The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-18
SEED FOR $4,000.
Atlanta Farmer Will be offered That for
Twenty Bushels.

ed on by II committee of south Gcorgians
appointed by the farmers of that section
of the State to buy from him The seed
from II crop of cotton. The price TO be
paid fer the seed is SIS, 200.
The man who raised and owns these
valuable cotton seed is Mr. jackson. Il
we,i-known farmer, who lives on and cul-
tivates the farm of Tax Collector Stewart.
The citizens of south Georgia are not
the only persons who are anxious to be-
come owners of these cotton seed. Other
men throughout this Stste have marie
offers almost as flattcring, all of which
have been refused by jackson.
The unnatural part of the Offer TO / q
made Jackson 10y the committee FRI IN
south Georgia is tie fact that the men
who will buy the seed do not wi u, to
plant them. On the contrary, if t a,,y ,-et
possession of the seed they will aestror
them rs quickly as possible, tn '.Siug care
that not single seed escapes. The com
mittee called on jackson Saturday. but
he was not ut home and they have not
yet had an opportunity to make their
offer.
The seed which the citizens of south
Georgia propose to boy are the only ones
of the kind in the world. There are only
twenty bushels of them and the price t.
he paid will be about $1,000 per bushel.
SuCll fftCc Vlldk LOT COCCOn Secu was
never heard of before. Jackson has re.
ceived hundreds OF offers for his seed. but
even he was surprised when he heard that
IL committee would wait on him for the
purpose of offering him as high as S1S,0 900
for his crop of seed.
These seed have history of Il kind that
| is unusually interesting. Several years
ago Mr.. jackson was presented with
them by Il Jew who had brought them
from the interior of Africa, from q part
of the dark continent on which the foot
of white men seldom treads.
The Jew had joined an exploring party
which had started to the center of Africa
He was wealthy and went on the trip
simply for the novelty of the experience
While i'll the very middle OF Africa the
party came across some cotton, the stalks
of which were over twenty feet in height.
The government botanist who was along
with the party took the measure from
one of the stalks, and it was from this
stalk that the first seed came. The Jew
cut about eighteen inches OF the stalk
with II view of bringing it to America
On the stalk were sixty.five bowls, the
largest and finest ever seen in this coun.
try The seed were well preserved by
their original owner and were brought
safely TO America While on trip
through the South the man who had
brought the seed from Africa told of them
and stated that he would give them to
some farmer who would take care of
them jackson was mentioned to him
and the Jew turned the seed over to him.
Jackson planted the seed and watched
their growth with fond eyes He had
heard how high the stalk from which the
seed were taken had been and he deter.
mined to grow stalks equally rs high
His first crop was il success. The stalks
of the cotton grew to an enormous height
and mt the time the matter was mentioned
in The Constitution.
This year when the time for planting
cotton came Mr.. Jackson determined to
give the seed Il severe test and see if they
would stand it. He planted every seed
in the poorest ground on his entire farm
and on the west side of n hill As is
well known to farmers. the west side
upland ground is always very poor.
Though the land was unusually poor
and the year one of the worst cotton
years in the history of the South the
cotton fiourished and is still blooming.
Mr.. jackson used nothing TO enrich the
soil in which the seed were planted.
The test was severe one, hut notwith-
standing that fact, some of the stalks are
as high as seven feet.
The cotton produced by these seed is of
the very finest quality and it is even ms
fine as long staple cotton jackson has
been offered 10 cents per pound for what
he has raised this year, but he has refus-
ed to accept it and believes he will be
able to get II cents for it.
One of the peculiarities of this cotton
is the fact that it is leafless. When the
stalk grows up leaves begin to sprout
out on it and after they have grown out
for some distance the fruit comes out
from the stem of the leaf After the
fruit has partially matured the leaf drops
off, leaving the stalk perfectly lcaflesS.
This Is the only cotton of this kind eyer
heard of i'll this country and is causing
no end of comment among the farmers
throughout the South.
WHY THEY DON'T LIKE IT
The farmers of South Georgia have sent
their committee to Atlanta to buy the
seed from Mr.. Jackson, because they be-
lieve that if the cotton il planted through
out the South they will be ruined beyond
repair.
They are of the opinion that if cotton
will do so good under so severe n test
when planted and cultivated it will pro
duce so much that cotton will be so cheap
that there will be no money in it for the
farmer
Jackson says that if the cotton is cul-
tvated it Will produce at least two bales
to the acre, and possibly as much as four.
He feels sure that he will be able to CON
vince the committee from South Georgia
OF the fact chat the cotton Will bc the
greatest thing the South has ever seen or
heard of.