotton at prices he
low the cost Of production In the stale aoorf
| mentioned, and some future contributor OF TIN
! CWitiyntor and write the cpitaph OF Gcorgii
raised cotton. j. L.
Cataula, Ca, May. 1857.