Compliments of RENSKORF, LYON & CO. Bankers and Brokers U. S. Realty Building 1 1 5 Broadway New York DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY B fiC^v^^ ^^V-'^iiiMS^Ty^^'hi K^yA)^^Si /('I vMfalil Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/kingcotton01watk KING COTTON KING COTTON A Historical and Statistical Review 1790 to 1908 BY JAMES L. WATKINS Formerly Cotton Expert of the Department of Agriculture, and Author of “Production and Price of Cotton”; “The Cost of Cotton Production”; “Cotton and the Currency”; “Con- sumption of Cotton in the United States ”; “ The Future Demand for American Cotton ” NEW YORK PUBLISHED BY JAMES L. WATKINS & SONS POST-OFFICE BOX 1151 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1908 by JAMES L. WATKINS, New York in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE Some years ago, when the writer was a cotton planter in North Alabama, where his father and grandfather — the latter one of the earliest settlers in the Tennessee Valley — had been successful planters, he began making some investigations into the history of cotton planting in this country. It was a tradition in the family that a Georgia kinsman instead of Whitney was the inventor of the modern cotton gin ; interesting stories were told of the building of huge flatboats (before the advent of railroads), and how they were loaded with cotton bales and floated over the dangerous IMuscle Shoals of the Tennessee, and onward down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where they were sold, and in part, exchanged for plantation supplies. The meagerness of any literature relating to the cotton industry induced the habit, which has never been abandoned, of collecting historical data on the subject, the results of which are presented in the following pages. In compiling the statistics of annual supply and consumption, and surplus stocks of cotton in the United States since 1790, the tables prepared by the writer and published by the Department of Agriculture in 1895 were used. The subdivision of the statis- tics of production in each State into- decennial periods, ^^simply for convenience and has no other significance. In estimating the cotton crops of each State, prior to the time when the railroads began to handle cotton and the Census Bureau began to collect crop statistics, the total commercial crops have been divided among the States on the basis of the receipts at each southern port. Prior to the above time, all of the cotton, except a small quantity consumed by local mills, was transported to the ports and to northern mills by river steamers and small water craft. As a rule the origin of the cotton received at each port was well known, and often a matter of record. The news- papers and market reports of New Orleans recorded the daily arrivals of each steamboat, and the number of bales of cotton carried by each, as well as by schooners, barges and flatboats. In nearly every instance the origin of the cotton was given. By way of illustrating the method pursued in estimating the cotton crop of a State, let us take Alabama. ' In old times the only waterways for marketing its crops were the Mobile river, 3 484394 - 4 PREFACE and its tributaries, and the Tennessee and the Chattahoochee rivers. The great bulk of the crop was shipped to Mobile, but a certain well-known portion of the Mississippi crop was also shipped to that port by way of the Tombigbee river, one of the tributaries of the Mobile. The receipts from this source were, therefore, deducted from the total Mobile receipts and credited to the Mississippi crop. All of the northern Alabama crop was shipped to New Orleans, by way of the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The remainder of the crop from the south- eastern counties was marketed by way of the Chattahoochee river through the port of Appalachicola. The commercial records of each port were carefully examined to ascertain the proportion of receipts from each State, and while no pretense is made to accuracy, the estimates fairly approximate the annual crops. In a like manner, the amount of cotton handled by the water- ways of other States was ascertained, and the total commercial crops apportioned to each State. A very small proportion of the crops was shipped North by way of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, but the origin of this was also known and often given by the commercial authorities. After the Census began collecting crop stahstics this authority 'was used in apportioning the crops. In many instances the estimates of statisticians and commercial authorities of acknowledged ability were accepted. Much attention is paid to the progress of railway extension in each State, because it is believed that to the building of railroads more than to any other cause is due the rapid develop- ment of the cotton industry in the Southwest, and the great increase in recent years in the production of cotton in that region. The names of all of the authorities, as well as the titles of all publications consulted in the preparation of this work, will be found in the appended bibliography. The writer desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce and Labor, the Weather Bureau, the Commissioners of Agriculture of the cotton States, and to southern correspondents who have furnished photographs for the illustrations. JAMES L. WATKINS. New York, N. Y., October, 1908. CONTENTS CHAPTER I Earliest Introduction of Cotton Culture — Difficulty of Separating Lint from the Seed — Effects of the Invention of the Saw Gin — Importance of the Propagation of Mexican Seed — Review of Cotton Production and Prices in Each Decade Since 1800. CHAPTER H VIRGINIA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Histori- cal Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER HI NORTH CAROLINA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER IV SOUTH CAROLINA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER V GEORGIA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1800 to igo8 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Histori- cal Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER VI FLORIDA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1820 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Histori- cal Data Relating to Cotton Production. 5 484394 6 CONTENTS CHAPTER VII ALABAMA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1807 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Histori- cal Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER VIH MISSISSIPPI, and Its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Histori- cal Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER IX LOUISIANA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER X ■ TEXAS, and Its Cotton Crops from 1833 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER XI ARKLANSAS, and Its Cotton Crops from 1823 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Histori- cal Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER XII TENNESSEE, and Its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Histori- cal Data Relating to Cotton Production. CHAPTER XHI MISSOURI, and Its Cotton Crops from 1824 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — • Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. CONTEXTS 7 CHAPTER XIV OKLAHOMA, and Its Cotton Crops from 1879 to 1908 — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. TABLES OF STATISTICS Table i — Cotton Crops of the United States, 1790-1908. “ 2 — Acreage Planted in Cotton in Each State. “ 3 — Jklonthly Condition Reports of the Department of Agriculture. “ 4 — ^Monthly Rainfall in the Cotton Growing States. ■ “ 5 — Tons of Commercial Fertilizer Consumed in the Cotton States, 1891-1907. “ 6 — Exports of Cotton to Principal Foreign Countries. “ 7 — Exports of Cotton from Each Customs District. “ 8 — Consumption and Production of Cotton in the Southern States, 1850-1908. “ 9 — Production and Value of Cotton Since 1790. . “ 10 — World’s Consumption of Cotton, 1890 to 1908. “ II — Visible Supply of Cotton, 1902 to 1908. 12 — Cotton Ginned to Specified Dates in Each State. 13 — Weekly Visible Supply of American Cotton, 1902 to 1908. 14 — Stocks of Cotton at United States Ports, Close of August. “ 15 — Sea-Island Cotton Crops, 1897 to 1908. 16 — Number of Cotton Mills, Spindles and Stocks in Each State. “ 17 — Cost of Picking Cotton. 18 — Dates of the Earliest Killing Frosts in the Cotton States. “ 19 — Number of Cotton Spindles in the World. Cotton Production in the United States CHAPTER I Earliest Introduction of Cotton Culture — Difficulty of Separating Lint from the Seed — Effect of the Inven- tion OF THE Saw Gin — Importance of the Mexican Variety' of Cotton — Review of Cotton Production and Prices in Each Decade Since 1800 . The history of cotton production in the United States is the history of twenty millions of people, or more than 'one-fourth of our total population. It is the history of a people who planted colonies, conquered the savage tribes of a vast territory, cleared primeval forests, and laid out extensive plantations. It is the history of a people who, proclaiming a new doctrine of civil liberty, won their independence after a long and heroic struggle, organized thirteen States, and founded a great landed aristocracy that for sixty-odd years controlled the policy of the Federal Government. It is the history of a people who, in devotion to their construc- tion of the constitution of the Union, waged one of the most des- perate and disastrous wars of modern times, and failing, lost the accumulated wealth of a century and a half. It is this people who, finding their homes and plantations laid waste, in a wonderfully short space of time rebuilded their es- tates, reconstructed their local governments, reorganized the whole social fabric, and engaged in a career of industrial de- velopment that has challenged the admiration of all men. 9 10 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. And, it is this people who are now producing more than three-fourths of the cotton required to operate the spindles and looms that furnish the world with its clothing, and who, in the main, are sustaining an industry that employs more capital and labor, and enlists the attention of more people, than any other on earth. Surely, the origin and development of such an industry deserves the attention of every student of American history. Nor should it be studied from the mere standpoint of its utility. Cotton is a great civilizer. But man cannot be civilized with- out clothing. Clothe him and he acquires a fondness for dress ; then he wants some of the other comforts of life and learns to trade ; trading begets a desire to own property, and the habit of industry is formed; thrift and industry -result in the ownership of property, and property must be protected. Therefore, laws are enacted, and with law and order established, civilization fol- lows. But let it be remembered that civilization is not yet univer- sal ; that of the billion-and-a-half of the earth’s inhabitants only one-third regularly wear clothes, one-half are partially clothed, and one-sixth go almost naked. Hence, the cotton planters of this country have yet a great work to accomplish — the making of more cotton, so that two hundred and fifty millions of people may hide their nakedness and accept civilization. Wpien Cotton Was 'First Introduced It is not at all improbable that the cotton plant is indigenous to this country. It was found in Brazil and Alexico by the earliest Spanish explorers, growing in a climate and soil no better adapted to it than our own, and in the first half of the sixteenth century cotton shirts and blankets were in use among the Indians inhabiting the country which is now a portion of Texas. It is also said that the plant was found growing wild in Florida, and elsewhere in the South. But whatever the doubt as to its nativity in this country, we do know something definite as to the beginning of its culture. Fourteen years after the settlement of the Jamestown colony (1621) it was planted at Newport News, and “soon grew as large in girth as the arm of a man, and as tall as a man’s figure.” KING COTTON 11 The very first colonies that settled in the Carolinas began to cultivate cotton (1666), and in the first years of the eighteenth century it had attained such importance in North Carolina as to supplv clothing for one-fifth of its people, and in 174:8 it began to be exported in small quantities from South Carolina. As early as 1722 it was cultivated in Mississippi, and six years later by the Louisiana colonies with slave labor, though its first intro- duction was undoubtedly some years prior to that date. In 1734: the Saltzbergers successfully experimented with it in Georgia, and in 1765 the Spanish began its cultivation in Florida. It was first introduced in Alabama in 1772, in Tennessee about 1796, in Missouri in 1803, in Arkansas in 1818, in Texas in 1825, and in Oklahoma about 1850. Primitive Gins Having discovered with what success cotton could be culti- vated in the southern country, the greatest drawback to its plentiful production was the difficulty experienced by the early planters in separating the lint from the seed. At first there was no other way than to pick it out by hand at the rate of about a pound a day, just as the ryots of India had done for many hun- dreds of years. But in 174:2 M. Dubrueill, an enterprising French planter, invented a machine which so effectively cleaned the fiber from the seed that it greatly stimulated cotton culture in the Louisiana colony. The “bow string,” of East Indian origin, was used in Georgia at a very early date.^ In 1772 a Mr. Krebs, who planted cotton on the Pascagoula river in Missis- sippi, constructed a roller gin which came into general use, and which he claimed to have invented, though it was the same little machine, perhaps with some modifications, that was of East Indian origin, and was then used in the West Indies. In 1777 Kinsey Burden, of South Carolina, constructed a queer kind of gin made with old gun barrels fastened on rollers. About the year 1790 the treadle or foot gin was introduced and greatly improved by Dr. Joseph Eve, of Augusta, Ga., who adapted it for use by horse or water power. A Mr. Pottle, also of Georgia, made other improvements and introduced a gin that became 'Hence, “Georgia bowed” cotton, a Liverpool classification of Georgia cotton at this time. 12 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. popular. The primitive gins were thus increased in capacity from 20 or 30 pounds to 60 or 70 pounds of clean cotton per day. The treadle and roller gins were in use the latter part of the eighteenth, and even the first part of the nineteenth centurv. Whitney's Saw Gin In 1793 Whitney invented the saw gin, which was patented the following year. Whether or not he was entitled to the credit of the invention, the saw gin was the solution of the main trouble that had beset the cotton planter from the very beginning. It gave him a machine that would clean from 600 to 900 pounds a day and with which he could make cotton at a profit, and conferred upon the world untold blessings. That its immense benefits were duly appreciated when it first came into use is evidenced in an opinion delivered from the bench by Judge John- son, in the suit brought by Whitney and Miller to recover from South Carolina the $50,000 appropriated by the legislature for the purchase of the right to use the gin in that State. In the course of his opinion Judge Johnson said: “The whole interior of the Southern States was languishing, and its inhabitants emi- grating for want of some object to engage their attention and employ their industry, when the invention of this machine at once opened views to them, which set the whole country in motion. From childhood to age it has presented to us a lucrative employment. Individuals, who were depressed with poverty and sunk in idleness, have suddenly risen to wealth and respectability. Our debts have been paid, our capitals increased and our land trebled in value. We cannot express the weight of obligation which the country owes to this invention : the extent of it cannot now be seen.” What Hargrave, Arkwright, Compton and Cartwright accom- plished for the spinner and weaver, Whitney with the saw gin accomplished for the planter — the invention of a wonderful labor- saving machine, all of which cheapened the cost of growing cotton, of spinning it into yarn, of weaving it into cloth, and thereby greatly cheapening the cost of clothing. The main obstacle out of the way, cotton production began increasing with amazing rapidity so soon as the saw gin came into general use, KING COTTON 13 the increase being from 35,000 bales in 1795 to 155,000 in 1800. Thereafter, nothing short of Providential interference — save the Civil War — has stopped the steady and ever-increasing produc- tion. First Decade, 1800-1810 Beginning with the first year of the last century, the total commercial crop amounted to 210,526 bales, and ten years there- after it increased to 340,000 bales. During the decade 1800-1810, the domestic consumption of cotton, as small as it was, almost doubled, while the exports increased from 91,716 to a little over 373,000 bales. The average New York price, however, decreased as the crops increased, middling upland being 44 cents a pound in 1800, but gradually dropped to 16 cents in 1810. Two important events occurred during this period; the wide- spread destruction of the crops by the cotton worm (which made its appearance in South Carolina and Georgia as early as 1793), and the introduction in Mississippi of the Mexican or Petit Gulf variety of cotton. From an economic point of view the intro- duction of this seed was second in importance to the invention of the saw gin. Prior to its coming into general use, about 1816-1820, the varieties then in use were subject to rot and had greatly deteriorated. The staple became shorter, the pods did not open widely, and adhered so tenaciously that it was difficult to pick. Before the introduction of the Mexican variety, the average day’s picking for a hand was 30 to 40 pounds of the black seed, and 75 to 100 pounds of the Tennessee green seed variety. At first a hand could pick 150 pounds of the Mexican, and this gradually increased to several hundred pounds. The cotton bales of this period were comparatively small, ranging in weight from 228 to 250 pounds each. Second Decade, 1810-1820. The production of cotton in each of the first five years of this decade was smaller than in 1808. This was due to the wars and political upheavals in Europe, and our own complica- tions abroad, resulting in the war of 1812 with England. All of these troubles were 'reflected in the cotton industry everywhere. 14 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. and a great decline in prices followed. In 1808 and 1809 mid- dling cotton was worth 19 and 16 cents in New York. In 1810-11 it dropped to 15^2 cents, and the year following to IOI /2 cents. The war of 1812 naturally resulted in a great falling off in exports. In 1809, 373,000 bales were exported, and in 1812 and 1813 only 77,683 bales in the former, and 72,069 in the latter year. But while there was a great loss to the planters from this source, the war and the embarg'o placed upon the importation of foreign-made goods gave a great impetus to cotton manufactur- ing in this country, and the domestic consumption increased to more than 600,000 bales, or nearly 70 per cent. After the close of the war with England the crops increased rapidly, from 457,000 bales in 1815 to more than 600,000 in 1820. The exports also increased during the same period, from 302,000 to 484,000 bales, and prices rose from 21 cents in 1815 to 34 cents in 1818. But the large crop of 1819-20, unprecedented at that time, resulted in a much larger accumulation of surplus stocks than at any previous date, and in consequence, prices declined from 24 to 17 cents. The weight of bales averaged about 270 pounds as compared with 247 the previous decade. Third Dec/\de, 1820-1830 The commercial crops of this period varied considerably. From 647,000 bales in 1820 there was a gradual increase until 1825, when — for the first time — the crop exceeded 1,000,000 bales. The year following it was 957,000, and in 1827 it dropped to 720,000 bales, which was a little less than the production five years previous. The short crop of 1827 was caused by the ravages of the caterpillar, and a great drought that extended over the entire cotton area. The first great “bull movement” in the cotton market was inaugurated in 1824-25 in Liverpool, when prices advanced from 7d. to 16^d. per pound. While the advance was simply specula- tive it is said to have originated in the attempt of a Liverpool house to prove that cotton production had reached its limit, and that the demand was greater than the supply. It was currently KING COTTON 15 reported that one hundred millions sterling had been I'aised by capitalists to buy .up all cotton in sight. But no doubt one cause of the attempt to “bull” the market was the very small surplus stocks at Liverpool. This extraordinary rise in prices was reflected in our own markets, the New York market advancing from 12 to 30 cents a pound. In New Orleans middling cotton brought 25 cents and in Charleston 30 cents, and even in the interior markets from 22 to 25 cents was realized. Two years after this panic of prices the New York market dropped to an average of about 9J4 cents. The lowest price during the decade was 8 cents and the highest 30 cents. The exports during this period almost doubled, increasing from 449,000 to 839,000 bales. iMean while, the domestic con- sumption increased, and in 1830 amounted to 126,000 bales. The average weight of bales increased to about 340 pounds to the bale. The growing importance of cotton production in this country necessitated some effort to ascertain the size of the crop, and the year 1826 witnessed the inauguration of the method of col- lecting statistics of the movement of the crop through the ports, and by overland routes to the points of consumption. This method was improved from time to time, and is now relied upon as showing the distribution of the crop in this country and abroad. Fourth Dec.