The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-17
A SOUTHERN HOAX.
The Inventor of the New Cotton Plant Finds
1t Return to Torment Him.


1t Return to Torment Him.
Macon tGa.) Telegraph.
About two years ago there appeared in the
Telegraph an article on a new cotton plant, and
Dir. A. A. Subers, OF East Macon, was credited
with the discovery. The article was intended
as harmless hoax and it was thought would be
regarded so by all who read it,
A short while after its publication the mail
brought to Mr.. Subers scores of letters from all
over the South, asking for seed and samples of
every paper in the Union, and then crossed the
water. Letters were received from cotton
factors and cotton planters everywhere, and the
States of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi went
wild over it.
The Hon. Jefferson Davis read the article and
failed to discover anything like hoax in it, and
addressed long letter to Mr.. Subers concern
ing it But few of the thousands of letters
ever received replies, but to such distinguished
man as Mr.. Davis Mr.. Subers found time to
write that there was no such thing as Magno-
Disston cotton.
After nearly every town and hamlet in the
South had been represented in MIR. .Suber's
pigeon holes the usual morning budget of letters
bora foreign post-marks From Calcutta came
peremptory demand for the seed The writer
intlmated that the wonderful cotton plant was
being kept secret that the British possessions
might not procure any of the seed From Ger
many came request, and France also held out
her hand for few seeds. From far off Constan-
3nople came letter in which the writer says:
'My attention has been directed to your expert
ments in hybridizing the wild cotton plant of
Florida with the common okra, and l congratu-
late you upon the success which has crowned
your efforts"
Boston man wants three or four seed for his
dollhouse. Another Boston man, editor of the
journal of Commerce. publishes the article, de-
votes couple of columns to it, and then makes
a personal request of Mr. Subers for few seeds
Some of the more anxious people offer to pay
any. amount asked for peck or more of the
geeds. Others more modest ask for one, two
and three. One young lady in Texas, who seems
30 be we'll fixed wanted enough for two planta-
tions, and says she will devote the whole of the
next two years TO raising this wonderful cotton,
and promises a division of profits. Agencies for
the seed are requested all over the world. Every
possible promise is made if only few seeds are
eeut.
AT first Mr.. Subers rather enjoyed the recep-
ton every morning OF bundle of letters and
postal cards Then, as the number increased he
became tired. There was no way to distinguish
these inquiries from letters other business,
ana hence all were opened. In nearly every case
stamps for replies were incosed, but to answer
all the letters received would have required
clerk with type writer, and this service Mr.
Subers was unable to pay for Added to the an
noyance of receiving the letters Mr.. Subers is
made fighting mad nearly every day by the man
ner in which his name is spelled. Sometimes
It is Suber Soobers, Zubers and Super. He is
addressed as Mr., Major, Colonel, Honorable,
Monsieur, and one man in California addressed
him as the Rev. A. A. Subers.
For six months past we lost sight of the arti-
Gle We began to have hopes of never seeing it
again and that it was dead; but the other day it
bobbed up serenely in the St. Louis Democrat,
and copied by that paper from the Florida
Times Union. We reproduce 1t here, with the
hope that the papers throughout the country
viii aid us in circulating the information that
the new cotton plant is hoax. In this way
may be able to give Mr.. Subers some rest from
the people who swallowed the story.
Attention is now attracted in the South to a
new cotton plant, which bids fair to prove i'm
mensely valuable For many years A. A. SUI
bers, of Macon, Ga. has been carefully expert
menting to hybrldize the cotton that grows
wild in Florida with the common okra. The
new plant retains the okra stalk and the foliage
of the cotton. It's flower and fruit, however
are strikingly unlike either cotton or okra. The
plant has an average height 1.-TWO feet, and each
plant has only one bloom. This is magnificent
flower, very much like the magnolia in
fragrance, and equally as large Like the cotton
bloom the flower is white for several days after
It opens after which it is first pale pink and
gradually assumes darker shades of this color
until it becomes red, when it drops, disclosing a
wonderful boil. For about ten days this boil re-
sembles the cotton boil and then its growth sud-
denly increases, as if by magic, until it reaches
she size of big cocoanut Not until it reaches
$his size does the lint appear Then its snowy
threads begin to burst from the boil, but are
securely held in place by the okralike thorns, or
points that line the boil One inexperienced
picker can easily gather 800 pounds day. and
fast hands much more. Were the only saving
that of labor in gathering tho lint. the result of
Mr. Subers's experiment would entitle him to
Che everlasting gratitude of the Southern farm
ar But this is not all. There are no seeds in
the lint Each boil produces about two pounds
of very long stapled cotton. superior to the Sea
Island and at the bottom of the boil there
from four to six seeds, resembling persimmon
seed. This new cotton, therefore, needs no GIN
ming Such a plant would revolutionize the
cotton industry of the South"