The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-11-30
eighteen to twenty-four inches and


for this variety of cotton, but II the
heavy subsoil is less than eighteen
| inches below the surface it cannot
be expected to produce good yields. 1t
| does not do we'll on soils having
subsoil Of red color, though such soils
produce decidedly better yields OF the
short staple than the soils having the
yellow subsoils. In the Sea Island
district. in the vicinity Of Charleston.
the soil on which the best quality IS
produced is a fine sand, light brown
or yellowish in color, to depth OF
about twelve inches The surface soil !
is usually loose and incoherent, but
becomes somewhat loamy upon cult1- !
walton. The subsoil to more than !
thirty-six inches is pale yellow 10
bright orange. or sometimes gray
| fine sand, also loose and incOherent
The average yield of lint in this Sec
ton is only about 300 pounds to the
acre. Large applications OF CONNER
cial fertilizers are used annually
sometimes as much as 1900 POUNDS
to the acre. In one section OF South
eastern Georgia, where considerable
quantities of this variety of cotton
are grown, the best soil for Its pro-
duction is a soil having surface OF
fine gray or yellow sand or light gray
to yellow fine sandy loan to depth
of about twenty-four inches, with
subsoil Of sticky. yellow sandy loan
or sandy clay.
The Sea Island cotton plant is a
more vigorous grower than the Up
land, or short staple variety. and has
tendency to fruit scantily. Long
cultivation and selection OF seed nave
overcome this tendency. though 1t Is
much less prolific than the short
staple, and has made the plant an an
nual instead Of perennial. 1t some
times grows to height Of eight feet.
The leaves are more deeply lobed
than the short staple, and the bolls
have only three segments, instead OF
four or five, and are sharp pointed.
making it more difficult to pick. Inc
flowers are always yellow in color.
The lint, or staple, is longer. finer
and stronger than that OF the UPLAND
variety. While the lint of the Up
land is only from one-half to three
!, fourths of an inch in length, that oil
the Sea Island Is from one and one
!, half to two and one-half inches. The
: upland cotton is always almost pure
!. white in color, and the Sea Island
; creamy yellow. On account OF the
greater length and finer quality OF
> the lint the long staple sells for ABOUT
: double the price of the short staple.
It is used in the manufacture OF
: thread, fine hosiery and the finer
quality of dress goods. The produc-
:. ton of the long staple rarely exceeds
the demand and consumption, and on
account of it's being used for fabrics
in which the short staple cannot be
substituted, its price Is not anecteo
- by the fluctuation in yield and prices
y Of the latter.
= Through the efforts of the United
States Department of Agriculture
there has been developed variety
!, known as the upland long staple
;, This variety of long staple cotton Is
- a hybrid, or cross between the ordi
nary upland and Sea Island varieties
% The lint of this new variety is me
- dunn in length, being about half way
between that of the two parent varie
:. ties. It can be used in making some
Of the finer fabrics, but in no wa,
IL supplants the regular long staple va
% riety
. The lint of the cotton plant is no
- the only valuable part OF the product
. although it is the most important an6
= the primary part for which the plan
is grown. The other valuable part
O. are really by-products, and the In
= come derived from them is premium
- for saving and marketing them. Thu
~ cottonseed and products manufac
tured from it form not a small Item
- in the income from the cotton planta
&c lions of the South. In the first place
it has considerable value for use a
20 seed, especially If the planter has al
- exceptionally good strain and use:
care in selecting his seed to maintain
a good length of staple and goo
= yielding qualities. However. mucl
- more seed is produced than coul'
=. possibly be used for planting. ant
~ most of the surplus is sold to tn
- cottonseed oil mills. In these mill
. the seed is hulled and the meats o
= kernels are crushed and pressed, thu
~ extracting the oil of the seed. Thi
:. cottonseed oil is used in the manu-
- facture of soap and other articles
~ and when refined and purified come
~ into your home to take the place O
- other oils and Of lard secured froI
.. the fat of swine. The residuum afte
y, the oil is extracted is ground int
- meal and used for stock food. Cot
q tonseed meal is also used as f0l