-\de, 1830-1840 With the exception of one or two years, the crops in this decade show a steady gain, increasing from 1,039,000 bales in 1830 to 2,178,000 in 1839, the latter being to date the largest crop on record. The crop of 1838 was cut off about a half million bales by a drought almost unprecedented in its disaster, which began the first of August and continued to January fol- lowing. The domestic consumption increased from 182,000 to 295,000 bales, and the foreign exports from 773,000 to 1,876,000 bales. The average weight of bales increased from 340 to 384 pounds each. Prices during this period vacillated greatly. In 1831, for 16 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. some unaccountable reason, middling uplands sold in New York as low as 7 cents, but in 1835 and the two years following it commanded as high as 20 cents. The advance of prices in 1835 is attributed to the liberality of the Bank of England and other banks in that country, which lavished accommodations upon mer- chants, manufacturers, and speculators, and so inflated the paper currency that all kinds of merchandise rose to extravagant prices. Common qualities of cotton sold in Liverpool for more than a shilling sterling per pound, about double the price, with one exception, since 1819. The unprecedented crop of 1839-40, and the large accumulation of surplus stocks, brought about a . reac- tion, and the New York market declined to 6 cents, the lowest price to date ever witnessed in that market. During the first year of this decade the first railroad in the cotton States began building, and was completed from Ham- burg (opposite Augusta, Ga.) to Charleston, . S. C. in 1833. Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama soon followed the example of South Carolina, and it was not many years before all of the cotton States hastened to substitute rail for water trans- portation. The steamboats were too slow, the navigable streams too far apart, the public roads too impassable, the trouble and expense of getting to river landings too great for so precious a freight. It must be hastened to the consumer, and hence railroads were built and telegraph lines alongside of them. The whole world began to move with quickened pace as never before, and if others gained thereby, so did the cotton planter. No more was he compelled to haul his crop many miles over a circuitous and miry road to reach the nearest river landing, and no more was he compelled to part with it there and send it to a commission merchant at some distant port with its attending delay and expense. There is now scarcely a cotton producing county of any importance but has its railroad, and there are few counties without a local market. The cotton can be quickly delivered and quickly sold. What the planter and the consumer owe to the introduction of the railroad is incalculable. In the year 1839, the first of the annual cotton planters conventions that followed was held at Macon, Ga.’- The price of ^ See Georgia Notes, 1839 and 1851. Pages 103 and 108. KING COTTON 17 cotton had fallen very low, and the object was to devise some plan to advance and control prices. Various schemes were pro- posed from time to time but none succeeded, for two years after the JMacon convention prices dropped a cent lower, and again to 5 cents in 1844-15. Immense sales of public lands were made in the Southern States from 1830 to 1840, thus preparing for a still further increase in the cotton area. Fifth Decade, 1840-1850 The crops in this period increased about 75 per cent., which was less than that of any other decade since 1810. The smallest crop was 1,635,000 bales in 1840, and the largest 2,867,000 bales in l848. Three of the^ crops were overtaken with disasters of one kind or another. In 1843 long and continuous rains over- flowed the Mississippi and its tributaries, destroying the crops, and much damage from the excessive rainfall resulted in other sections. In 1845 the Atlantic States sufliered from drought, and in 1846 the caterpillar invaded every section of the cotton belt, and such destruction was never before witnessed. The domestic consumption more than doubled in this decade, and the exports rose from 1,313,000 to 2,228,000 bales. The average weight of bales increased from 394 to 437 pounds each. As to prices, this was the most remarkable period in the history of cotton planting. Not only were the lowest prices reached, but it was the longest known period of continuously low prices. It was also remarkable, with a few exceptions,' for the largest crops on record and for the enormous accumulation of surplus stocks, clearly indicating that the supply exceeded the demand. In 1842 middling to fair cotton dropped as low as 45 ^ cents in New Orleans, and in Mobile it was sold as low as 334 cents a pound. In 1845 New Orleans quotations were as low as 4^ and Mobile 34; cents. The cause of the low prices seems to have been well under- stood by the economists of that day, one declaring that “the evil lies not in the banks, nor the currency, nor the speculators,” and that “there was no remedy but a check on production.”^ Another said, “to our great disparagement, the facts show that we have 1 Hazard’s Register. 2 18 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. been guilty of the folly of overstocking the markets of the world. And, “one of the most singular features of this state of things,” said Hunt’s Magazine, “is that this abundance of money has continued many months without producing a rise of prices or stimulating trade, a result which it has never before failed to bring about. On the contrary, the leading articles are constantly falling; cotton, is lower than has ever been known before, arising from superabundance of production.” In 1818 so great was the difficulty in realizing money, even on cotton, that extensive shipments were made on very limited advancements. In a review of the situation in 1817-18 the New Orleans Price Current said: “Seldom if ever within the period of its history, as the leading commercial interest of our country, has the cotton trade been subjected to so trying an ordeal as that through which it has just passed. The early prices obtained were satisfactory, until October, when the commercial revolution which prostrated credit in Great Britain, and which spread to the Conti- nent and to the Indies, put a sudden check to our prosperous course and produced a more rapid depreciation of prices than we remember ever to have witnessed. After recovering materially from the shock produced by this state of affairs, a still more severe blow was given by the startling intelligence of a revolution in France, and the overthrow of the monarchy. This movement of the people, in favor of popular rights rapidly spread to other countries in Europe, and in the tumultuous state of political affairs, commercial credit was completely overthrown, and trade in a measure annihilated. In this general prostration of credit and commerce, probably no interest connecting our own country with Europe was more severely affected than the cotton trade, and prices here were at times depressed to within a fraction of the lowest prices of 1843.” Sixth Dec.ade, 1850-1860 If the period, 1840-1850, was one of disaster, it had its rec- ompense after all, for the low prices induced the building of many more mills at home and abroad, and greatly increased the consumption. This was reflected in the decade following, 1850- De Bow’s Reveiw. KING COTTON 19 1860, when both planters and manufacturers enjoyed a period of unexampled prosperity. The crops increased from 2,45-4,000 bales in 1850 to 4,861,000 in 1859, or 98 per cent, in ten years. In 1853 the crops in the Southwestern States were damaged by caterpillars and black rot, and in 1854 the spring was very backward, the rains unseasonable, and frost late in April killed so many of the young plants as to require replanting. The domestic consumption increased from 486,000 to 978,000 bales, or more than two-fold, while the exports increased from 1,989,000 bales in 1850 to 3,774,000 in 1859. The average weight of bales increased to 461 pounds each. Although there were wars and political disturbances in Europe, and a financial panic both at home and abroad in 1858, with a suspension of specie payments in New York, the con- sumption of cotton greatly increased both in Europe and in this country, keeping fair pace with the gradually increasing crops, and thus maintaining prices with unusual uniformity and profit to both planters and manufacturers. It is this steadiness of prices that assures prosperity, for violent fluctuations always unsettle business, and the planter is just as much injured by it as the business man. Seventh Decade, 1860-1870 There is no period in the history of the cotton industry more interesting and eventful than that of 1860-1870. The Civil War which began in April, 1861, marks the beginning of the great “cotton famine” which paralyzed the cotton trade of the world for four or five years. The late Thomas Ellison, of Liverpool, said that for some years prior to the outbreak of the Civil War it had been foreseen that sooner or later a serious labor disturbance in the Southern States was inevitable, and in view of the calamity which such an event would bring upon English spinners, every effort was made to discover new sources of cotton supply. But although the powerful association formed for the promotion of this end searched every nook and corner of the cotton zone, and sent seed to every one in the four continents willing to make experiments, they entirely failed to accomplish the object they 20 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. had in view. The high prices caused by the “famine” brought increased supplies from Brazil, Turkey, India, and China, but with the return of ante-war values the European imports fell back almost to the level at which they stood in 1860-1861. So that, in spite of all of the efforts made to stimulate the growth of cotton in the East Indies, the Lavant, Africa and elsewhere ; in spite of the freeing of four millions of slaves, if the Civil War settled any one question more than another, it was that no portion of the globe could successfully compete with the Southern States in cotton production, and hence European spinners are today more than ever dependent upon the planters of the United States. While the crop of 1860 was 3,849,000 bales and that of 1861 something like 4,500,000, the production during the four years of war was very small, and much of that produced and carried over from previous years was destroyed by one army or the other. The first year after the war, such was the disorganized state of labor and the poverty of the planters, that the crop amounted to only 2,269,000 bales, or 100,000 less than the crop of 1842. The year following, a severe drought and the cotton worm damaged the crop so badl}? that it turned out only 2,097,000 bales. After this there was a gradual increase until 1869, when the crop reached 3,122,000 bales. The “famine” produced by the war naturally resulted in extraordinary prices. During two years, 1864 and 1865, cotton was quoted in New York at over $1.80 a pound, and in Liverpool, even with the balance of the world to draw upon, it rose to 31^ d. a pound. Following the resumption of planting prices began to decline, and this was helped along by the dullness of trade in the Manchester district in 1867, when there was a sharp decline that continued until 1871. During the war period (1862) Congress passed an act levying an internal revenue tax of 2 cents a pound on raw cotton. Being a direct tax, its legality under the constitution was seriously questioned, but the act was passed as “a war measure.” In 1866 the New York Chamber of Commerce held a meeting and pro- tested against the tax, saying, in a report on the subject, that they were “deeply impressed with the feeling that the cultivation of KING COTTON •21 cotton should be encouraged and not discouraged by onerous taxation; that it would be wiser to lift up those who are now downcast, and by just and generous legislation to inspire the Southern people with hope of better days, rather than, by an opposite course, to prolong the era of political and commercial distrust.” After collecting over $68,000,000 from the planters this unjust and oppressive tax was repealed in 1868. Eighth Decade, 1870-1880 This period was marked by renewed energy in every section of the cotton belt. Labor was now under better control ; young, enterprising, and active men had taken the place of older and less progressive planters; more of the rich alluvial lands in the valleys of Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas were brought under cultivation ; and the discovery and working of the rich phosphate deposits of South Carolina had greatly cheapened and extended the use of commercial fertilizers, and induced more intensive methods of culture. The increase of white labor in the cotton fields was another great factor in the progress of cotton cultiva- tion, for it was this labor that so greatly increased the crops of the Carolinas, Georgia, Arkansas and Texas.^ The building and extension of railroads, especially in the Trans-Mississippi country, thus opening up large bodies of land in the Southwest, also had a telling effect upon the increased production at this time. At the close of the decade 15,873 miles of railway were operated in ten of the leading cotton States. In 1870 the cotton crop amounted to 4,352,000 bales. The two years following, and especially in 1871, the yield was very much reduced by the ravages of the caterpillar. The crops grad- ually increased, and in 1878, the production (5,074,000 bales) equaled and even exceeded the crop of 1859', the largest ever made with slave labor. It took fourteen years to recover from the disastrous effects of the Civil War, but when the condition of affairs in the South from 1866 to 1878 is taken into account, the production of such a crop in so short a time was truly a great achievement. The crop of the following year (1859) again showed a large increase, amounting to 5,761,000 bales. ^ In 1876 it was estimated that of the cotton field labor in Texas 6 2 per cent, was white. 22 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. Notwithstanding the gradual increase in yield, it would have been much greater but for the destruction by the cotton worm. The Department of Agriculture estimated that from 1875 to 1878, inclusive, the loss amounted in the aggregate to 3,417,100 bales. At the average current prices for those years the planters sustained a loss of fully $175,000,000. The domestic consumption in this period, increased from 1.110.000 to 1,790,000 bales, and the exports from 3,169,000 to 3.885.000 bales. The average weight of the bales increased from 442 to 454 pounds each. This was a period of remarkable fluctuations in prices, pro- duced by the war in Europe, strikes and trade depressions in England, famine in the East, and the financial panic of 1873. The comparatively small stocks at the close of 1872, and a crop over a million and a quarter bales smaller, together with an increased demand at home and abroad, resulted in a considerable advance in prices, the New York market rising to 26'^ cents. However, with increasing crops, and the very large accumulation of stocks at the close of the years 1875-1876, prices gradually declined until 1879. It was during this period that Cotton Exchanges were organ- ized in New York, New Orleans and other Southern cities, which resulted in a complete revolution in the cotton industry. What effect they have had upon prices, and marketing of the cotton crops is reviewed elsewhere. NiNTti Decade, 1880-1890 The first year of this period the cotton acreage was the largest ever planted, and the season being a good one, resulted in the production of 6,606,000 bales, to date, the largest crop on record. The next year (1881) the crops suffered from a severe midsum- mer drought ; great damage resulted from overflows in the Mississippi river districts, and the cotton worm was unusually destructive, resulting in a loss of over a million bales. In the spring of 1883 excessive and continuous rains interfered with planting and the season was so backward that, with other mis- fortunes to the crop, the yield fell short of that of the previous year by a million and a quarter bales. In 1887 the first seven- KING COTTON 23 million-bale crop was made, and in 1889 this increased to 7.311.000 bales. The percentage of increase in production in ten years was 35 per cent, as compared with 91 per cent, in the decade 1870-1880. The domestic consumption increased from 1,938,000 to 2.391.000 bales, and the exports from 3,583,000 to 4,907,000 bales. The weight of bales increased from 460 to 478 pounds each. Prices throughout this period were maintained with remark- able uniformity, although at times there were complaints of an accumulation of manufactured goods, the supply being in excess of the demand. At the close of the season in 1889 and 1890, while the accumulation of surplus stocks of cotton were unusually small in this country, they were much larger in Europe than ever before. During this period many new railroads were built and the lines of old roads extended. The increase in mileage was greater than ever before in the Southwest, and this was evidenced in the increased cotton crops in that section. In 1888 the Texas crop reached 1,594,000 bales, placing it in the lead as a cotton pro- ducing State, a position it has held ever since. Ten years before the area under cotton cultivation in Texas was 15 per cent, of the whole, and in 1889 it was nearly 20 per cent. Tenth Decade, 1890-1900 This was a period in many respects resembling that of 1840- 1850. Like the latter it was a period of large crops, larger than the world’s requirements, and consequently of extraordinarily low prices. It was remarkable too for having produced the first eight, the first nine, and tlie first eleven-million-bale crop ; also for a crop as small as 6,700,000 bales. 