The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-11-26
VALUABLE COTTON SEED.
The Remarkable Crop of Georgia
Planter.

Wdlltu On Dy d committee OF SOuUn
Georgians appointed by the farmers Of
that section of the state to buy from
him the seed from crop of cotton.
The price to be paid for the seed is
$4,000. The man who raised and owns
the valuable cotton seed is Mr.. jackson,
a well-known farmer, who lives or and
cultivates the farm of Tax Collector
Stewart. The citizens of south Georgia
are not the only persons who a'C
anxious to become owners of the cot
ton seed. Other men throughout the
state have made offers almost as fiat
tering, all of which have been refused
by jackson.
Tie unnatural part of the offer to
be made jackson by the committee
from south Georgia is the fact that the
men who will buy the seed do not wish
to plant them. On the contrary, if they
get possession of the seed they will
destroy them as quickly as possible,
taking care that not a single seed es-
capes. Such price as that for cotton
seed was never heard of before. Jack
son has received hundreds of offers for
when he heard that a committee would
wait on him for the purpose of offer
ing him as high as $4,000 for his crop.
The seed has a history of a kind that
is unusually interesting. Several years
ago Mr.. Jackson was presented with
them by Jew who had brought them
from the interior of Africa, from 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. When in the very middle
of Africa the party came across some
cotton, the stalks of which were over
20 feet in height. The government bot
anist who was along with the party
took the measure of one of the stalks,
and it was from this stalk that the
first seed came. The Jew cut off about
IS inches of the stalk with view to
bringing it to America. On the stalk
were 65 bolls, the largest and finest ever
seen. The seeds were well preserved
by their original owner, and were
brought safely to America. While on
a 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
its growth with fond eyes. He had
heard how high the stalks from which
the seed were taken had been, and he
determined to grow stalks equally as
high. His first crop was success. The
stalks of the cotton grew to an enor-
nous height.
This year when the time for planting
cotton came Mr.. jackson determined
to give the seed severe test to see
if it would stand it. He planted every
seed in the poorest ground on his entire
farm on the west side of a 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 fourished. Mr.. Jackson used
nothing to enrich the soil in which
the seed was planted The test was
severe one, hut, Notwithstanding that
fact, some of the stalks are as high as
seven feet.
The cotton produced by this seed is
of the very finest quality, and is
fin 10, 10
son has been offered ten cents per pound
for what he has raised this year, but he
has refused to accept it and believes
he will be able to get II cents for it.
One of the peculiarities Cf this cot
ton is the fact that it is leafiess. 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 per-
fectly leatless. This is the only cotton
of this kind ever heard of in this coun-
try, and is causing no end of comment
among the farmers throughout the
south.
IEC FARMERS Oh SOuJn georgia nave
sent their committee to Atlanta to buy
the seed from Mr.. Jackson, because they
believe that if the cotton is planted
throughout the south they will be
ruined beyond repair. They are of the
opinion that if cotton will do so well
under so severe a test, when planted and
cultivated it will produce so much that
cotton will be so cheap that there will
be no money i'll it for the farmer.
jackson says that if the cotton is
cultivated 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 convince the committee
from south Georgia of the fact that
the cotton will be the greatest thing
the south has ever seen or heard of.
He says that with this cotton in use
all over the south the farmer can re-
duce his acreage by over one-half and
raise more cotton then than he is rails
ing now. The land that he does not use
for cotton can be put to profitable use,
and the income of the farmer will be
doubled as compared with the amount