The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-10-09
ON PLANTING COTTON.
Early Days of tho Industry in America
Textile Nanufaoturers Edition, Boston.

7tstile Aanufaamrs Edition, Boston.
At a recent meeting of tho Cotton
Planters Association, held at Vicksburg.
Miss, Major T. NJ. Barnes, of Atlanta.
Ga, delivered an address in which he
told his hearers thet in the United States
cotton seeds were frat planted as an ex.
pertinent in 1921. In the province of
South Carolina the growth OF the cotton
plant Is noticed in paper Of tho date of
i666, preserved in Carroll's historical
collections of South Carolina. In 1876
the plant was known In gardens in lati.
tude 39o North on tho Eastern shore of
Maryland, and about forty years after.
ward 1t was cultivated In the county of
Cape May, N. J. It was, however, little
known except as o garden plant until
after tho Revolutionary war-at the com.
naencement Of which General Delgall 10
said to have had thirty acres of the green
seed cotton under culture near Savannah.
In 1884 it is stated that among tho ex-
ports of Charleston, s. O., were seven
bags of cotton valued at E3 lis. cd. O.
bag. Another email shipment was made
In 1864, and in ITO three emore-amount.
Ing 20 ten bales--were shipped to Liver.
pool. In the year 1884 eight bags ship.
ped to England were seized on the ground
that 80 much cotton could not be pro.
duced in the United States. The
exports of tho next six years were suc.
cessively IA, 6, 100, $50, S42 and lin 1901
81 bags.
In l7o6 the first Sea Island cotton was
raised on the coast of Georgia, and It's
expectation commenced in 1888 by Alex.
ander Bissill, of st. Sinon's island. Tho
seeds were obtained FROM tho Bahamas,
the plant having been introduced there
from Auguilla, one of the Leeward isles
The first successful crop In the State was
that OF william Elliott, In 1850, on
Hilton Head isiand. The success of the
crop caused many to engage in its cult
vation, aud some of tho largest fortunes
in South Carolina were thus rapidly
accumulated. In 1871 the cotton crop of
the United States was 100000 pounds
equal TO about 5000 of our present
size Observation-Disclosures of which was
raised In South Carolina, and one.fourth
in Georgia.
Besides the United States, the chief
countries for the production Of cotton are
the East Indies, Egypt, Brazil, the West
Indies and Guiana.
India contributes supply Of cotton
next in Importance to that Of the United
States.
Again, until tho past few years, cotton
seed, except for planting purposes, were
considered utterly worthless, and in order
to get rid of them the hands and teams
were put to work hauling them away
from the gin house. Regarding them In
this light, there was no object In econo.
MIXING when the planting season came
round, and anywhere from three to five
bushels per acre were wasted by the
before mentioned african planter"-the
darkies' hapds-enough wasted on every
fifty acres to pay for three or four plant.
era.
About the year 1850 q cotton planter,
known as the Foster planter, was invented
by North Carolinian, and manufactured
In Baltimore. twas looked upon with
considerable suspicion and distruBt, and
yet, Notwithstanding thia fact and its
clumsy and unwieldy proportions, quite
a number were introduced into tho Caro-.
linas, and on nicely prepared ground the
work was comparatively satisfactory.
This gave rise to various and Eundry sug.
gestions about the saving of lime and
labor. These suggestions were caught up
by different manufacturers of New York
and Pennsylvania, and inside of two or
three years cotton plantera were being
distributed ia the different cotton States,
especially In the Carolinas. Corn plant.
eIs hnd besn pronounced anccsss, and
these manufacturers expected similar.
results from their cotton planters. But
with all their akill and inventive genius
they lacked practical experience with
cotton seed. They had not fallen upon n
correct principle for forcing tenacious
seed filled with lint through hopper
with sufficient regularity to ensure d
stand of cotton. After repeated tests,
followed by as many failures, these
machines were thrown into fence corners,
and the old method Of hand. planting
continued, though enough had been
developed to put the farmer TO thinking.
At the close of the war, partly Of fneces.
sity and partly to escape the conflict
with free labor, o large majority of cotton
farmers rented their lands to. the new.
iiedged freedmen. This condition Of
things was almost as bad for the intro.
duction of improved machinery as before
the freedom of the slaves; and wherever
il szists nov ;Ei1 gnss holds equally GOOD.
The owner Of the land said he didn'6 pro-
pose to buy improved implements to be
destroyed by negroes and mules the
tenant said he didn't propose to buy them
for the benefit of the landlord. Consid.
ering the extreme poverty of the South
at this time, as we'll as the unhappy rele.
ton between renter and tenant In the
common struggle to become accustomed
TO the new order Of things, it is not SUE.
prisipg that labor saving machinery had
TO bide its time.
A few years later the intelligent land
owners made a discovery, aud that was
that their farms, instead of improving
under the tenant system, or even holding
their own, were being sadly neglected
and injured. In order to reclaim these
wasting lands it was necessary to take
them back under their own supervision,
and hire the labor. This revived the
interest in the labor.sayiDg implements,
aud this time cotton planters were
inquired for. Again the market was sup.
piled with the second edition Of worthless
planters, some coming down from the
North, others manufactured, or botched
DIP, at country blacksmith aud cross roads
wagon shops, and not onein fifty worth
the cost Of transportation TO the field.
With this experience, 1t is not 50 tprising
that large per centum Of cet ,on was
planted by hand. But o little later still,
aud the necessity for economizing on the
farm becomes 30 pressing that not only
tho most improved cotton planters, but
also serapers, cultivators and harroWs,
are sought after by the more Intelligent
farmers Of tho South. Advertisement
are consulted, Expeditions md State and