1\ hen so larg'e a crop as nine million bales was made in 1891- 02, it occasioned great surprise in the cotton trade, but when the first eleven-million-bale crop was made (1897-98), and this was followed in succession by another of eleven and a quarter, the whole world was amazed. The short crops of 1892 and 1893 (6,700,000 and 7,550,000 bales) were due, not only to a largely reduced acreage resulting 24 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. from the discouraging low prices of 1891, but to unusually late planting on account of overflows in the Mississippi river dis- tricts in the spring of 1893, followed in the summer by a dis- astrous drought. When the crop of 1894-95 reached nearly ten million bales, and prices again dropped to a very low level, the planters became alarmed, and holding a convention to discuss the situation, a crusade was begun to reduce the acreage, which resulted in another small crop. The domestic consumption did not increase with the steadiness of the previous decade, but it rose from 2,632,000 bales in 1890 to 3,665,000 bales in 1899. The exports increased from 4,410,000 to 7,674,000 bales. The average weight of bales increased from 473 to 489 pounds each. Beginning with 1890 prices began to decline, the average of the year in New York being 23 ^ cents lower than that of the previous year. In 1891-92 there was a still - further decline and a reaction in favor of higher prices in 1892-93, on account of the diminished crop. The great crop of 1894 again surfeited the market with the raw material. The business depression among the New England manufacturers caused such a reduction in con- sumption that we sent at least 300,000 to 400,000 bales more to Liverpool than would otherwise have been received, and thereby kept that market constantly overstocked. On November 12th middling spots in Liverpool dropped to 21^, the lowest price on record in that market. In New York middling declined to brli, but there was a reaction later in the season, the conditions point- ing to a short crop in 185'5. During the latter season, and that of 1896-97, prices remained comparatively steady. In 1897-98 and 1898-99, the years of the two largest crops on record to date, prices dropped as low as 5^4 in the former and 5fli- in the latter year. In Liverpool the price fell to 3d. in 1898-99, and in New York, with the exception of two years in the decade 1840- 1850, the lowest price on record was reached. As to the causes of the great fall in prices during this decade, some of the reasons assigned by leading commercial authorities were : crops altogether disproportionate to the wants of the world ; the failure of the great London banking house of Baring Bros. & Co., and the collapse of credit; the Japanese-Chinese war KING COTTON 25 (1894-95), and universal trade depression following the financial panic of 1893. Two important events occurred in this period ; the invasion of the Texas cotton fields in 1892 by the jMexican boll-weevil; and the introduction of a bill in the House of Representatives known as the “Hatch Anti-Option Bill,” followed by the appointment by the United States Senate (1892) of a committee to investigate and report upon the “Condition of Cotton Growers in the United States, the Present Prices of Cotton, and the Remedy.” As to the boll-weevil, while it has spread with remarkable rapidity from county to county, and now infests more than two- thirds of the cotton area of Texas, the greater portion of that of Louisiana, and has crossed the Red river into Oklahoma, and the Mississippi river into Mississippi, its enormous destruction of the crops may after all have been a blessing in disguise. Cer- tainly during the decade, 1890-1900, the world could not have consumed much more cotton than was produced, and certainly if much more had been produced it would have resulted in ruinous prices. As to the investigation of the cause of low prices by the Senate Committee, the avowed purpose of which was to prove that speculation in cotton futures and the demonetization of silver were the causes of low prices, the Committee in its report was forced to admit that the “obvious, apparent, and proximate cause is overproduction. Since, in the main, with deviations produced by abnormal conditions, price is regulated by supply and demand — a full supply with relatively diminished demand bringing low prices, and a great and active demand with relatively diminished supply bringing higher prices — where there is an annual increasing supply there ought to be, to maintain prices, an annual increasing demand.” And this conclusion was supported by the preponderance of the evidence taken, which showed that in the opinion of the witnesses, some of whom were cotton planters, the low prices were due mainly to overproduction. Eleventh Period, 1900 to 1908 This period in many respects was the most remarkable in the history of the cotton industry. Two of the crops were the 26 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. largest on record, and one of them so small as to produce a “famine,” the like of which was never before experienced except during the Civil War. It witnessed the formation of two “bull" pools that forced cotton futures to an extravagant price ; the spread of the Mexican boll-weevil over a great area, covering the major portion of Texas and Louisiana and portions of Arkansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma; the extension of cotton culture into the Staked Plains and Pan Handle of Texas; a great and un- precedented increase in the cotton acreage ; the production of a four-million-bale crop in Texas; the admission of a new cotton State into the Union ; and a great increase in the number of cotton mills in the Southern States, as well as in Great Britain. Beginning with a crop of 10,383,000 bales in 1900, there was an increase to 10,681,000 in 1901, and to 10,727,000 in 1902, which were the three largest crops to date, excepting those of 1897-98 and 1898-99. The area in cotton the next year (1903) though the largest to date — exceeding 28,000,000 acres — and under ordinary circumstances should have yielded a crop of 11,000,000 bales, turned out only a little over 10,000,000 bales. The small yield was due to a very unfavorable season. The spring was so wet and cold, that planting was not only delayed, but the seed germinated so slowly as to make the crop one of the latest in many years. If this season was an unusually poor one that of 1904-05 proved one of the most perfect in the experience of planters. The area was increased to over 32,000,000 acres, the largest on record, and the result was the amazing yield of nearly, if not fully, 14,000,000 bales — though several hun- dred thousand of which were not marketed until the following year. The production in every State, excepting Texas and Ten- nessee, surpassed all previous records. The crop of 1905-06 was another small one, the midsummer season in the Atlantic and Middle Gulf States being very un- favorable on account of the excessive rainfall. The commercial crop turned out 11,346,000 bales, but several hundred thousand bales of this were brought forward from the great crop of 1904-05. The season 1906-07 witnessed another large increase in acreage, and the season being favorable the crop exceeded 13,500,000 bales. KING COTTON 27 The domestic consumption during this period rose from 3,588,000 to nearly 5,000,000 bales, the Southern States showing an increase of about 55 per cent., and the Northern States about 25 per cent. The exports increased to 8,768,000 bales in 1904-05, the largest on record. Referring to the value of the exports of that season, the report of the Department of Commerce said; “Cotton is King in the export record of the United States for the fiscal year just ended. The total value of raw cotton exported for the first time crossed the $400,000,000 line and exceeded by far the value of any other article of merchandise sent out of this country.’’ The value of the exports in 1906-07, even exceeded that of 1904-05, amounting to over $471,000,000. The remarkable fluctuation in prices was a notable feature during this period. From 9 ^ cents at the beginning of the season, 1900, the price of middling in New York advanced to 12 cents in January, 1902, but in August declined to 8 cents. In 1902-03 the spot market opened at 9 cents, declined to 8.30 in November, and rose to 13jd in August, 1903. The New Orleans market showed a still wider range of fluctuations. So wide a fluctuation has not occurred in either market since 1874. In New Orleans a "bull pool” was formed which managed to acquire a large quantity of cotton for Juh" and August delivery, and early in the latter month had bought up practically all of the spot cotton in sight. This sent prices up in New Orleans to 13 cents, and as a result closed nearl}" one-fourth of the spindles in this country. Though the fluctuations in 1902-03 were great, they were not comparable to the extreme and violent fluctuations in 1903-04. The lowest price of middling in New York was 9.5 cents in October, while the highest price reached was 17.25 cents in Feb- ruary — a difference of 7.75 cents per pound or $38.75 a bale. The lowest New Orleans price was cents in October, and the highest 16rir in February — a difference of 7.31 cents per pound, or $36.56 a bale. After the collapse of the great “bull” move- ment in New York about the middle of March, prices graduall}^ declined in that market to 10j4 cents in August, and to 10 cents in New Orleans. The crops of 1902-03 and 1903-04 were so small, and prices 28 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. were so high, that many mills in this country and abroad were forced to close down, and others to run on short time. In Lancaster especially the “famine” resulted in great distress among the operatives, and great loss to the manufacturers. The season 1904-05 was another of great fluctuations in prices. Early in September middling was worth 11 cents, but by the end of December declined to 6.95 cents. Toward the close of the season 11 cents was again realized. Though the crop of 1905-06 turned out over two million bales less than that of the previous year, the fluctuations were much narrower than for some years, the range in the fall months being from 10.10 to 12.60 cents. The latter end of August, with a large crop in prospect, prices declined a little below 10 cents. In the season of 1906-07 the fluctuations were considerable, the fall prices ranging from 9.80 cents to 11.20 cents. Late in the spring there was an advance to 12.90 cents, and to 13j4 cents in August, the result of a wide-spread and disastrous drought in Texas and the adjacent territory, indicating a very low yield in that section of the cotton belt. KING COTTON 29 Cotton Crops of the United States, 1790-1908 Prices (middling upland) per pound Suppl}', Consumption, Exports, (Surplus Stocks and Prices) In New York In Liverpool Year L!.L,j Crops Consumption Exports Stocks ' (close of year) Net weight of bales Low- est High- est Aver- age I ow- est High- est Aver- age Bales Bales Bales Bales Pounds Cents Pe nee 1790-91 8,889 No data 889 No data 225 26 13 30 1791-92 13,333 635 do 225 29 20 30 1792-93 22,222 2,222 do 225 32 13 22 1793-94 35,556 do 7,407 do 225 33 12 18 1794-95 35,556 do 27,822 do 225 36^ 15 27 1795-96 44,444 do 27,141 do 225 36^ 12 29 1796-97 48,889 do 16,837 do 225 34 12 37 1797-98 66,667 do 41,600 do 225 39 22 45 1798-99 88,889 do 42,366 do 225 44 17 60 1799-00 155,556 35,556 79,066 do 225 28 16 36 8100-01 210,526 39,474 91,716 No data 228 44 17 38 18 1801-02 241,228 No data 120,619 do 228 19 12 38 16 1802-03 252 101 do 158,454 do 238 19 8 15 124 1803-04 240,741 do 129,756 do 270 20 10 IS 14 1804-05 281,128 44,177 154,101 do 249 23 14 19 164 1805-06 347,826 No data 155,032 do 230 22 12 15 i8i 1806-07 285,714 do 228,362 do 280 2U 10 14 i4i 1807-08 271,739 do 38,516 do 276 19 9 30 22 1808-09 366,071 do 227,635 do 224 16 10 18 20 1809-10 340,000 64,000 373,046 do 250 16 10 19 154 1810-11 269,360 57,239 208,950 No data 297 12i 1811-12 304,878 No data 117,428 do 246 lOi 16| 1812-13 304,878 do 77,683 do 246 I2i 23 1813-14 284,553 do 72,069 do 246 15i 29i 1814-15 363,636 90,000 301,814 do 275 21 20| 1815-16 457,565 No data 302,388 do 271 29 18-f 1816-17 460,993 do 303,721 do 282 26 20i 1817-18 448,029 do 331,438 do 279 34 20 1818-19 596,429 do 314,275 do 280 24 124 1819-20 606,061 do 484,319 do 264 17 Ui 1820-21 647,482 No data 449,257 No data 278 11 20 14.32 7 94 8.14 1821-22 742,049 do 511,219 do 283 10 18 14.32 Si 74 6.95 1822-23 620,805 do 582,964 do 298 9 17 11.40 6i sh 7.21 1823-24 762,411 do 504,857 do 282 lU 18 14.65 7 9 7.66 1824-25 891,608 do 616,958 do 286 12 30 18,59 7 164 11.62 1825-26 1.121,667 do 655,562 do 312 9 m 12.19 5i 64 5.85 1826-27 957,281 149,516 854,000 do 331 8f Hi 9.29 4i 6? 5.79 1827-28 720,593 120,593 600,000 40,000 335 8i 13 10.32 5 6f 5.84 1828-29 870,415 118,853 740,000 30,000 341 8 Hi 9.88 5 64 5.32 1829-30 976,845 126,512 839,000 35,000 339 8 12i 10.04 6 6| 6.44 1830-31 1,038,847 182,142 773,000 119,000 341 7} 13i 9.71 5i 6 5.38 1831-32 987,477 173,800 892,000 41,600 360 7 12 9.38 54 7 6.22 1832-33 1,070,438 194,412 867,000 48,200 350 9i 17 12.32 104 7.87 1833-34 1,205,394 196,413 1,028,000 29,600 363 94 18 12.90 7^ 94 8 10 1834.35 1,254,328 216,888 1,023,000 41,600 367 m 20 17.45 74 104 9.13 1835-36 1,360,725 236,733 1,116,000 43,300 373 m 20 16.50 74 10 8.79 1836-37 1,423,930 222,540 1,169,000 75,800 379 7i 20 13.25 5 8 6 09 1837-38 1,801,497 246,063 1,575,000 40,300 379 7i 14 10.14 54 7h 6.28 1838-39 1,360,532 267,018 1,074,000 52,250 384 17 13.36 64 84 7.19 1839-40 2,177,835 295,193 1,876,000 58,442 383 6 13i 8.92 54 6^ 5.42 ^ Port stocks. 30 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S Cotton Crops of the United States, 1790-1908 — Con. Supply, Consumption, Exports (Surplus Stocks and Prices; Year Crops Consumption Exports Stdcks - (close of year) Net weight of bales Low- est High- est Aver- age Low- est High- est A'\’er- age Bales Bales Bales Bales Pounds Cents Pe nee 1840-41 1,634,954 297,288 1,313,500 72,4,0 394 7 11} 9.50 5} 6} 5.73 1841-42 1,683,574 267,850 1,465,.50U 31,807 39/ 5 10} 7.85 .4} 5} 4.86 1842-43 2,378,875 325,129 2,010,000 91,486 409 6i 8} 7.25 3} 5 4.37 1843-44 2,0,30,409 346,750 1,629,, 500 159,772 412 51 9} 7.73 3} 5} 4.71 1844-45 2,394,.503 389,000 2,083,700 98,420 415 5 6} 5.63 3 4f 3.92 1845-46 2.100,.537 422,600 1,666,700 107,122 411 7 9} 7.87 4 7 4.80 1846-47 1,778,651 428,000 1,241,200 214,837 4.31 13} 11.21 4} 7} 6.03 1847-48 2,439,786 616,044 1,8,58,000 171,468 417 6 13 8.03 3 4} 3,93 1848-49 2,866,9.38 642,485 2.228,000 1,54,753 436 5i 10} 7., 55 4 6} 4.09 1849-.50 2,333,718 613,498 1,590,200 167.930 429 10 ■ 13} 12.. 34 5} 7} 7,10 1850-51 2,4.54,442 485,614 1,988,710 128,304 416 8if 15 12.14 4} 7} 5.51 1851-52 3, 126, .310 689,603 2,443,646 91,176 428 8i 11} 9,50 4} 5} 5.05 1852-53 3,416.214 803,725 2,528,400 1.35,643 438 11} 11,02 5} 5.54 1853-54 3,074.979 737,236 2,319,148 135,603 430 10 11} 10.97 4‘J 6 5.31 1854-55 2,982,634 706,417 2,214,209 143,336 434 Si ■ 13 10.. 39 4} 6} 5.60 1855-56 3.655,557 777,739 2,954,606 64,171 420 9 11} 10.30 5} 6} 6.22 1856-57 3,093,737 819,936 2,252,657 49.258 444 15} 13.51 5} 9} 7.73 1857-58 3,257,339 595,562 2,.590,455 102,926 442 15} 12.23 6{-} 7} 6.91 1858-59 4,018,914 927,651 3,021,403 149,237 447 11 13} 12.08 6 7} 6.68 1859-60 4,861,292 978,043 3,774,173 227,708 461 10^ 11} 11 5} 7} 5.97 1860-61 3,849,469 843,740 3,127,,568 83.127 477 10 22 13.01 6} 11} 8.50 1861-62 >4,500,000 >370,000 644,936 No data 477 20 51} 31.29 12} 29 18,37 1862-63 >1,600,000 >288,000 10,898 do 47/ 51 92 67.21 20 29} 22.46 1863-64 >450,000 >220.000 27,0,53 do 477 68 189 101 . 50 21} 31} 27.17 1864-65 >300,000 >34.5,000 21,787 do 477 35 182 83.38 13 26 19.11 1865-66 2,269,316 666,100 1,554,664 283,692 441 32i 60 43.20 12 20} 15.30 1866-67 2,097,254 770,030 1,557,054 80,296 444 26i 42 31., 59 7} 1,5} 10.98 1867-68 2,519,.554 906,636 1,655,816 37.398 44o 151 32} 24.85 7} 12} 10.52 1868-69 2,366,467 926,374 1,465,880 11,160 444 24} 35 29.01 11 13} 12.12 1869-70 3,122,551 865,160 2,206,480 65,325 440 19} 35 23.98 8} 11} 9.80 1870-71 4,3,52,317 1,110,196 3,169,009 144,290 442 14} 21 16.95 7} 9} 8.55 1871-72 2,974,. 351 1,237,330 1,957,314 59,287 443 18} 26} 20.48 9}} 11} 10.78 1872-73 3,930,508 1,201,127 2,679,986 104,782 444 19} 22} 18.15 9 10/if 9.65 1873-74 4.170„388 1,305,943 2,840,981 124,795 444 13} 201 17.00 8 9} 8.36 1874-75 3,832,991 1,193,005 2,684,708 74,411 440 14} 17} 15.00 7 8 7.67 1875-76 4,632,313 1,351,870 3,234,244 130.041 444 11} 14} 13.00 o} 7} 6.67 1876-77 4,474,069 1,428,013 3,030,835 130,493 440 10} 13} 11.73 5} 7* 6. '29 1877-78 4,773,865 1,489,022 3,360,2,54 45,784 450 10} 12} 11.28 Ol6 6} 6.31 1878-79 5,074,155 1,, 558,329 3,481,004 65,948 447 8} 13} 10.83 4} 7-A 6.16 1879-80 5,761,252 1,789,978 9,885,003 141,418 4.54 10} 13} 12.02 6y}r 7} 6,94 1880-81 6,605,7.50 1,938,937 4,589,346 218,043 460 10} 13 11.34 Or 6.48 1881-82 5,456,048 1,964,535 3,582,622 124,232 450 11} 13 12,16 6} 7} 6.70 1882-83 6,949.756 2,073,096 4,766,597 237,117 470 10 124 10.63 5} 6}}- 5.90 1883-84 5,713,200 1,876,683 3,916,581 116,190 462 9 10 10.64 5} 6tV 6.03 1884-85 .5.706,165 1,753,125 3,947,972 132,421 460 8.7 10.7 10.54 oA 6} 5.76 1885-86 6,575,691 2,162,.544 4,336,203 178,026 463 9} 10 9.44 4f;- 5-1% 5,14 1886-87 6.505,087 2,111,532 4,445,,302 86.269 464 9} 11} 10.25 5* 6 5.42 1887-88 7,046,833 2.257,247 4,627,502 180,062 467 9} 11 10.27 5} 6 5.51 1888-89 6,938,290 2,314,091 4,742,347 6.5,624 477 9TJ 11} 10.71 5} 6} 5.73 1889-90 7,311,322 2,390,959 4,906,627 75,195 478 10} 12} 11., 53 6U- 5.97 Prices (middling upland) per pound In New York In Liverpool Estimated. - Port stocks. KING COTTON 31 Cotton Crops of the United States, 1790-1908 — Con. Prices (middling upland) per pound Supply, Consumption, Exports (Surp'.us Stocks and Prices) In New York In Liverpool Year Crops Consumption Exports Stocks > (close of year) Net weight of bales Low- est High- est Aver- age Low- est High- est Aver- age Bales Bales Bales Bales Pounds Cents Pe nee 1{!90-91 8,652,597 2,632,023 5,783,101 228,684 473 7H 11 9.03 44 5H 4.94 1891-92 9,035,379 2,876,846 5,868.545 416,536 473 6ii- 814- 7.64 4-U 4.18 1892-93 6,700,365 2,431,134 4,410,524 243,271 475 7.^ 10 8.24 5i 4.57 1893-94 7,549,817 2,319,688 5,360,318 183,737 474 64 8rV 7.67 a 4.23 1894-95 9,901,251 2.946,677 6,926,025 280.063 484 5iV 8sY 6., 50 3.41 1895-96 7,157,346 2,504.972 4.751,384 222,678 477 7* 94 8.16 4\"r 4.24 1896-97 8,757,964 2,847,351 6.088.521 77,015 477 7 St 7.72 8'-^- 4^ 4.12 1897-98 11,199,994 3,443,581 7,674,065 176,006 482 54 7-M 6.22 a-Y 4^ 3.53 1898-99 11,274,840 3,589,494 7.452.116 392,280 489 oA- 64 6.00 3 3.28 1899-00 9,436,416 3,665,412 6,055,874 88,032 479 64 101 8.69 3M 6iV 4.87 1900-01 10,383,422 3,588,501 6,639,931 239,324 485 8 12 8.96 74 5.12 1901-02 10,680,680 3,988,501 6,71.5,793 16.3,586 483 714 9.1 8.75 41 Si 4.78 1902-03 10,727,559 4,160,961 6,765,953 162,040 483 8.. 30 13.. 50 10.27 4.40 7.12 5.46 1903-04 10,011,374 .3,963,981 6,109,7.55 111,799 48.3 9,. 50 16.65 12.42 5.68 8.96 6.94 1904-05 13,565,885 4,445,650 8.768,125 322,592 491 6.85 11. .50 9.11 3.63 6.88 4.93 1905-06 11,345,988 4,723,703 6,763,551 198,178 486 9.80 12.60 11.29 5.26 6.42 5.94 1906-07 13,510,982 4,965,498 8,487,788 275,561 490 9.60 13.55 11.45 5.31 7.52 6.35 1907-08 11,581,829 4,369,883 7,583,078 182,', 8/ 9.50 13..55 11.27 5.16 7.57 6.16 ^ Port stock?. 32 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. Review of Cotton Production Since 1790 The greatest and most important event in the history of cotton in this country was, of course, the invention of the saw gin. Without this labor saving machine and the improvements since made upon it, the increase in production and the expansion of every branch of the industry would have been slow, while mankind would have been deprived of the blessing of cheap clothing. Of scarcely less importance was the introduction and improvement of the Mexican variety of cotton seed, which, by reason of its freedom from disease, larger yield and greater quantity that could be picked, also cheapened production. The building and extension of railway lines in the Southern States has also had a far reaching effect upon the cotton industry. It has not only increased production, but has cheapened the cost of raw material to the consumer, and .furnished the planter a home market for his product. It is largely due to the building of railroads in the Southwest that several millions of bales of cotton have been added to the crop ; it is due to the railroads that numerous interior markets have been established, where the spinner may buy directly from the planter and ship his cotton on a through bill of lading, even to European points ; and, it is due to the railroads that the planter in almost every important cotton producing county can sell his crop at home, instead of having to pay transportation to some distant market and commissions for handling and selling. The Civil War was waged at a tremendous cost to the cotton planter. As a result he lost practically everything but his land. He had to begin life anew. But cotton was a precious article in the markets of the world, had sold for over $1.00 a pound in New York and 62^4 cents in Liverpool, and even while he was devising some means to rehabilitate his plantation it was worth 40 cents a pound in both markets. A cotton crop must be made, and somehow it was made, the product of 1866 turning out 2,269,000 bales, including perhaps a few thousand bales sequestered during the war period. The crop was just about equivalent to that of 1849, but it was worth more than three and a half times as much as that crop. KING COTTON 3.? The effects of the Civil War, so far as production was con- cerned, was felt nntil 1878 when the first crop equal to the largest under the slave system was made. But with all the evils of the war, its lamentable carnage and destruction of property, it taught the southern planter one important lesson : that raising cotton was not dependent upon negro labor, slave or free ; that white labor could produce more cotton, and better cotton than negro labor. Not only so, but he has since witnessed that white labor in the cotton fields is increasing, proportionately, more rapidly than negro labor, more than 60 per cent of the crop now being produced by white labor. The Civil M’ar discovered to the world another truth : that with all the efforts put forth by the most powerful cot- ton association in Europe, no other country on earth could compete with the American planter in the production of cotton, a fact which is just as potent now, and will be for many years to come, as it was during the “famine" period of 1860-1865. Sir Alfred Jones at a recent meeting of the British Cotton Growing Associa- tion, by way of encouragement, made the statement that the Eng- lish Government was building an 800-mile railway in Africa in a country scarcely touched by commerce ; that there were ten mil- lions of people there ready to work for 12 cents a day, and that in that country there was “an enormous future” in cotton growing. The method of collecting information and statistics regarding the cotton crop has been greatly improved in recent years. The first attempt at collecting commercial statistics began as far back as 1826-27, by counting the receipts at the ports. After the Civil War the overland movement by rail to Canada and northern mills was taken into account, and later on, the domestic con- sumption in the cotton states. The comparative movement of the crop, from week to week and month to month, furnished some evidence of the size of the crop, but this was unsatis- factory, as the approximate out-turn could not be determined until after the close of the twelve months season August 31st. The government, in its decennial Census, began collecting statistics of production in 1819, but it was not until 1879 that any attempt was 1 The British Cotton Gro'.vir:g Association which operated during the “ famir.a" period was revived a few years ago. Its third annual report shows an output in the British pro- vinces of 26,000 bales of cotton (400 pounds each), most of which was grown in Africa. In 1O03 the same colonies made about 2,000 bales. At this rate of increase Great Britain might possibly, by the end of the year i9.