The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-10-05
HISTORY OF FLEECY STAPLE.
Earliest Mention Of Cotton 400 Years
Before Christ.


The earliest mention of the cotton
plant was 400 B. c., when Herodotus
writes of the wild trees of India
which "bear feeces as their fruit,
surprising those of sheep for beauty
and excellence, and the Indians use
cloth made from these trees"
Nearchus, an admiral of the fleet
| of Alexander the Great, describes a
machine used by the Hindoos for
separating the seed from the lint,
thus showing that even in those
early days the progress which had
been made in preparing the raw ma
terial for weaving into cloth.
The Romans used cloth made of
| cotton very extensively, and it's use
! was we'll known in China in remote
periods.
1t was found in use among the In
dians in Central America and Mexico
when the Spaniards came. Spinning
and weaving were practiced by the
women of the West Indies when Co.
umbus landed in those islands. Their
suspended beds were made of the
cloth, and called "humacs," where
we have the modern name of ham,
mock:
Its early discoveries of the Mes
cha-cehe, or Mississippi, saw cotton
growing in 1925. 1t was the staple
product of Hispaniola, and in 1853
Jamaica exported two thousand
bags.
1t was stated in Carroll's Historic
al Collections that experiments were
made on the Ashley River as early
as 1870 in the growing of cotton. and
it was found to thrive we'll, but for
some reason it was given up, proba-
bly, because of the difficulty in separ-
ating the seed.
The earliest attempt to plant cot
ton in South Carolina as a crop was
made in 174S, when seven bags were
exported to England, bringing three
pounds, seven shillings and sixpence
per bag; again in 1851 cotton was
exported in small quantities; this did
not pay, however, and it was not un-
til 1880 that it was planted as a
market crop to any great ertent.
In 177O there were shipped to Eu-
rope three bags of cotton from New
York, four from Virginia and from
Maryland, and three from North Car
olina.
In 1885 these exports amounted to
fourteen bags; 1886, six; 1887, one
hundred and nine; 1888, three hum
dred and eighty-nine; 1889, eight
hundred and forty-two, and 1890.
eighty-one.
The first bags of cotton sold in
South Carolina in 1884 were pur-
chased by John Teasdale from Bryan
Cope.
In 1887, small quantities were sold
in Charleston, brought from Orange
burg; principally purchased by la
dies for lining bed quilts.
In 1894 an American vessel arriv-
ed at Liverpool from South Carolina.
AS part of her cargo we're eight bales
of cotton, which were seized on the
ground that. so much cotton could
not be raised in the United States.
The invention of the cotton gin by
Eli Whitney gave great impetus to
the growing of cotton in 1894. At
first his invention was carefully
guarded and exhibited to ladies only.
A man disguised as woman saw the
working model, made certain i'm
provements, and so introduced it to
the public.
The State of South Carolina paid
Whitney the sum of fifty thousand
dollars for the privilege of the free
use of his gin in the State.
The first improved gin was used by
Gen. Wade Hampton, the father of
our late governor and senator.
In 1898 Gen. William Moultrie
planted one hundred and fifty acres
Of cotton on Northampton planta-
ton, but the crop failed because of a
lack of knowledge as to the cultiva-
ton.
Capt. Peter Sinkler;-: of St. Johns,
Berkeley, planted his cotton in hills.
four feet square, leaving two stalks
to each hill after thinning. In 1893
he planted three hundred acres on
Belvidere plantation in St. Johns,
which yielded an average production
of two hundred and sixteen pounds
per acre..
He sold most of this crop for 73
cents per pound, some of it for so.