The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-07
securing information that VIII show the

| securing information that viii show the
| exact size of the crop as grown
As the statistics of this bulletin are
/ based exclusively upon the reports secur-
/ ed from cotton ginners. II may he that
/ IN some counties the amount of cotton re-
ported as ginned viii vary Slightly from
I the amount of cotton as grown. and tabu-
lated by the Agricultural Division of this
Office. This condition Will certainly occur
I where large and important ginnerieS. To-
/ Gated near State or county lines. attract
cotton from an adjoining county. or
I where cotton IS grown only to a limited
! extent in one county, and its entire pro-
Z ductiOn is giDned and reported in 4 neigh
boring county
The census of 1870, collecting statistics
! Of the crop of 1893. marked the beginning
/ OF The inclusion Of agricultural products
/ IN census enquiries. The cotton produc-
/ ton Of the United States from
l.Se to 1873, inclusive, is based
upon q report To the Speaker of the House
Of Representatives in 1856. by the Hon.
Lew Woodbury., Secretary Of the Treas
ury-
Prior TO the invention Of the cottor gin
by Eli Whitney, in 1874, the separation Of
the seeed from the lint cotton was So diff
[ fcUlt as to limit the cultivation of cot
ton This separation of the seed from
I the lint had to be done by hand. task
being four pounds of lint cotton per week
Tor each head Of a family, working at
night, IL addition to the usual field work.
Thus it would take one person two years
20 turn out the quantity of cotton con-
tanned in one average standard bale. One
itcLtHttt4r v III Stit LEOlu tIEICt 10 lLlrti
pound bales per day, dependent upon its
power and saw capacity.
IN 1888 the expectation of cotton from
the United States was 4S7 so pounds, or
SO bales Of an average weight of 500
pounds In 1874. the year in which the
Whitney gin was patented. the number
Of pounds Of cotton exported from the
United States was 1850 eD0. equivalent to
500 bales of a 5Jo-pOund standard This
large production so frightened the cotton
farmers. in anticipation Of an OVer-pro-
d - M q he = n
pledge themselves 20 desist from its pro-
dUctIOn- And yet within 100 years, 1900
10 1JO3. the production Of cotton in the
United States has increased from $1,000.
approximately, 20 9.345.59l bales. 5y0-pOund
sta udard, and the crop Of 1893 is generally
admitted by the ginners, IN their reports
10 this office, 10 have been small com
pared with that Of 1898.
The bale measurement of 1880 was Al
pounds; in $50 1t was 453; IN 1870 II was
40 pounds The statistics for 1900 were
obtained from the cotton SInners: those
for the CenSUSeS Of 1880. 1850, and 1870 were
secured from cotton growers, and tabU-
lated by the Agricultural Division Of the
Census
Mr. Roper's report embraces table
showing the quantity Of cotton grown IN
the United States by States and Terrific
rfes according 10 the ce1suseS of 1865 1880
1850. ana 1870 with the percentage Of the
total crop produced by each State and Ter
ritory, from which the following figures as
TO commercial bales produced by each
State in 1880 are taken:
Alabama HOB $50; Arkansas, 7l9. 453:
Florida, 56,S21; Georgia. l-295.S4f; Indian
Territory. 100 324. Kansas. 12I; Kentucky,
ST. Louisiana zh2 sos: Mississippi. / %, 9iS;
Missouri 1897: North Carolina. 473. $50;
Oklahoma, 81 G25: South Carolina. SIC, SIS;
Tennessee, 2l5,175; Texas. 2,658,555; Viz
Concerning the subject Of cotton gin
ming. Mr. Roper says:
Cotton glnneries are dlylslbIe into
three general classes, namely. those con-
Quoted exclusively for the public; those
conducted exclusively for the plantation.
and those conducted for both the public
and the plantation. From Arkansas. In
dian Territory, Missouri. Oklahoma. Ten
nessfe. and Texas. ninety-One establish
nents report merchant ginning, these
have been ClaSSed = public giDuer.eS. in
asnuch as their owners do not grow cot
ton. but purchase II as II comes from
the fields, and gin the same for their own
account
The rapidity with which the private
or plantation ginnerieS have been sup
planted by public and more modern equip
nents IS noteworthy. Through enquiries
Of the census of 1900, covering the power
and machinery of cotton ginning estab-
liShmentS. II was aScertalned that a large
percentage Of the crop Of 1873 was han
died by Slnnerles of private charsc-
ter The motive power OF these ginning
and DallDg plants consisted Of horses or
mules. and such had daily capacity of
from three to five bales. They were 5 m
Die and inexpensive in their construction.
suited only for limited purposes The
general Introduction OF steam power
brought economic methods that have
crowded out primitive horse ginneries t.
such an extent that they are now curl
osities. There are in the United States
. $50 cotton ginEeTies, of which 2.S63 or
less than 10 per cent. are reported as gin
ming exclusively for the plantation.
very small percentage of these plantation
Establishments are OF the Old-fashloned
Horsepower variety
while the increase in the culture OF
sea-isEaBd cotton has not been so rapid as
that Of upland cotton. the recent progress
in the culture of this long staple Is quite
noteworthy. The Sea-iSiand crop Of 1925
amounted to %. 02g bales, Of which 3.Iz9
were grown in Georgia and 1880 in South
Carolina. IN 1883 the crop reached Il, O95
bales. distributed as follows: Florida. 20
S53: Georgia, 1882. and South Carolina. b.
81
TT was believed for a long time that the
islands of the coast OF South Carolina
possessed natural monopoly Of that pro-
duc-ion Of the finest staple of this cotton
get il has been found that d good grade
can be grown in certain Georgia counties
considerably removed from the coast The
discovery Of this fact accounts largely for
the increase in the crop between 1880 and
1860. In these interior Georgia counties it
is necessary that the seed be obtained
from the coast or Islands each alternate
year as this variety Of seed. when plant
ed IN the uDlands loses its identity after
the second year GinnerS report Sea-isIand
cotton from twenty mine counties Of CieoT-
Gia. seventeen Of Florida. and three of