=;5, become independent of the United States for its cotton supply. 3 34 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. made to ascertain the acreage. In 1899, by Act of Congress, the Census Bureai; was required to collect and make public the amount of cotton ginned to stated periods, and its final report issued early in the spring furnishes definite information as to the yield of the crop five months earlier than the reports of the commercial authorities. One of the many good results of this work has been to minimize the fluctuations in the price of cotton during the period the planter is marketing his crop. The Con- gress in 1905 added another important feature to the work of the Census Bureau, in requiring the collection and publication of statistics of cotton production, consumption of cotton in the United States, the surplus held by manufacturers, and the quan- tity exported. It is to be regretted that the Congress has not also required the Census Bureau to collect statistics of cotton acreage, if not annually, at least every five years. As it is, the government is dealing with actualities as to production and guesswork as to acreage. Its acreage estimates are sometimes far from even approximate correctness, as was the case in 1905. This is evi- denced by a comparison of its acreage estimates for the periods 1879-1883 and 1902-1906, with that of production in those periods. The average estimated acreage for the first five-year period was 15,567,000 acres, and that for the second 28,670,000, an increase of 13,103,000 acres, or 84.2 per cent. The average production of the first period (1879-1883) was 6,096.000 bales, and that of the second period (1902-1906) 11,706,000, an increase of 5,610,000 bales, or 92 per cent. In other words, the increased production is shown to be 7.8 per cent, greater than the increased acreage, which is manifestly incorrect. If the acreage of 1905 had been estimated at, approximately, 31,000,000 instead of 26,000,000 acres, there would have been only 2 per cent, difference in the acreage increase and the production increase. Cotton planting like every other industry has its periods of • prosperity and adversity. Until 1836, with few exceptions, the crops had yielded very profitable returns. Then came the great financial panic of 1837. The cotton mills curtailed consumption, while the planters increased the crops. The inevitable result was KING COTTON 35 an accumulation of stocks and a fall in prices. The trade depression continued for ten or twelve years, during which the price of cotton reached the lowest level on record. About 1850 there was a trade revival, and until the Civil War both planters and manufacturers prospered. For thirteen years after the war the planters realized highly remunerative prices for their cotton, because the supply was not equal to the demand. But just as soon as the crops increased to the point of fully supplying the demand, prices declined to a lower level, though for the next ten or twelve years the average was no lower than in the prosperous period of 1850-60. In 18S0 the crops began to increase beyond the capacity of the mills for consumption, the panic of 1893 occurred, and another period of business depression set in. Sur- plus stocks accumulated and prices reached almost as low a level as in the period 1840-50. A careful examination into the cause of low prices will show that, as a general thing, it is due to a superabundance of supply, not necessarily when the crops are the largest, but only when consumption for one cause or another has fallen much below the supply. For example, within the past few years the demand for cotton goods has increased so rapidly that spinners have been able to pay fairly remuneratiA'e prices for some of the largest crops ever produced. Peace and prosperity cannot always prevail, and the planter like others must bear his share of “war, pestilence, and famine.” The great increase in the world’s consumption of cotton within the past twenty-five years is one of the most notable facts in the industrial progress, of the age.'^ But the most significant feature in this connection is the phenomenal increase in con- sumption in the cotton growing States. Ahthin this period it has increased from 331,000 bales in 1882 to 2,487,000 in 1907, or 650 per cent. Of the total crop produced in the former year 4.7 per cent, was taken for domestic consumption, while 18.3 per cent, was taken from the 135^-million-bale crop of the latter year. Within the same period the total consumption in the United States has increased from 2,104,000 bales in 1882 to 4,965,000 in 1907, or 136 per cent. At the present rate of increase, within > ?.Ir. J. Hutton, of the British Cotton Growing Association, estimates that the population of the world is growing to the extent of reiuiring 400,000 bales of cotton more each year. 36 COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE U. S. another quarter of a century this country should consume about 10.060.000 bales of cotton. Meanwhile, the consumption in the cotton States will go on increasing, which will benefit the planter, not only in giving him a home market for his cotton but for other products of the farm. It is estimated that of the world’s population of 1,500,000,000, about 500,000,000 regularly wear clothes, about 750,000,000 are partially clothed, and 250,000,000 habitually go almost naked, and that to clothe the entire population of the world would require 42.000. 000 bales of 500 pounds each. It therefore seems more than likely that the cotton industry will go on expanding until the whole of the inhabited earth is clothed with the products of its looms. This is not an unreasonable conclusion when we consider the fact that cotton is the cheapest material for clothing known to man. In the meantime it may come to pass that the world’s, area suitable for the culture of cotton may have to be seriously reckoned with, just as was the case during the Civil War. Where are the spinners of the world to look for an increase in the supply of raw cotton ? In answer to the inquiry. What are the possibilities of cotton culture in Texas? Governor Sayres said in a letter to the author: I have to express the opinion that not exceeding one-third, if so much, of the strictly cotton area of Texas is now under culti- vation, and that if the assurance could be given that for ten years in succession the price of cotton at the gin would average 8 cents per pound the annual product of the State would within the time reach fully 10,000,000 bales. This is not an exaggerated statement, nor is it based upon the cultivation of cotton exclusively in such area, proper allowance being made for the diversification of crops. Oklahoma and the Indian Territory, before their consolida- tion and organization as a State, were each larger in area than South Carolina,’- and this State in 1897 and 1898 produced over 1.000. 000 bales of cotton. Under favorable conditions, therefore, the State of Oklahoma could safely be counted on to supply 2.500.000 bales. The Atlantic States — Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and 1 The land surface area of Oklahoma was 38,830 square miles, that of Indian Terri- tory 31,000, and that of South Carolina 30,170. KING COTTON 37 Florida — could increase their yield by 1,000,000 bales, and the Gulf States, exclusive of Texas and including Arkansas, Ten- nessee, and iMissouri, could swell their production 1,500,000 bales. In addition to the above, there are large areas suitable for cotton culture in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Kansas, and Kentucky. So that if the time should come when the spinners of the world require, say, 40,000,000 bales of cotton, the United States should be able to supply 25,000,000, or over 60 per cent, of the whole, provided always that there was a sufficiency of labor and that other conditions were favorable. We are therefore led to the conclusion that for many years to come the Southern States will continue to hold the supremacy as the cotton producers of the best and cheapest clothing material in the world. What is the cost of producing a pound of cotton, and has the cost increased or decreased in recent years? These questions are often asked, but not satisfactorily answered because it is impossible to fix upon any definite cost. So much depends upon the quality of the soil, the cost of supplies and labor and the efficiency of the labor, the character of the seasons, the thrift of the planter, and the fluctuations of the market, that necessarily the cost must vary one year with another. Even on any single plantation it will vary from year to year. But to maintain that there has been no reduction in the cost of raising cotton is to argue that the planter has made no progress in the direction of economy, and that the various items entering into its cost are no cheaper than formerly, neither of which is altogether true. Undoubtedly, the intensive system of cultivation practiced on many plantations, especially in the older cotton States, has cheapened the cost of production ; and, it is a well known fact that farm implements are not only cheaper, but are better and save labor ; that ferti- lizers, ginning, bagging, ties, and the cost of marketing, are all much cheaper than formerly. On the other hand, the cost of rent and labor vary from time to time, according to existing economic conditions, both being largely controlled by the price of cotton. The Department of Agriculture has made two investigations into the cost of production, one in 1876 and the other in 1896. 3S THE FUNCTION OF COTTON EXCHANGES The results of these investigations show that the cost in 1876 was 8.32 cents and in 1896, 5.27 cents per pound, a reduction of 3.05 cents per pound, or 36.7 per cent, within the period of twenty years. It may be possible by thrift or economy, or by improved methods of cultivation to still further reduce the cost of pro- duction, but it will not amount to much until a machine is in- vented that will reduce the cost of gathering the crop. Labor- saving machines for cultivating and preparing the crop for market have been introduced, but cotton is still picked by hand just as it was many centuries before the Christian era. The Function of Cotton Exchanges The establishment of Cotton Exchanges in New York, New Orleans and other southern cities during the period 1870-1880, as already stated, worked a revolution in the cotton trade. Some of the results accomplished by this revolution, or more properly evolution — for the Exchanges are but the natural and necessary outgrowth of existing conditions at the time of their origin — may be thus enumerated : It has anticipated the future needs of the trade by a well regulated system of selling cotton for future delivery : It has established classes or grades of cotton, each having a distinct market value : It has facilitated transactions between producer and con- sumer, and brought them into closer relationship ; It has practically dispensed with the old style expensive custom of consigning and selling through commission houses : It has broadened the market by bringing together merchants from all parts of the world : It has conduced to narrow the range in the fluctuation of prices : It has tended toward the regulation of prices at home rather than abroad : It has facilitated the operation of the law of supply and demand. Speculation, or dealing in future values, is not of recent ori- gin ; it is as old as barter itself. Nor is it confined to cotton and KING COTTON 39 other agricultural products ; it extends to every branch of human industry. But people will speculate in cotton, just as they will speculate in real estate or any other values. The fact that they do speculate through the medium of Cotton Exchanges is not a sound and logical reason why these Exchanges are not useful and neces- sary in the conduct of the cotton business. Cotton Exchanges were not established to encourage specu- lation, but to facilitate trading in cotton upon just and equitable principles. Their chief function is to afford the manufacturer, the merchant, and the planter as well, the opportunity to purchase a contract or ‘‘hedge” not necessarily for the purpose of receiving or delivering the actual cotton at some future time, but as an insurance ag'ainst possible market fluctuations that might result in loss. The manufacturer who has an order from Shanghai, for instance, for the future delivery of goods may buy on the Exchange, at a definite time and price, a contract for the amount of cotton required to fill that order ; the Southern mer- chant having, say, a thousand bales of cotton for which there is no immediate demand may sell on the Exchange a contract for that amount, and safely hold on to his cotton until there is a market for it; the planter whose crop is not yet ready for delivery, seeing the market contiirually advancing, may sell on ■ the Exchange a contract for all or any portion of his crop. In each case the transaction is an insurance against loss. There is no speculation in it, no more than there is in taking out a “policy” as an insurance against loss by fire. It is the very acme of trad- ing, it is an evolution from a crude to a scientific method of mer- chandizing. The classification, or grading of cotton, each of the grades having a relative value to the accepted standard has been of great benefit, and especially to the planter. It has acquainted him with the true value of his product. Before the Exchanges were established grades were fixed by custom, they were fewer in number, and the planter had to accept such grading as his com- mission merchant chose to give his staple. Now the grading is done by experts of the Exchanges, and the cotton offered stands upon, and sells upon, its actual merits. The grades of the various Exchanges may differ, according to the general character 40 THE FUNCTION OF COTTON EXCHANGES of the local receipts, but these differences are all based upon middling as the accepted standard. Thus, each locality has a definite classification for the cotton it receives. In old times, before business was done through the Ex- changes, it was the universal custom of planters to ship their crops to commission merchants. It was the only means the planter had to dispose of his crop, but it was very costly. Now the planter is no longer saddled with drayage, freight, insurance, commissions, etc. ; the buyer goes to the gin house, or to the country town, makes a deal with the planter and then sells a contract on the Cotton Exchange. In this dealing, of course, the middle man is not eliminated, neither is drayage, freight, in- surance, commissions, etc., but they are no longer a charge upon the planter. The Cotton Exchange has insured the buyer against risk or loss, and that is the end of it so far as the planter is concerned. Thus, the producer and consumer are brought into closer relations, and the method of buying and selling is facilitated and cheapened. The market is likewise broadened, because these Exchanges have gathered into their membership the leading merchants of the world, and they study every phase of the growing crop, every condition of the market, every demand of the producer and consumer, and are ever alert to buy cotton in any market offering' the best advantage because, as an induce- ment, the Exchange stands between them and possible loss. It is due to the Cotton Exchange system that the enormous crops of recent years have been disposed of so quickly and financed so successfully. It is due to this system that large amounts of cotton can be bought by foreign merchants and held in Liverpool, Bremen, Havre and other foreign markets as surplus stocks. There is always a ready sale for bills drawn against such cotton, because the banker knows that their prompt payment at maturity is insured by a sale of the cotton through one of the Exchanges. Under the old system not one-third as much surplus cotton was bought on foreign account, because no facilities then existed for financing such enormous values. Since the advent of the Exchanges dealers in cotton are more numerous than ever before. This has increased competition and KING COTTON 41 imparted greater activity to trade, and hence, prices are steadier and fluctuations less violent, all of which is a gain to both pro- ducer and consumer. Go back to the times when it was simply a deal between the spinner and the commission merchant — the planter’s agent. Sometimes the fluctuation in one year would be as great as the average value of cotton during the season. From the lowest to the highest, a fluctuation of six, seven, and eight cents a pound in one season was not uncommon. One year it was 9, another 12^ and another as great as 18 cents. In only one year since 1875 has the fluctuation been as high as 7 cents, and that was in 1903 when an abnormally short crop caused a cotton famine and famine prices. Frequently it has been less than 2 cents, and repeatedly ly?. cents and below. It cannot be denied that the market consuming the surplus commodity of any country, will control the price of that com- modity. And hence that, Liverpool being the market for all of the world’s surplus cotton has fixed the price of our surplus, and until recent years had established prices in our own markets. But we are now consuming at home nearly five million bales of cotton and the more we consume the less we shall be controlled by Liverpool prices. Before the Exchanges were established, no sales of cotton were ever made except on the basis of Liverpool quotations, and Liverpool prices were never influenced by those of New York or New Orleans. It is no uncommon thing nowadays to see the American Exchanges take the initiative in advancing prices irrespective of Liverpool, and thus give a value to the crop that it might not otherwise have attained. It has not interfered with, but rather facilitated the operation of the law of supply and demand. The whole question of dealing in cotton futures was ex- haustively investigated when the Hatch Anti-Option bill was under discussion in the 52nd and 53rd Congresses in 1892. The price of cotton was ver}^ low, lower than for many years, and it was sought to discover the cause of it. Some of the ablest politicians, merchants and planters at that time were profoundly impressed with the idea that the underlying cause of low prices must be attributed mainly to two things ; the “gambling” in futures, and to the “demonetization of silver.” A committee of the Senate 42 THE FUNCTION OF COTTON EXCHANGES was appointed to investigate the subject, its Chairman being not only a planter, but a jurist of great ability. The committee traveled through the South and took the testimony of many prominent merchants and planters. The examination was ex- haustive, and a report was submitted. No more ingenious or subtle argument was ever made before a court, than was sub- mitted to Congress by this astute jurist. But he failed to impress Congress with the wisdom of his pleadings, and the Anti-Option bill failed. While the Senate Committee admitted that “the obvious, ap- parent, and proximate cause” of the low price of cotton was “overproduction,” it stated that one of the main contributory causes was “the enormous extent to which dealings in futures had attained,” and “the most potent, the demonetization of silver.” Fifteen years have elapsed since the spacious argument was made to support that contention. Time has answ'ered, and effectually settled the contention. We have witnessed less violent fluctua- tions, steadier prices, and just as high average prices for the period 1870-1908 as obtained during a like period before the Civil War, when there were no Cotton Exchanges and there was free coinage of silver. We are just now passing through a period of high and remunerative prices, while the planter is enjoying unusual prosperity, with dealings in futures still going on, and with silver still demonetized. After all it is the law of supply and demand that regulates the price of cotton, as it does all other commodities the world over. Neither cotton exchanges, nor planters’ associations, nor the withholding of cotton from the market, can fix prices. Their action may have a temporary effect upon the market, but not long. Experience teaches us that material reduction in acreage as in 1895, or a serious disaster to the crop as in 1903, will advance prices, but there is no evidence in history that cotton exchanges, cotton planters’ associations, or any other artificial bodies can, independent of demand, lower or raise prices and establish values. The great law of supply and demand is the arbiter of prices, and will prevail. CHAPTER II ViRGixLi, AND Its Cotton Crops prom 1800 to 1908— Number OF Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consump- • TioN OF Cotton — Historical Data Rp;lating to Cotton Production. Although cotton culture in Virginia has always been con- ducted on a comparatively small scale, its introduction into that State deserves more than a passing notice. It was on Virginia soil, and immediately after the settlement of the Jamestown colony (1607), that the first effort to produce cotton in North America was made.^ In a pamphlet which appeared in London in 1609, with the title “Nova Britannica; Offering Most Excellent Fruits of Plant- ing in Virginia,” it is stated that cotton would grow as well in that province as in Italy. Another London pamphlet, of 1620, says that cotton among other “natural commodities may also be had in abundance in Virginia.” A Mr. Gookin, who settled at Newport News in 1621, “planted cotton, which soon grew as large in girth as the arm of a man, and as tall as a man’s figure.”^ It was partly his success, and partly the success of others, that led the Governor and Gouncil in March 1622, to write to the Company in England that they had reason to indulge great hope as to the culture of this staple in the colony. “Not only had the cotton tree, as it was called, of the West Indies been transferred to Virginia, but seeds obtained from the East had also been planted, and they had sprung up and flourished.”* * The green-seed, or upland variety, according to Seabrook,* was cultivated in Virginia to a limited extent one hundred and thirty years before the Revolution ; and Beverly* states that Sir Edmond Andros, who became Governor in 1692, “was a great 1 British State Papers, Colonial Vol. I, 15, I. - Works of Capt. John Smith- “ Abstract of proceedings of Virginia Colony. Vol. I, 168. * Origin, Cultivation and Uses of Cotton. “ Beverly’s History of Virginia, p. 90. 4.3 VIRGINIA 41 encourager of manufactures. In his time fulling mills were set up by act of the Assembly. He also gave particular marks of his favor toward the propagating of cotton.” The household manufacture of cotton goods began very early in colonial times, and long before cotton became an article of export. Nearly every planter manufactured cotton cloth for home consumption. Examples are furnished in one case in Vir- ginia, where in a community of twenty families, rich and poor alike, it was ascertained that among a total of 301 persons of both colors, there were made of fine table linen, sheeting, shirting, etc., 1,907 yards ; of negro clothing, blanketing, etc., 1,007 yards ; 152 pairs of coarse and 108 pairs of fine stockings. The finer qualities of cloth were worth 60 cents per yard, and the coarse 42 cents; and the total value of their industry was $16.70. The highest value made in one family was $267 and the lowest $21.50. There was but one family in twenty that did not manufacture cotton goods. Thomas Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia (1781) says that “during this time we have manufactured within our families, the most necessary articles of clothing. Those of cotton will bear some comparison with the same kinds manufactured in Europe.” The state of affairs during the Revolutionary War and im- mediately after, led to an increase in the home-making of cloths. The yarn was spun at home and sent to the nearest weaver. The cotton for spinning was prepared in general by the field hands, who were all expected to pick 4 pounds weekly in addition to their other labors. In 1800 the cotton crop of the State was 15,000 bales, and in 1805 it increased to 35,000. The largest production was 45,- 000 bales in 1825. During the decade 1830-1840 it ranged from 7,000 to 25,000 bales, and during the next decade it dropped as low as 4,000 bales. Even in 1859, when the crops in most other States were to date the largest on record, that of Virginia amounted to less than 13,000 bales. At one time cotton culture was carried on in 59' counties, 27 of which were north of the James river and 3 west of the moun- tains. At present its culture is confined to only 10 counties in the extreme southeastern portion of the State. KING COTTON 45 Commercial Cotton Crops of Virginia, 1800-1809 Year Total Crop 1800-01 15,000 1801-02 21,930 1802-03 25.000 1803-04 23,000 1804-05 27.000 Year Total Crop 1805-06 35.000 1806-07 25.000 1807-08 22,000 1808-09 31,071 1809-10 30,000 1809. — -At this date there was one cotton mill in operation in the State. 1815. — A Norfolk merchant received a circular signed by Fawcett and Littledales, Liverpool, which described a new cotton baling press composed entirely of iron. With this machine and the power of only two men, a bak of cotton of 300 pounds might be compressed into a tube of 26 inches or an oblong form, in a very short time, so as to give fully as high a degree of pressure as that of any package of cotton coming from the United States. Commercial Cotton Crops of Virginia, 1810-1829 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1810-11 20,000 26,936 28,000 18,000 25.000 35.000 43,165 31.000 30.000 42.000 1815-16 29,600 27.406 30.000 35.000 32.000 45.000 42,227 30.406 33,016 23,666 1811-12 1816-17 1812-13 1817-18 1813-14 1818-19 1814-15 1819-20 1820-21 1825-26 1821-22 1826-27 1822-23 1827-28 1823-24 1828-29 . ... 1824-25 1829-30 1824. — Cotton began to be cultivated in considerable quan- tities, says Niles’ Register. It was stated that some planters not far from Richmond, appropriate from 20 to 100 acres of land annually to the growth of the staple. One of the Richmond papers said its cultivation was spreading all over the lower por- tion of the State, and further north than in former years. A Yorktown correspondent said, “we have lately commenced the cultivation of cotton as a staple crop.” Another correspondent writing from Northampton in 1827 said, “Cotton is getting to be one of the chief staple products, and one of my neighbors in 1 826, from 30 acres, sold $800 worth of cotton at 11 cents a pound.” 46 VIRGINIA 1825. — Theo. Field, of Waqua, Brunswick county, in an article on the "Cultivation and Preparation of Cotton for IMarket," says of gins then in use : “Carvers gins, manufactured near Boston, are the best I have ever heard of ; but they are too costly for our limited crops in Virginia and Carolina. A Mr. Miles of North- ampton county, N. C., makes most excellent gins, but his manu- facture is unequal to the demand. Mr. Davidson, of Mecklen- burg county, N. C., manufactures extensively and his gins are cheap — $2 per saw. The only difference between Miles’ and Davidson’s gins is that Miles’ has a mote box in the rear of the ribs and they are made in better style, but they cost $1 more a saw than Davidson’s. One of Davidson’s 50 saw gins, with two horses, will pick from 3,000 to 4,000 weight per day. The most common practice in this part of Virginia, is to pack the cotton in round bags, six feet long, with iron or wooden pestles. This is a tedious business, as a hand will not pack more than a bag a day, the weight of which is generally 350 pounds. Some pack in boxes, called sc[uare, of unequal dimensions, 4 feet long, breadth and depth 3 feet by 18 inches ; others press it into these boxes by screws. In this part of the country, we are much at a loss for the best mode of packing, etc. I have recently heard of a new mode. It is effected by a chain of great substance at- tached, one end to a piece of timber, say 14 inches square and 18 feet long, lying horizontally upon rollers ; the other end to an upright windlass, which is carried around lay a 30-foot sweep. As this turns it winds up the chain which thrusts the end of the piece of timber against a block, called a follower, and thus forces the cotton into the end of a box which lies horizontally. The box is 4 feet deep and 18 inches wide. The cotton is driven into the last three feet of the box, which is confined by clamps and opens. After the chain is wound up, the clamps are removed and the bag sewed up, which finishes the business. Two hands will pack 6 bags a day.” The largest crop in the history of the State, about 45,000 bales, was produced this year. 1826. — An item in the Petersburg Intelligencer says that the cotton shipped from Petersburg for the twelve months ending Saturday, September 29, 1827, amounted to 36,780 bales, of KING COTTON 47 which 16,094 bales were shipped coastwise, and 20,686 bales to foreign ports. 1827. — As illustrating the condition of manufactures in the South at this time, the following from the American Farmer is interesting: “With a small machine invented in Tennessee, and employed by most of the wealthy planters, a child of from 12 to 14 years of age can gin, card and spin thread sufficient to make 8 or 10 yards of cloth per day. This machine costs about half the. price of the girl; with a machine which would not cost double that sum, she might spin 50 or 100 yards per day. With the miserable machines now furnished by their improvident owners in Maryland and Virginia, they cannot spin one yard, and therefore go half naked through the year.” ’ During this, or the following year, subscriptions were made for the erection of the first Cotton mill in Virginia at Peters- burg, where ample water-power was afforded by the falls of the Appomatox. The crop of this year was estimated at 45,516 bales. It, no doubt, included a portion of the North Carolina crop. 1829. — Niles Register says : “A machine has been contrived in A'irginia for pressing oil from cotton seed, which is becoming an important item among the productions of the Southern States. It is estimated that there is an annual surplus of cotton seed sufficient to yield 12,800,000 gallons, worth 50 cents a gallon, making an annual value of $6,400,000.” The first practical step toward the manufacture of oil from cotton seed was made by Francis Follett, of Petersburg, to whom belongs the distinction of having constructed the first cotton seed oil mill in the world. On January 21, 1829, he obtained a patent for a “Machine for hulling and husking cotton seed and separating the hulls from the kernels.” About the same time Jabez Smith, of the same city, was experimenting with cotton seed. In 1826, he painted his house with an oil made from cotton seed. He had a hulling apparatus attached to a cotton gin that prepared 240 bushels of seed a day. Follett and Smith formed a partnership and constructed a mill that attracted considerable attention. ^ See Tennessee Notes, 1828, pg. 256. 48 VIRGINIA Commercial Cotton Crops of Virginia, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1830-31 22,597 25,000 20,533 19,816 17,114 1835-36 12,465 9,539 11.578 7,400 9,628 1831-32 1836-37 1832-33 1837-38 1833-34 1838-39 1834-35 1839-40 1833. — The Petersburg R. R. (64 miles) from Petersburg to Weldon was chartered in 1830 and opened for traffic in 1833. 1835. — The Petersburg Intelligencer estimated the exports of cotton from Virginia ports to foreign ports, for the twelve months ended Sept. 30, 1835, at 19,897 bales, and the amount shipped coastwise at 8,000 bales. The domestic consumption was esti- mated at 5,400 bales. 1836. — Two cotton mills were erected about this time on the Appomatox river, four miles from Petersburg. A Surry county planter urged the planters of South Virginia to abandon cotton culture. He said: “I am well satisfied that one great cause of the slow improvement of the farms in this vicinity is the cultivation of cotton. The most of us persist itl cultivating it, although we have been warned by two or three successive and almost entire failures, that our climate is by no means favorable to its growth, even if our lands were rich enough.” 1838. — The Richmond & Petersburg R. R. (22^ miles), con- necting those two cities, was chartered in 1836, and completed Sept. 17, 1838. 1839. — Cotton was produced in 59 counties. In fact, all of the counties east of the Blue Ridge and south of the Potomac raised more or less cotton, except Albemarle, Fairfax, Loudoun, Madison, Patrick, Prince William, Rappahannock and York. The counties of largest production were, in the order named : Southampton, Surry, Greenville and Nansemond, all in the extreme southeastern portion of the State. Of the 59 cotton counties, 27, or nearly one-half, were located north of the James river and three, Lee, Scott and Rockbridge, west of the mountains. At this time there were 22 cotton mills in the State operating 42,262 spindles. i K - ' •x ‘ COTTON J'lELD SHOWING SQUARES, BLOOMS AND BOLLS. Photo by W*. Moller, Thomnsville, (ia. KING COTTON 49 Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Virginia, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption N umber of Mills Number of Spindles 1840-41 Bales 6,097 Bales No data No data No data 1841-42 7,002 do do do 1842-43 5,213 do do do 1843-44 5,200 do do do 1844-45 8,400 do do do 184.5-46 5,812 do do do 1846-47 4,664 do do do 1847-48 5,905 11,713 do do 184S-49 5,850 20,000 do do 1849-50 3,947 17,785 27 50,000 1840. — There were 284 miles of railway in operation. 1842. — The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railway, from Richmond to Quantico (80 miles) was chartered in 1834, opened to Fredericksburg in 1837 and to Quantico September 30, 1842. 1844. — There was a reduction in the cotton yield on account of drought. The decrease in some sections was put as high as 30 per cent., but the staple produced was of superior quality. 1846. — The crop was badly damaged this year by the cater- pillar. 1848. — A cotton factory with 1,054 spindles was put into operation at Fredericksburg. 1849. — Southampton, according to the Census, showed the largest total production of any county in the State, 869 bales. Frosts about the middle of April killed the early cotton plants. Cotton was grown in 52 counties,. 24 of which were north of the James river. CoM.MERCi.vL Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Virginia, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1850-51 3,924 12.818 No data No data 1851-52 4.998 17,141 do do 1852-53 5,461 22,992 do 185.3-54 4.916 20,767 do do 1854-.5.5 4,769 19.042 do do 1855-56 5,860 19,382 do do 1856-57 4,946 19,722 do 1857-58 5,208 18,167 do do S5S— 59 9.495 18,540 do 1859-60 12,727 16,400 16 49,440 i 50 VIRGINIA 1850. — There were 481 miles of railway in operation this year. 1851. — The Seaboard & Roanoke R. R., from Portsmouth to Weldon, N. C. (80 miles), was chartered in 1845 and opened November 10. 1856. — The Richmond & Danville R. R., from Richmond to Danville ( 140 ^ miles), was chartered in 1847 and opened for traffic May 15. The Piedmont R. R., from Danville to Greens- boro (48 miles), was leased by this line about 1868. It is now a part of the Southern Railway. 1857. — The Norfolk & Petersburg R. R. (81 miles) was completed near the close of the year. The South Side R. R., from Petersburg to Lynchburg (123 miles), was completed in November, 1854, and the Virginia & Tennessee R. R., from Lynchburg to Bristol (204 miles), in the spring of 1857. These three lines form the present Norfolk & Western Railway, recently acquired by the Pennsylvania Railway system. 1859. — The Richmond, York River & Chesapeake R. R., from Richmond to West Point (41 miles), began building in 1855 and was opened during this year. The Census returns for Essex county showed the highest total production of any county in the State, 4,600 bales of 400 pounds each. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Virginia, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1860-61 9,094 16,993 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 186.3-64 do do do do 1864-6.6 do do do do 1865-66 do 6,333 do do 1866-67 95 15,000 do do 1867-68 143 20,000 do do 1868-69 146 20,000 do do 1869-70 183 9,671 11 77,116 1860. — There were 1,379 miles of railway in operation this year. 1862. — In November the Confederate Congress passed an act requiring all military commanders in the service of the govern- ment to destroy all cotton when it was about to fall into the KING COTTON 51 hands of the Union army. During the same month a resolution was introduced and passed in the House advising the planters to abandon the cultivation of cotton and tobacco, and devote their energies to raising provisions, cattle, hogs and sheep. 1861. — The tax on cotton collected in the State by the Federal Government was $1,126 ; in 1865, $26,136 ; in 1866, $168,268 ; in 1867, $299,118, and in 1868, $330,579. 1869. — Cotton production at this time was on a very small scale, 70 bales in Prince George county, being the highest total production of any county in the State. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Virginia, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 2,439 Bales 10,647 No data No data 1871-72 4.596 14,040 do do 1872-73 6,753 15,233 do do 1873-74 8.810 11.496 11 56.490 1874-75 10,967 11,985 9 54.624 1875-76 13,124 8,174 No data No data 1876-77 15,281 7.747 do do 1877-78 16,381 9,211 do do 1878-79 17,276 11.346 do do 1879-80 19,595 11,461 8 44,340 1870. — There were 1,186 miles of railway in operation this year. 1871. — Professor J. W. Mallet, of the University of Virginia, after three successive years of planting sea-island cotton on upland, arrived at the conclusion that this variety did not lose its distinctive characteristics ; the fibre retained its fineness and in great measure its length, but on account of short seasons the production was diminished. Its deterioration on uplands he attributed to hybridization. 1873. — In September and October, the cotton worm “did the unheard of thing of appearing in the cotton fields of Virginia in sufficient numbers to do a little damage.” 1874. — The Norfolk and Portsmouth Cotton Exchange was organized this year (July 11) at Norfolk. 1879. — Southampton produced the largest crop of any county in the State, 5,200 bales, and Greenville the highest yield per acre, .48 of a bale. 52 VIRGINIA The largest crop of cotton reported by any Census, 19,595 bales, was produced this year. The area devoted to the crop was 45,040 acres. Co.uMERCiAL Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Virginia, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Conscimption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 23.951 Bales 9,652 No data No data 1881-82 17,000 12,312 do do 1882-83 24,000 13,428 do do 1883-84 17,300 14,586 do do 1884-85 13,500 13,556 do do 1885-86 14,821 16,345 do do 1886-87 13,913 17,062 11 58,649 1887-88 16,134 19,731 11 60,549 1888-89 13,852. 21,037 11 71,125 1889-90 5,735 22,731 9 94,294 1880. — There were 1,893 miles of railway in operation this year. 1882. — The average yield of cotton per acre was 189 pounds of lint, and the farm price, December 1, 9.8 cents per pound. 1887. — The average yield of cotton per acre was 184 pounds of lint, and the average price per pound on December 1, 8.6 cents. 1889. — Of all the other counties Brunswick had both the largest acreage in cotton and the highest total production, viz : 11,391 acres, and 1,282 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Virginia, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1890-91 7,226 21,395 12 87,981 1891-92 13,984 25,240 12 95,532 1892-93 9,393 25,924 10 100.086 1893-94 12,000 27.048 9 106,728 1894-95 13,414 32,383 10 127,408 1895-96 7,964 31,070 12 134,425 1896-97 11,539 39,405 15 1.39,425 1897-98 12,878 42,880 15 133,497 1898-99 13,990 44,502 17 137,803 1899-00 9,239 44,595 15 165,4.52 1890. — The Atlantic & Danville R. R., now the Southern Railway, was chartered in 1899, and completed from Danville to Portsmouth, February 15. KING COTTON 53 1896. — The average cost of cotton production this year as ascertained by the Department of Agriculture was 5.40 cents per pound. 1899. — There were 3,721^ miles of railway in operation this year. Brunswick produced the largest cotton crop of any county in the State, 3,190 bales. There were 88 cotton gins in operation this year, 97 in 1900, and 96 in 1901. The average output of each gin during each season was, respectively, 105 and 122 and 146 bales. Of the 118 counties in the State, 24 produced more or less cotton. There were 4,761 farmers engaged in its cultivation, and from 25,724 acres 5,166,630 pounds of lint were produced, or an average of 201 pounds per acre. The counties producing the largest crops were Brunswick, Greenesville, Southampton, Mecklenburg and Sussex, ranking in the order named, and reporting over 90 per cent, of the total production. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Virginia, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 11,833 Bales 36.462 15 159,532 1901-02 14.009 40,866 16 157,370 1902-03 16,575 43,331 17 191.546 1903-04 13,681 53,272 19 223,848 1904-05 17,216 54,455 19 251,656 1905-06 15,666 67,863 17 263,415 1906-07 14,590 70,902 16 286,626 1907-08 9,602 78,274 16 310,978 CHAPTER III North Carolina, and its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Miees and Spindees and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Historicae Data Reeating TO Cotton Production. One of the very earliest historical records of cotton in the United States is that contained in a “Brief Description of the Province of Carolina,” etc., published in London in 1666. The author of the pamphlet — his name is not given — tells us that “in the midst of this fertile province, in the latitude of 30 degrees, there is a colony of English seated, who landed there on the 29th of May, Anno 1664, and are in all 80Q persons, who have overcome all the difficulties that attend the first attempts, and have cleared the way for those that come after” ; that they brought with them most of the kinds of seeds and roots of the Barbadoes that would thrive in a temperate climate, and “they have indigo, tobacco very good, and cotton wool, lime trees, orange, lemon and other fruit trees which thrive exceedingly” ; also, “they have two crops of Indian corn in one year, apples, pears and other English fruits, which grow there out of the planted kernels.” Although the claims as to the advantages of Carolina were extravagant enough, there is no reason to doubt that these colonists did carry with them some of the cotton seed of the Barbadoes and planted them, but that they succeeded satisfac- torily can only be conjectured. Thirty-four years later (1700), another historian of the time says that the Carolina colony not only made an abundance of provisions, but manufactured their own clothes, the “cotton wool and flax being of our own growth.” ^ Referring to the French, who about this time left the James river in Virginia to settle on the Trent nver in North Carolina, History of North Carolina, Lawson. 54 KING COTTON 55 Lawson says : “The women are the most industrious sex in that place, and by their good housewifery make a great deal of cloth of their own cotton, wool and flax.” In the Westover Manuscripts, Captain Byrd, after reaching Timothy Ivy's plantation 15 miles from Dismal Swamp, on March 15, 1728, made the following entry in his diary; “There is but little wool in that province, though cotton grows very kindly, and, so far south, is seldom nipped by the frost.” From an old Custom House book at Wilmington, it appears that in July, 1768, the ship “Amelia” cleared from that port with an assorted cargo, among which was “three bags of cotton.” It is more than probable that from this date on, excepting, of course, the period covered by the Revolutionary War, a sufficient amount of cotton for home consumption was grown, and that for many years small quantities were exported. From 1800 to 1837 the total production of the State varied from about 20,000 to 100,000 bales, and the largest crop prior to the Civil War amounted to only 145,000 bales. The first crop after the war was 103,000 bales, which was but a little less than that of 1837. Beginning with 3870, when the crop to date exceeded that of any other year, each succeeding decade showed a substantial increase over the preceding one. This was due not only to an increase of acreage, but to an intensive system of culture. In 1879, according to the Census, the area planted in cotton was 893,000 acres, and the Agricultural Department’s estimate for 1904 was 1,307,000 acres, an increase since 1879 of 414,000 acres, or about 46 per cent. The production in 1879 was 389.000 bales, and that of 1904, 750,000 bales, an increase of 361.000 bales, or about 92 per cent., the increased production being 46 per cent, greater than the increased area. No other State better illustrates the possibilities of the intensive system in cotton culture. 1803. — A patent for a saw gin was granted to G. F. Saltonstall. The Moravians, who according to the historian, Williamson,^ were remarkably prudent and industrious, made considerable progress in the manufacture of cotton, and “several gentlemen in History of North Carolina. 56 NORTH CAROLINA Commercial Cotton Crops of North Carolina, 1800-1819 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1800-01 19.000 17,544 20.000 19.000 21.000 26.400 28,260 25.248 20,025 27,015 1805-06 31.000 24.000 26.000 35.000 31,500 28,576 29.000 27,004 32.000 30.000 1801-02 1806-07 1802-03 1807-08 . 1803-04 1808-09 1804-05 1809-10 1810-11 1815-16 1811-12 1816-17 1812-13 1817-18 1813“14 1818-19 1814-15 1819-20 the low country, where they work under great disadvantages, introduced machines for spinning cotton.” 1813. — The price of cotton for the years named was : — 1813, 10 to 11 cents ; 1814, 15 to 16 cents ; 1815, 15 to 18 cents ; 1816, 23 to 25 cents ; 1817, 23 to 25 cents ; 1818, 28 to 30 cents : 1819, 123/2 to 16 cents ; 1820, 13 to 14 cents. 1818. — The first cotton factory in the State was built at the Falls of Tar river, in Edgecombe county. Commercial Cotton Crops of North Carolina, 1820-1829 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1820-21 35 000 1825-26 84.000 1821-22 35,971 1826-27 70,589 1822-23 38 506 1827-28 47,016 1823-24 46.000 1828-29 71,005 1824-25 65,000 1829-30 48,695 1820. — John Skinner, a cotton planter of Johnston county, writing to the American Farmer from a section he alludes to as “the outer edge of that portion of our country in which the cotton plant can be matured” says, of the early production of cotton in North Carolina: — “It has been but a very short time since it was discovered that cotton could be cuidvated to any advantage in this section of the State. The cotton now grown competes in foreign markets with any upland cottcn exported from North America, Louisiana excepted.” North Carolina, he asserts, has never been credited with one-tenth of her actual surplus sent abroad. Owing to poor navigation, her cotton, tobacco and flour have gone to Virginia and South Carolina, and KING COTTON 57 have helped in no inconsiderable manner to swell the amount of their exports. 1821. — The price of cotton in North Carolina was as follows for the years named : — 1821, 10 to 13 cents ; 1822, 12 to 1334 cents ; 1823, 6 to 834 cents : 1824, 1234 to 13 cents ; 1825, 22 to 24 cents ; 1826, 8 to 10 cents ; 1827, 7 to 834 cents ; 1828, 8 to 934 cents ; 1829, 8 to 9 cents ; 1830, 8 to 934 cents. 1822. — The second cotton factory in the State was built near Lincolnton on the Catawba river. 1823. — Professor Olmstead, of the University of North Caro- lina, ascertained that a fine illuminating oil may be obtained from cotton seed. 1824. — Niles Register says that the cultivation of cotton was found to succeed so well in the northern part of North Carolina, and the southern part of Virginia, that the planting of cotton greatly increased in those districts. Fields that in the previous year (1823) were in corn were put in cotton, and the culture of cotton had extended much farther north. 1825. — Owing to the extraordinary rise in the price of cotton many fields, already planted with corn, were ploughed up and replanted in cotton. 1827. — Great damage was done by an invasion of the cater- pillar. In a “Report on the Establishment of Cotton and Woolen Manufactures, and on the Growing of Wool,” by Charles Fisher of Rowan county, is the statement that North Carolina during good crop years, shipped to the North and to Europe, through her own ports and those of her sister states, at least 80,000 bales of cotton annually. Some old records in the possession of the descendants of Henry Humphrey, Esq., of Greensboro, show that in March of this year, he bought cotton in Fayetteville for the use of his mill, for which he paid 834 to 8.61 cents per pound. The exports from Wilmington and other ports in the State amounted to 70,387 bales. 1831. — The price of cotton for the years named was as follows; — 1831, 5 to 734 cents; 1832, 8 to 9^4 cents; 1833, 9 to 10% cents ; 1834, 11 to 1234 cents ; 1835, 15 to 17 cents ; 1836, 58 NORTH CAROLINA Commercial Cotton Crops of North Carolina, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1830-31 47,838 40,958 50,811 48,129 50,456 18.35-36 56,886 63,604 114.414 81,048 143.034 1831-32 1836-37 1832-33 1837-38 1833-34 1838-39 1834-35 1839-40 14 to 16 cents; 1837, 6 to 8 cents; 1838, 6 to 8 cents; 1839, 13 to 14 cents ; 1840, 5 to 8 cents. 1833. — The Petersburg Railroad, now the Atlantic Coast Line, from Weldon to Petersburg (64 miles) was opened for traffic this year. A branch line was also built to Gaston. A cotton seed oil mill, located near Raleigh, is said to have been in operation about this time. 1836. — The first cotton factory at Fayetteville, with 1,000 spindles, was put in operation July 4. 1837. — According to the Salem Chronicle there were four cotton mills in the State, located at Greensborough, Mocksville, Haw River, and Cane Creek. For the first time the crop exceeded 100,000 bales. 1838. — The following cotton mills were in operation : — 1. At the falls of Tar river (Edgecombe county) the oldest in the State, built by a company. 2. Near Lincolnton, Lincoln county, built by a company. 3. One at Fayetteville — owned by Mr. Mallet. 4. One at Fayetteville — owned by Blackwell and others. 5. One at Greensboro (steam power) — owned by Mr. Humph- reys. 6. One at Witten (incorporated company). 7. One at Mocksville,- Davie county — Thos. McNeely. 8. One or two perhaps in Orange county owned by a company. 9. One in Randolph county — owned by a company. 11. One at Lexington, Davidson county, steam power — owned by a company. Seven new mills were reported building. The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, now the Seaboard Air Line, from Raleigh to Weldon (97 miles), was chartered in 1836 and opened between Raleigh and Gaston during this year. It was extended to Weldon in 1852. 1839. — Of the 68 counties reported as producing cotton, seven were located in the mountain regions, and one (Rowan) just KING COTTON 59 east of the mountains. The counties of largest production, in the order named, were : Anson, Northampton, Cabarras, Halifax and Edgecombe. At this time there were, according to the Census, 25 cotton mills in the State operating 47,934 spindles. Co.M.MERCIAL CrOPS AND CONSUMPTION OF CoTTON IN North Carolina, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1840-41 Bales 84.472 Bales No data No data No data 1841-42 87.405 do do do 1842-43 107,504 do do do 1843-44 123.786 do do do 1844-45 144.581 do do do 1845-46 96,386 do do do 1846-47 64,256 do do do 1847-48 100,719 15.500 do do 1848-49 86,924 20,000 do do 1849-50 73,845 13,617 28 40,000 1840. — The Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, now the Atlantic Coast Line, from Wilmington to Weldon (163 miles) was opened to traffic March 7. The Tarboro branch was opened August 1869 and the Scotland Neck branch October 1, 1872. There were 91^2 miles of railway in operation. 1843. — There were six cotton factories in operation in Fay- etteville, which were built at a cost of about $347,000. Three of these manufactured stout brown sheetings, the fourth, osna- burgs weighing % pound to the yard, and the other two yarns only. The sheetings, shirtings and bagging manufactured acquired a reputation second to none in the country. In all there were 25 cotton mills in the State, in which was invested $1,050,000. 1845. — A severe drought injured the crops in some parts of the State. In the southern central section, bordering South Carolina, the yield was estimated at one-fourth less on account of the drought. 1846. — This year only 6,061 bales of cotton were exported from Wilmington. Accounting for the decline, from about 113,000 bales formerly received at this port, J. D. Cameron, in the “Hand-Book of North Carolina,” says : “This was not because of the decrease in production in North Carolina, but because 60 NORTH CAROLINA new avenues of transportation had been provided. The construc- tion of certain railroads had borne to Charleston much of what had been formerly taken to Wilmington, and other roads had created overland transportation by which much of North Caro- lina cotton was taken direct to northern ports or those of Virginia. The crop was seriously damaged by the caterpillar. 1849.— Frosts during the middle of April destroyed many of the young cotton plants. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in North Carolina, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1850-51 73,407 13,000 30 No data 1851-52 93,501 15,000 No data do 1852-5.3 102,171 20,000 do do 1853-54 81,966 18,269 do do 1854-55 89,204 14,918 do do 1855-56 98,629 15,184 do do 1856-57 92,527 15,017 . do do 1857-58 97,422 12,911 do do 1858-59 103,558 12,261 do do 1859-60 145,514 12,045 39 41,884 1850. — There were excessive rains until June 3, in some parts of the State, and though planting was several weeks late, this was offset by a late frost which did not occur until November 17. There were 283 miles of railway in operation. 1851. — The Seaboard & Roanoke Railroad, from Ports- mouth to Weldon (80 miles), was chartered in 1845 and opened November 10. 1853. — A severe frost on October 18, cut off the cotton yield in some parts of the State. DeBow estimated that 20,000 bales of cotton were consumed in the mills of the State, and about the same number in 1854. 1854. — Joshua Harris, of Cabarras county, reported the yield of his crop at 1,000 pounds of seed cotton, or 250 pounds of lint to the acre, which he said was about an average crop. The Wilmington, Columbia & Augusta Railroad, now the Atlantic Coast Line, from Wilmington to Columbia, S. C. (192 miles), was completed from Wilmington to Kingsville, S. C., during this year, and extended to Columbia in 1872. A SQUAD OF NEGROES PICKING COTTON. Courtesy of Wolff-Goldman Mercantile Co., Newport, Ark. KING COTTON 61 1856. — The North Carolina Railroad, now the Southern Rail- way, from Charlotte to Goldsboro (223 miles), was chartered in 1849. Construction began in 1851 and the line was completed on January 30. 1858. — The Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad, from Goldsboro to Morehead City (95 miles), was chartered in 1853 and opened June 7, this year. 1859. — Edgecombe county made 19,138 bales, the largest yield of any county in the State. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in North Carolina, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61 Bales 103,981 Bales 13,644 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 1863-64 do do do do 1864-6-5 do do do do 1865-66 do do do do 1866-67 103,499 7205 do do 1867-68 154,941 8,122 do do 1868-69 144.057 7,860 do do 1869-70 144,935 9,632 33 39,897 1860. — There were 937 miles of railway in operation this year. 1863. — The Piedmont Railway, now the Southern Railway, from Greensboro to Danville (48 miles), was built by the Con- federate Government some time during the Civil War, and in 1868 the Richmond & Danville Railroad acquired most of the stock and a lease, making it a part of their main line. The Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio Railroad, from Charlotte to Statesville (47 miles), was completed in this year, but was dis- mantled the same year for the use of other military lines. It was reopened June 22, 1871. It is now a part of the Southern Railway system. 1866. — The tax on cotton collected by the Federal Govern- ment this year was $211,659; in 1867, $860,705, and in 1868, $887,342. 1869. — There were 33 cotton mills with 39,897 spindles in operation. Edgecombe county again produced the largest crop, 18,361 bales. 62 NORTH CAROLINA Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Nortfi Carolina, 1S70-1S79 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 27.5.000 Bales! 10.556 No data No data 1871-72 175,000 14.920 do do 1872-73 200,000 12,291 do do 1873-74 265,000 14.726 30 .55,498 1874-7.1 273,000 14,428 31 54,500 1875-76 260,000 19,.564 No data No data 1876-77 210,000 18,542 do do 1877-78 370.000 22,046 do do 1878-79 221,766 27,156 do do 1879-80 389,598 27,642 49 100,209 1870. — There were 1,178 miles of railway in operation this year. 1872. — The crop was considerably damaged by the caterpillar. 1873. — The prevalence of the caterpillar was said to have been “utterly beyond all precedent,” and in some counties great damage was reported. The Wilmington Produce Exchange was organized in April. 1875. — A cotton planters’ convention was held in Raleigh. Col. D. E. Butler, its president, in stating the object of the convention, said, that the system of mortgaging crops before they were made had well nigh bankrupted Georgia, and that the legislature refused to re-enact the law. Starvation seemed to stare people in the face on account of this refusal, but they had gotten along somehow, their prospects for a full crop were never better, and people would be more prosperous and independent hereafter, the mortgaging system having been abolished. Reso- lutions were adopted urging Southern State Legislatures to establish Bureaus of Agriculture, and urging the importance of planters producing an abundance for their own use of articles of prime necessity, etc. The Carolina Central Railway, now the Seaboard Air Line, chartered in 1855 as the Wilmington, Charlotte & Ruther ford- ton Railroad, from Wilmington to Shelby (242 miles), was completed September 22. 1876. — Machael Edgerton, of Wayne county, on five acres, average low ground, pine-wood land, surface dark loam, with clay sub-soil, raised 15,100 pounds of seed cotton ; 400 pounds KING COTTON 63 of guano and 75 loads of barn yard manure, were applied to the land. The largest yield reported was 20 bales on 25 acres, in Columbus county. 1877. — The Raleigh & Augusta Air Line, now the Seaboard Air Line, from Raleigh to Hamlet (99 miles), was chartered as the Chatham Railroad in 1851, but not completed until October 26. 1879. — Wake county made the largest crop, 30,115 bales; and Brunswick the highest yield per acre, .63 of a bale. A Cotton and Grocers’ Exchange was organized at Raleigh. CoMMERci.^L Crops and Consumption of Cotton in North Carolina, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills m b ‘ Spindles 1880-81 Bales 410.520 Bales 38.790 No data No data 1881-82 435,000 49,478 do do 1882-83 463.000 53,961 do do 1883-84 398,000 58,616 do do 1884-85 404.100 54,478 do do 1885-86 407,230 65,684 do do 1886-87 365,762 68,627 75 206,172 1887-88 443,581 80,485 81 240.081 1888-89 364,576 100,733 93 288,706 1889-90 336.261 114,371 91 337,786 1880. — There were 1,486 miles of railway in operation this year. 1882. — The average production per acre in the State was 194 pounds of lint, and the farm price of cotton on December 1, 9.8 cents per pound. The Western North Carolina Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Salisbury to Paint Rock (189 miles), was char- tered in 1855, opened to Old Fort in 1869, to Swannanoa in 1879, to Asheville Junction in 1880 and to Paint Rock, Tennessee, January 22. 1883. — A machine, having a transverse series of forward and upward rotating picking-discs, and peripheral lifting teeth and laterally-projecting prongs or teeth studding the sides thereof, was designed by C. C. Price, Jr., of Elizabeth City, for picking cotton and for which he obtained a patent. 64 NORTH CAROLINA The Albemarle & Raleigh Railroad, now the Atlantic Coast Line, from Tarboro to Williamston (33 miles), was opened this year. 1885. — Drought in August injured the cotton crop. 1886. — The Asheville & Spartanburg Railroad, now the Southern Railway, was chartered in 1868 and completed July 13. 1888. — The Seaboard Air Line was extended this year from Monroe, to Atlanta, Ga., 268 miles. 1889. — Mecklenburg produced 22,709 bales of cotton, the largest yield of any county in the State. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in North Carolina, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1890-91 Bales 588,000 Bales 140.817 105 418,900 1891-92 480,000 161,052 112 475,733 1892-93 367,000 182,647 125 543.809 1893-94 400,000 176,179 131 538,4,86 1894-95 479,441 221,264 135 612,503 189.5-96 397,752 219,822 1.33 773,0.30 1896-97 521,795 245,177 1.52 .884,678 1897-98 646,726 334,873 161 919,227 1898-99 629,620 374,891 169 1.003,268 1899-00 473,155 442,508 190 1,264,509 1890. — The crop this year for the first time exceeded 500,000 bales. Mr. Buffaloe, living near Raleigh, according to the Hand Book of North Carolina, made in 1890 with three ploughs 100 bales of cotton, an average of a bale and a half to the acre, and had not made less than twenty bales to the horse in many years ; and there were also in Wake and other counties many farmers who made from 20 to 25 bales per horse. The Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Sanford to Mt. Airy, and the Atlantic Coast Line, from Sanford to Wilmington, extending from Wilmington to Mt. Airy (245 miles), was constructed as follows: From Greens- boro to Mt. Airv in 1884, from Greensboro to Fayetteville in 1884, and from Fayetteville to Wilmington in 1890. There were 3,128 miles of railway in operation. 1891. — The superiority of the cotton in some of the counties KING COTTON 65 of the State was recognized three-quarters of a century ago, says J. D. Cameron, in the Hand-Book of North Carolina, especially in Anson and Orange counties, and “Anson creams” are still in large demand in the Liverpool market at advanced prices. 1892. — There were 125 cotton mills in operation with 9,128 looms and 543,809 spindles, that consumed 182,647 bales of cotton. There were 14 cotton-seed-oil mills in the State with a capacity for consuming 20 tons of seed per day. 1893. — In answer to some inquiries of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, R. W. Wharton of Washing- ton, Beaufort county, stated that the average production of lint cotton in the eastern counties of the State was 200 pounds per acre ; that the cost of production had decreased because of the use of a better quality of fertilizers at a given cost, more knowledge and skill in using them, better implements, and more intelligent management generally. W. E. Ardrey, of Charlotte, wrote the Committee that every farmer in his section, and he did not know of a single exception, who raised his own supplies, corn, meat, wheat, oats, horses, etc., was out of debt; but the contrary was true as to those who bought their supplies. 1896. — A report of the Department of Agriculture shows that the average cost of cotton production this year was 5.39 cents per pound. In June cotton lice did some damage in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, but perhaps not more than usual. The cotton worm and boll worm appeared rather early. Proper poisoning, by this time well understood in even the remotest portions of the cotton belt, prevented damage by the former, and dry weather in the fall considerably reduced the number of the latter. 1897. — The largest crop in the history of the State to date, 646,726 bales, was produced this year. Anthony S. Martin, of Maiden, obtained a patent for a cotton- picker. The picker fingers in this machine were arranged on endless revolving aprons to which rotating brushes were adjusted. In Pamlico county 12 bales of cotton were produced on 4 66 NORTH CAROLINA acres. A correspondent of the New Berne Journal stated that cotton had been grown in this connty, at a cost of one cent a pound in the seed delivered at the gin house. 1899. — There were 3,656 miles of railway in operation. The largest yield this year was that of Robeson county, 28,8-17 bales. There were 105,766 farmers engaged in the cultivation of 1,007,020 acres of cotton, the total production of which amounted to 216,506,930 pounds of lint or an average of 215 pounds per acre. The counties reporting the greatest area were, Mecklen- burg, Robeson, Wake, Lhiion, Johnston, Anson, Halifax, Wayne, Cleveland and Edgecombe, ranking in the order named. According to the Census there were in operation this year 2,573 cotton gins; in 1900 there were 2,659, and the vear follow- ing 2,578. The average output of each gin for each season was, respectively, 181, 192 and 175 bales. The average cost of ginning scjuare and round bales in 18S'9 was, respectively, $1.58 and 83 cents per bale. The cotton mills located in the counties named consumed this year the following number of bales:' Alamance, 26,702; Cabar- ras, 21,282 ; Cleveland, 16,805 ; Durham, 21,358 ; Gaston, 38,531 ; Lincoln, 9,512 ; Mecklenburg, 22,327 ; Richmond, 11,880, and Wake, 10,676, total, 185,106 bales. The production of these counties was : Alamance, 736 ; Cabarras, 8,197 ; Cleveland, 12,350 ; Durham, 1,320 ; Gaston, 7,177 ; Lincoln 5,796 ; Mecklen- burg, 22,805 ; Richmond, 23,931 and Wake, 22,616, total 105,228 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in North Carolina, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1000-01 Bales 509,341 Bales 408,333 218 1,428,066 1901-02 451,441 509,486 229 1,682,272 1902-0.3 568,884 531 ,2.55 2.36 1,796,390 1903-04 555,3.30 544,448 224 1,923,887 190-1-05 749,712 607,275 2.38 2,222.888 1005-06 652,815 690,499 245 2,381,414 1906-07 611,2.58 '727.820 262 2,640,633 1907-08 637,961 652,485 279 2,912,445 KING COTTON 67 1900. — There were in operation this year twenty cotton oil mills that consumed 107,660 tons of seed valued at $1,313,663. Of the seed produced in the State, 13.9 per cent, was manufac- tured into oil products valued at $1,880,015. The reports of the Department of Agriculture show that 218 cotton mills were in operation this year with 1,428,066 spindles that consumed 408,333 bales of cotton. Twenty-nine new mills were completed during the season, 1900-1901, and sixteen were projected. 1903. — The stocks at interior towns at the close of the season, August 31 (not including mill stocks), were the smallest for many years, amounting to less than 500 bales. At a meeting of cotton mill officials of the Carolinas and Georgia, held a Charlotte in December, steps were taken to curtail consumption on account of the scarcity of cotton. 1905. — A Comiuittee of the Southern Cotton Association met at Asheville in September, and fixed upon 11 cents at which cotton should be sold by its members during this season. The total cotton crop was estimated to be 9,588,133 bales. Congressman Webb (of North Carolina) introduced a resolu- tion in the House of Representatives requiring the Census Bureau to make daily reports of the amount of cotton ginned each day during the season. The' legislature passed an act. in 1889 prohibiting all future dealings in commodities where actual delivery was not intended or made. In 1905 it was amended “so as not to apply to any person, firm, corporation or his or their agent engaged in the busi- ness of manufacturing or wholesale merchandising in the purchase or sale of the necessary commodities required in the ordinary course of their business.” 1906. — ‘‘More than ten years ago,” says the Raleigh News and Observer, “a mulatto named W. C. Coleman, who had some money in Concord, conceived the idea of building a cotton mill in that town, to be managed by negroes and to be operated only by negro labor. Many negroes took stock, white men gave help and advice, but the Lincoln cotton mill was never a success. Coleman died and the mill was sold to B. N. Duke. The average cost of production, and the value of a 500 pound 68 NORTH CAROLINA bale of cotton in four counties showing the highest cost of pro- duction, and four showing the lowest, as estimated by the State Commissioner of Labor, was for the four highest as follows; Yadkin, cost $56.60, value $52.86 ; Hertford, cost $48.83, value $56.50 ; Gates, cost $41.77, value $56.67 ; Halifax, cost $41.00, value $56.00. The four lowest : Pitt, cost $28.13, value $55.43 ; Cumberland, cost $27.60, value $55.31; Jones, cost $26.00, value $55.38 ; McDowell, cost $25.00, value $58.50. The first four counties are in the northern, and the second four in the southern section of the State. The report of H. B. Varner, Commissioner of Labor, showed that there were 318 textile mills in the state, with an authorized capital of $41,278,160, employing 2,558,114 spindles, 52,747 looms, 5,237 knitting machines and 115,671 horse-power. 1907. — According to the report of the Bureau of Labor and Printing the 329 cotton mills reporting in the year 1907 show an authorized capital of $45,807,535, and the employment of 2,768,576 spindles, 53,272 looms, 5,161 knitting machines and 114,790 horse-power. There were 50 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 136,811 tons of seed costing $2,852,509. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $3,609,851. According to the Census there were in operation 2,754 cotton gins, the average output of each gin being 232 bales. CHAPTER IV South Carolina and its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Number of Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consumption of Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. Undoubtedly cotton culture began at a very early period in the history of South Carolina. Robert Horne mentions it in 1666 as one of the products of the colony, and in Samuel Wilson’s Account of the Province of Carolina in America, addressed to the Earl of Craven, and published in London in 1682, it is stated that “cotton of the Cyprus and Smyrna sort grows well, and good plenty of the seed is sent thither.” Mr. West, the first governor, was instructed to furnish himself with “cotton seed, indigo, and ginger roots,” and to accept the products of the country in pay- ment of rents at certain fixed valuations, among which cotton was priced at per pound.^ In Oldham’s history of “The British Empire in America,” published in London in 1708, cotton is enumerated as one of the principal commodities. “Some cotton” was exported from Charleston in 1754, and another London publication of 1762 says, “what cotton and silk both the Carolinas send us is excellent, and calls aloud for encouragement of its cultivation in a place well adapted to both.” The very first Provincial Congress, realizing the importance of cotton growing “recommended to its people to raise cotton,” and there is every reason to believe that for some years prior to the Revolution it was so extensively cultivated as to become an article of export, though on a small scale. To further encourage its cultivation, and to discourage the importation of British made goods, the Provincial Congress held at Charleston in November, 1775, passed a resolution offering a premium of 500 pounds currency, and other premiums, for the manufacture of cotton. ^ The Cotton Plant. U. S. Dept. Agriculture. 69 70 SOUTH CAROLINA It is to such efforts that South Carolina is entitled to the distinc- tion of being the first of the cotton States to embark in its manufacture. The chief difficulty in cotton culture at this time seems to have been the lack of a good quality of acclimated seed. What was then in use was subject to rot, and produced very poor results. The first experiments with sea-island cotton were made in 1788, by Kinsey Burden on Burdens Island. The seed used was of the Bourbon variety, but the plants would not mature and the experiment failed. The first success with the sea-island was made by William Elliott on Hilton Head, in 1790. He planted 5% bushels of seed, bought in Charleston, for which he paid 14s. a bushel, and sold his crop for lOY-A. a pound. The following- year John Scriven, of St. Lukes Parish, planted 30 to 40 acres on St. jMarys river, and sold his crop for from Is. 2d. to Is. 6d. per pound. Even as early as 1785 a society was incorporated to promote the interests of agriculture : “to institute a farm for agricultural experiments,” and medals were offered, “for an efficacious and practical method of destroying the caterpillars which infest the cotton plant,” and “for the best and most practical method of discharging stains from cotton and rendering it perfectly white,” also for “the greatest amount of oil obtained from ground nuts, and from the seed of sesamum or bene, of cotton, and of sunflowers.” In the first Congress held after the organization of the Eed- eral Government (1789), in the revenue law as it passed the House of Representatives, cotton was placed on the free list. When the bill reached the Senate a duty of 3 cents a pound was imposed, “not to encourage, not to protect, but to create the domestic culture.” When discussing this amendment in the House, a member from South Carolina declared that cotton culture “was in contemplation in South Carolina and Georgia,” and if good seed could be procured he hoped it “might succeed.” He no doubt meant that its culture “was contemplated” on a larger scale, for at that time planters were clothing their slaves in homespun from the produce of their cotton fields. This was some time before the invention of the saw gin, when the lint KING COTTON 71 had to be picked from the seed by hand at the rate of about 4 pounds per week, and when spun by the family was sent to the nearest weaver/ A manufacturing establishment of Irish set- tlers near ^Murray's Ferry, in Williamsburg- district, supplied the adjacent country, and as early as 1790 a small cotton mill with 84 spindles, driven by water power, was in operation near Statesburg in the central portion of the state. Three years prior to this date (1787) a small horse-power mill, the first cotton mill in the South, and possibly in this countr)-, was operated on James Island near Charleston, by Mrs. Ramage, the widow of a Carolina planter. Referring to the attention given to rice and cotton about 1792 Ramsey- says : “These two staples have so monopolized the agricultural force of the state that for several years past other articles of export, and even provisions have been greatly neg- lected. * * * So much cotton is made in Carolina and Georgia that, if the whole was manufactured in the Chiited States, it would go far in clothing a great proportion of the inhabitants of the L nion.” During the first two decades of the last century (1800-1820) South Carolina was the leading cotton producing State in the Lnion, the annual crop ranging from 115,000 to 175,000 bales. In 1825 it exceeded 200,000 bales, but did not reach 300,000 bales until 1848. From that date until the outbreak of the Civil War, the largest crop was 353,000 bales in 1859. It was eight years after the war before a crop equal to this was produced. The discovery of the rich phosphate deposits near Charleston (1869) was destined to have a powerful effect upon cotton cul- ture, for it greatlv cheapened, and hence popularized the use of commercial fertilizers. Thousands of acres of worn out lands were again brought under cultivation, and cotton planting was extended to the very base of the Blue Ridge mountains, and into several counties that hitherto had never undertaken it because of the early frosts. It was found that a liberal use of fertilizers hastened maturity, and put the plant beyond the danger of killing frosts. ^ Bishop’s History of American Manufactures (1864). 2 History of South Carolina. SOUTH CAROLINA 72 The effects of fertilizing, and the practice of a more intensive system of culture is clearly shown in the decade 1870-1880, when the crop increased from 348,000 to over 500,000 bales, and in the following decade from 593,000 to 747,000 bales, and also in the decade 1890-1900 from 859,000 to 1,000,000 bales. From 348.000 to 1,000,000 bales, or an increase of 188 per cent, within a generation, is a tremendous stride in agriculture. According to the Census the area planted in cotton in 1879 was 1,364,000 acres, and the estimate of the Department of Agri- culture for 1904, 2,532,000 acres, an increase since 1879 of 1,168,- 000 acres, or about 86 per cent. The production in 1879 was 522.000 bales, and that of 1904, the largest crop ever made, 1,193,- 000 bales, an increase of 671,000 bales, or about 128 per cent. Commercial Cotton Crops of South Carolina, 1800-1809 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1800-01 115,000 1805-06 165,000 1801-02 127,368 1806-07 147,000 1802-03 128 000 1807-08 136,000 1803-04 125,000 1808-09 175.000 1804-05 145,000 1809-10 160.000 1800. — When the cotton was well opened a negro hand was expected to pick from 60 to 70 pounds a day. The exports of cotton from Charleston from Oct. 1st, 1800, to Oct. 1st, 1801, amounted to 8,301,907 pounds. Before the saw gin came into general use it is said that one person was expected to clean by hand about one pound of cotton per day. It was the custom in Williamsburg county for planters to require field hands to clean 4 pounds per week, in addition to their other work. “The important initiation of King Cotton’s rule in the foreign Commerce of the United States,” says the Magazine of American History, “was made by Capt. Robert Sheffield, of Fairfield, Con- necticut, an uncle of the late Mr. Joseph E. Sheffield, the vener- able and liberal founder of Yale College Scientific School. As early as the beginning of the present century, in his ship “Sov- ereign,” of 220 tons, he took out 450 bales from Charleston, touching at the port of New York, and clearing for Liverpool, his KING COTTON 73 cargo covering the deck of his vessel, from stint of hold-room. On arrival at Liverpool the dealers would not at first believe that his cotton was from this country, so that he was obliged to bond it, until he could obtain a formal consular certificate.” The Santee Canal connecting Santee and Cooper rivers was opened for traffic. It cost $600,000, or seven times as much as the province sold for 72 years before. 1801. — The exports of cotton from Charleston during this year amounted to 8,000,000 pounds. The legislature passed an act appropriating $50,000 to pur- chase the patent right to Whitney’s saw gin for public use in the State. 1803. — The Charleston Courier (September 2) gave the fol- lowing quotations for cotton : Georgia sea-island, 50 cents, Georgia common, 20 cents ; Carolina sea-island, 50 cents, stained 18 cents ; upland black seed, 10 cents ; upland black seed, saw- ginned, 25 cents ; upland green seed, 19 cents. 1801. — The cotton worm was very destructive to the crop. 1805. — Sea-island cotton sold for 25 cents a pound more than upland. Kinsey Burden, of St. John’s, Colleton District, by a very careful selection of seed and with rigid care in cultivation, pro- duced cotton worth 25 cents a pound more than that of his neighbors. 1806. — The sea-island cotton raised at Hilton Head, by Will- iam Elliott, brought higher prices than cotton of any other kind. He obtained 30 cents per pound while other qualities sold for 22 cents. 1807. — Unusual interest was manifested in cotton manufac- turing, and efforts were made to establish small factories to introduce upon plantations the making of cotton goods for negro wear and also cotton blankets. 1808. — The second cotton mill was built this year. In August a meeting of citizens was held in Charleston and the South Carolina Homespun Co. was organized with a capital stock of $150,000, its object being to establish and carry on and encourage manufactures in Charleston and vicinity. It was pro- posed to spin cotton and wool. This move was one of the results 74 SOUTH CAROLINA of the embargo of 1808, a favorite measure of the Jefferson Administration. The green seed variety was universally cultivated at this time in the middle and upper country. An acre of good cotton land would usually produce 200 pounds of lint of the green seed variety, and 150 pounds of the sea-island, although as much as 300 pounds had been made in the Beaufort district. 1809. — Cotton goods were manufactured in the Union district, and cotton blankets in Prince William district. About this time “a factory for making check goods and handkerchiefs was estab- lished at Charleston, which turned out some ' very pretty goods.” Co.vi.MERCiAL Cotton Crops of South Carolina, 1810-1819 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1810-11 135,560 141,422 138,126 128,106 145,111 1815-16 160,345 159,522 140,123 168,000 169„561 1811-12 1816-17 1812-13 1817-18 1813- 14 1814- 15 1818- 19 1819- 20 1814. — As early as March 31st of this year, a patent was granted to J. Lineback of Salem for a cotton seed hulling ma- chine. The records describing the invention are supposed to have been lost in the destruction of the public buildings by the British army in 1814. Fifteen years prior to this date a patent had been granted to C. Whiting, for a “Process for extracting oil from cotton seed.” Although this patent was regularly indexed, as in the case of Lineback’s patent, the specifications were either destro 3 ^ed by fire or lost. 1815. — It was during this year that sea-island cotton planters succeeded in having their product graded separately from other varieties. 1816. — John T. Donald, in the Southern Cultivator, wrote as follows regarding the varieties cultivated: “The first cotton I ever saw was in upper South Carolina. It was the little black seed in those times, and 30 to 40 lbs. was a day’s picking for a grown hand, and 50 lbs. was extraordinary. About that time the green seed was introduced, a very great improvement. About KING COTTON 75 1816 or 1817 the Mexican seed was introduced. This was the most beautiful I ever saw, as full of fruit as could be from top to botlom. The bolls opened very wide, and the cotton being in long tassels, you could see nothing but cotton ; a field looked like a sheet of snow. The yield was large, staple fine and of good length. This seed was abandoned for two reasons : it was sub- ject to rot badly; and, in consequence of the bolls opening so wide, the loss from wind and rain was too much to make it profitable to raise. The next seed I remember was the Petit Gulf. These were superior at first, but soon dealers began selling seed that were not genuine. I have known persons to get sacks marked Petit Gulf at New Orleans — go up the river, have them filled indiscriminately in Louisiana, opposite Rodney, Miss, (where the Petit Gulf seed were sold), and when shipped would date their bills of landing from Rodney, to complete the deception. Soon after this a host of improved seed were offered for sale — the Hogan, Dime, Brown’s Prolific, Sugar Loaf, Mastodon, etc.” Sea-island cotton sold at Charleston from 37 to 55 cents, and upland from 23 to 32 cents per pound. In 1817 the price of sea- island cotton ranged from 39 to 58 cents, and upland from 25^/2 to 35 cents ; in 1819 the range of sea-island was from 37% to 55 cents, and upland from 15 to 27 cents. Sea-island cotton sold for 55 cents a pound in Charleston. 1818. — The crop was reported to be considerably damaged by rot. Commercial Cotton Crops of South Carolina, 1820-1.829' Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1820-21 1821-22 175.949 190.286 160.050 192.910 190.521 1825- 26 1826- 27 . . 216.227 179.810 133.531 160.666 194, .537 1822-2.3 1827-28 1823-24 1828 29 1824-25 1829-30 1820. — The three varieties of cotton planted were : the green seed upland, the black seed grown on the sea-islands, and the Nankeen, or yellow, which even earlier than 1820 was raised in the middle and upper counties for domestic use to save the cost of dyeing. There were three gins spoken of as then in use. 76 SOUTH CAROLINA viz. : the barrel gin ; Eve’s gin, and Whitney’s saw gin. At this date Whitney’s gin would clean from 600 ot 900 lbs. of cotton per day, and five pairs of roller gins about 135 lbs. a day. The following are the lowest and highest quotations for sea- island and upland cotton in the Charleston market during the years named: — 1820, sea-island 28 to 39 cents, and upland 15 to 20 cents ; 1821, sea-island 26 to 30 cents, and upland 14 to 18 cents ; 1823 sea-island 25 to 33 cents, and upland IIV 2 to 17 cents ; 1824, sea-island 25 to 30 cents and upland 14 to 16^2 cents ; 1825, sea-island, 32 to 87^^ and upland 13^ to 32 cents. 1821. — At this time South Carolina and Georgia produced more than one-half the cotton grown in the country. The crop was damaged by the caterpillar to a greater extent than ever before known. Two lots of sea-island cotton sold in Charleston, one for 92 cents and the other for $1.05 per lb. 1826. — Kinsey Burden, of St. John’s, raised a crop of sea- island cotton, 60 bags, which he sold for $1.10 per pound. The year following (1827) he sold his crop for $1.25 a pound, and in 1828 he got $2.00 per pound for two bags. This was the highest price ever reached so far as known. 1827. — In a contribution to the Southern Agriculturist, Wil- liam Elliott of Beaufort, says of the gin then in use for clean- ing sea-island cotton : — “Eve’s gin was formerly in successful use, but that as well as the barrel gin has been superseded by the com- mon foot or crank gin, whose extreme simplicity of structure has given it an advantage over others more efficient but more complicated. The rollers most in vogue are of seasoned oak, and 30 pounds of clean cotton is easily turned out to each gin.’’ 1828. — A cotton planter, known as “Smith’s Virginia Cotton Planter’’ was in use at this time. John R. Matthews, a sea- island cultivator, states that as an experiment he planted 50 acres with it, and with one hand and a mule it was planted at the rate of 8 to 12 acres per day, according to the speed of the animal. His cotton came up about 30 hours earlier and more regularly than that planted with the hoe, and he decided to use it in the future. There were six kinds of sea-island seed in use : 1. The black KING COTTON 77 seed, quality coarse, quantity great. 2. The black seed covered with green down, quality better than the first, quantity not so great. 3. The black seed tipped with green down, quality fine, quantity less than the second. 4. The brown seed covered with brown down, quality silky, quantity small. 5. The brown seed tipped with brown down, quality superior to the fourth, quantity less. 6. The brown seed clear, with a small stem pro- jecting at one end, quality superior to any, quantity least of all. A mixture of one quart of No. 3 with a bushel of No. 5 was said to yield the most profitable crop. One-fourth of the cotton was allowed to the owner of a gin “for the expense of cleaning it from the seed, the purchase of the duck, and cordage, and transportation to the market.” Sea-island cotton sold for $2.00 a pound. Some inquiries from prominent planters in the sea-island district elicited the following: About 3^^ acres were allowed to each hand ; the average yield was about 450 pounds to the hand ; seed was carefully selected from the earliest pickings ; cotton produced from seed with a green tuft or green woolly coat was the finest and most silky, though not the most productive ; marsh or salt mud taken from the creeks proved to be the best manure ; cotton grown on the most sandy high hills was most productive and silky ; caterpillars and storms had destroyed some of the most promising crops. Cotton bagging and cotton rope were used for wrapping and binding cotton bales. Many hundreds of bales were tlius pre- pared for market in the neighborhood of Camden. 1829. — The second cotton mill, run by other than horse power, was built at Pendleton. A cotton oil mill was in operation at Columbia about this time. CoM-MERCIAL CoTTON CrOPS OF SoUTH CAROLINA, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1830-31 190,721 174.088 187.369 208,571 180.441 1835-36 184,989 1,57.102 176,600 113,492 175,985 1831-32 1836-37 . . 1832-33 1837-38 1833-34 1838-39 18.34-35 1839-40 SOUTH CAROLINA 1830. — Mexican cotton seed was used in Laurens county at this period. It was said that some hands could pick 200 pounds of this variety in a day. 1833. — The South Carolina R. R., now the Southern Railway, was chartered as the Charleston & Hamburg R. R. Co. Decem- ber 19, 1827, from Charleston to Hamburg (137 miles), and was opened October 1, 1833. The first section of six or seven miles from Charleston was completed in the winter of 1830, and the first locomotive placed thereon December 6, 1830. This was the first railroad built south of the Potomac River. The branch line to Columbia was opened November 1, 18-10, and that to Camden, June 26, 1818. In the sea-island cotton district the cotton worm caused the severest loss in many years. The planters agreed that had it not been for the prompt application of paris green, the destruc- tion of the crop would have been almost complete. 1831. — The South Carolina Railroad handled 21,567 bales of cotton the first year the road was opened, and 52,585 bales the second year. C. Leek and W. Jenks, of Columbia, obtained a patent for machinery “to hull and break cotton seed.” 1835. — The Charleston IMercury invited attention to the supe- riority of the Whittemore gin for sea-island cotton, which it was said might be worked either by treadle or by machinery, and was superior to the common foot gin. 1836. — One field hand with some additional help, was sup- posed to cultivate about 8 acres in cotton and from 5 to 8 acres in corn. A good hand was worth at this time from $800 to $1,000, or nearly twice the price paid in 1825. 1838. — A cotton mill, now known as the mill of the Pendleton Manufacturing Co., was built this vear at Autun. 1839. — All of the 29 counties in the State produced cotton. The order of production for the first five was: Abbeville, Fair- field, Edgefield, Laurens and Newberry. There were at this time 15 cotton mills in the State operating 16,355 spindles. KING COTTON 79 Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in South Carolina, 1840-1S49 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1840-41 Bales 132,796 Bales No data No data No data 1841-42 140,489 do do do 1842-43 189,895 do do do 1843-44 118,932 do do do 1844-45 229,649 do do do 1845-46 168,-554 do do do 1846-47 262,650 do do do 1847-48 2.39,808 6,000 do do 1848-49 343,587 15,000 do do 1849-50 300,901 9,929 18 36,500 1840. — There were 204 miles of railway in operation. The South Carolina Railroad handled 58,496 bales of cotton. 1843. — The freight rates on cotton from Columbia and Ham- burg, as announced by the South Carolina R. R., was 25 cents for 100 lbs., “subject to variation by bale or by weight.” “The small use of the plow — indeed its total disuse in many cases” — said Mr. Ruffin, a well-known writer on agriculture, “and the substitution of the hoe and hand labor, is to a stranger the most remarkable and novel feature of the agriculture 'of the lower districts.” The reports of the Agricultural Society of South Carolina showed that the State did not produce enough corn for home consumption : The imports of corn into the State in 1838 and 1839 amounted to about 500,000 bushels; from October, 1841, to October, 1842, to 360,000 bushels, and from October, 1842, to October, 1843, to 260,000 bushels. R. 'Wk Roper in a Report of the Committee on Agriculture (on a Geological and Agricultural Survey of the State) made to the Legislature, referring to South Carolina’s competition with the Gulf States in growing cotton, said : “These new lands pro- duce on an average 2,500 pounds of cotton per hand, whilst the lands in Carolina yield but 1,200 pounds, and the expense of a laborer being about equal in either place, reduces the Caro- lina cotton to half its intrinsic cost. * ^ lands of the Gulf States with Texas are sufficient to supply the demand of the world, in all time to come! Where, then, is the hope of South Carolina in competition?” 80 SOUTH CAROLINA 1844. — In an address before one of the South Carolina Agri- cultural Societies, Gen. Hamilton stated that the price of cotton was then below the cost of production, and that the planters could not grow it for 4 cents net per pound, “at the present price of negroes.” 1845. — Intense heat and protracted drought cut ofif the cot- ton yield. The Anderson Gazette estimated the yield at only one- half of an ordinary crop. The drought on Edisto Island was par- ticularly severe, the cotton stalks turned red, the leaves withered and died, covering the earth as after a frost. The Barnwell Agricultural Society highly recommended cot- ton seed as a fertilizer. Daniel iMcCullough, of Gladdens Grove, Fairfield district, began this year erecting a building for a cotton factory. The caterpillar caused more damage to the crop than was ever before known. In some sections there was a total loss. 1848. — The crops in South Carolina and Georgia were un- usually early, and during September and October the amount of cotton marketed was larger than for many years. 1849. — During the summer the rainfall throughout the State was heavier than for many years. A cotton mill at Graniteville with 8,400 spindles and 300 looms was completed this year. William Gregg, who greatly interested himself in the industrial progress of the South, was the founder of the enterprise. On the sea-island plantations it was estimated that one hand cultivated about 3^ acres, which yielded 134^ pounds to the acre, and 498 pounds per hand. The average price of sea-island was 37 cents per pound. The Columbia Telegraph made the following record of cot- ton mills in the State: — No. 1, Dekalb Factory near Camden, doing a fine business; No. 2, The Bivingsville Factory near Spartanburg C. H., property of G. and E. C. Leitner, doing well ; No. 3, A new factory now being erected on a large scale by Dr. Bivings ; No. 4, The Saluda Factory near Columbia, which has been undergoing repairs, now in operation, and has been doing a fine business the last three years; No. 5, Vaucluse Fac- tory near Hamburg, under management of Gen. James Jones, C'onrtcsy of A. Simon. Monliceilo, Pla. KING COTTON 81 understood it is doing well; No. 6, Graniteville Factory near Aiken, lately established under the management of William Gregg, Esq. ; No. 7, Fulton Factory near Statesburg, manager Col. Dyson, doing well; No. 8, Mt. Dearborn Factory on the Catawba, lately put in operation and managed by the owner, D. INIcCullough ; No. 9, Marlborough Yarn Factory, owned by Messrs. Townsend and McQueen, under lease to a Northern manufacturer; No. 10, A small factory at Society Flill, owned by Col. Williams, . from which he supplies his own and neighboring plantations with a superior article of bagging, also makes yarns ; No. 11, An establishment like the above on an extensive scale, now building at Charleston. The Petit Gulf was the upland variety most generally planted. 1849. — Frosts about the middle of April destroyed much of the growing crop. Edgefield county made 25,880 bales of 400 pounds each, which was the largest yield of any county in the state. A cotton mill with 3,165 spindles and lOO looms was completed this year at Charleston. Air. William Gregg, president of the Graniteville A'lanufac- turing Company, estimated that the Southern cotton mills had an advantage of ^ of a cent a pound over Northern mills on account of transportation, and that mill labor was 20 per cent, cheaper than in the North. Co.MMERCIAL CrOPS AND Co.NSUMPTION OF COTTON IN South Carolina, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumii^^ion Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1850-.51 Bales 2.50.116 Bales 10.000 16 36„500 19.51-52 280,994 10,000 No data No data 18.52-5.3 316,324 10,000 do do 1853-54 274,739 11,869 do do 1854-55 325,485 10,881 do do 1855—56 322,711 11,076 do do 1856-57 263,657 11.412 do do 1857-58 .327,025 9,591 do do 18.5.S-59 346,962 8..594 do do 1859-00 353,416 8,6.48 17 30,890 1850. — A cotton mill was built and put in operation at Arlington. -A. cotton mill was in operation on the Saluda River near 82 SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia which employed negro operatives. The Charleston jMercury made this statement regarding its operation : “The superintendent and overseers are white, and of great experience in manufacturing. They are principally from the North, and though at first strongly prejudiced against African labor, from observation and more experience they all testify their equal efficiency and great superiority in many respects. The experi- ment with this labor was first tested in the spinning department and the older spinners were then transferred to the weaving room. They are now turning out as many yards to the loom as were performed under the older system.’’ The following was the estimated cost of making a pound of cloth at the Graniteville cotton mill in 1850 : Cost of picking .097 cents; carding .762 cents; spinning .658 cents; spool, warp- ing and dressing .515 cents ; weaving 1.832 cents ; baling .092 cents ; sundries .677 cents ; total 4.633 cents. This embraced the cost of all labor, from superintendent down to the sweeper, as well as oil, starch, fuel, etc. It also included all repairs and change of machinery in the mill. The goods made were 4-4 sheet- ing, 7-8 shirting, and 7-8 twilled, and averaged 2.56 yards to the pound. The average yield of cotton per acre in the State as estimated by W. S. Gibbs was 150 to 200 lbs. of lint. There were 289 miles of railway in operation. 1851. — The late cold spring and a long drought in June and July cut off the cotton yield. A correspondent of the New York Herald who visited the Saluda factory, near Columbia, made this comment on the use of negro slaves in cotton manufactories : “The Saluda Factory (.$100,000 capital) employs 98 operatives, or 128 including chil- dren. They are all slaves and a large proportion of them are owned by the company. The mill runs 5,000 spindles and 120 looms. The fabrics manufactured are heavy brown shirting and southern stripes, a coarse kind of colored goods for house servants. The superintendent is decidedly of the opinion that slave labor is cheaper for cotton manufacture than white labor ; the average cost per annum of those employed in this mill, he said, does not exceed $75. The blacks could endure better the KING COTTON 83 labor of a cotton mill than the whites. The negroes in this factory, male and female, appeared to be cheerful, well fed and healthy. The mill had been at that date (1851) operated by slave labor, with one white overseer for about two years, and the result so far as cost was concerned was in favor of the negro, given as follows : Average cost of a slave operative, per annum, $75.00, average cost of a white operative, per annum, $116.00, a difference of over 30 per cent, saved in the cost of the labor.” 1852. — The Charlotte, Columbia & Augusta Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Charlotte to Augusta (191 miles) was completed from Charlotte to Columbia in 1852, and from Columbia to Augusta in 1869. 1853. — -William Seabrook was the first sea-island planter who prepared his crop with the McCarty gin. The year follow- ing (1854) steam power for ginning was first used. The Greenville & Columbia Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Columbia to Greenville (142^ miles) was char- tered in 1846 and opened in December. Prior to this year the common foot-gin or treadle propelling two rollers was the machine used for separating the fiber of sea-island cotton from the seed, cleaning on an average 25 lbs. a day. But the McCarty, or Florida gin, with one roller, attracted much attention, and the planters began putting them up as fast as they could be procured. A gin costing $100, propelled by one horse, would clean from 150 lbs. to 200 lbs. a day. Mr. McCarty of Florida, secured a patent in 1840, for a gin having one roller, 4 inches in diameter and 3 feet long, dressed with leather arranged spirally around it. This roller revolved over and in loose contact with a plate of sheet iron. The cotton was received and drawn in between the two, and the seed separated by means of a thin steel bar placed horizontally, and operating vertically in front of the roller and with great rapidity. A one-horse power machine would clean as much cotton with one hand as five old fashion gins each with one hand. Strange to say, an invention of so much value remained almost unknown in South Carolina until the year 1853, and was not used with steam until 1854. To Wil- liam M. Lawton, is due the credit for first bringing it into use in the State, and William Seabrook is said to have been the 84 SOUTH CAROLINA first planter who ventured to use it in the preparation of his crop. He sent samples of his cotton to the New York Industrial Exhibition and a bale to Manchester, England. The Cheraw & Darlington Railroad, now the Atlantic Coast Line, from Florence to Cheraw (40 miles) was chartered in 1849 and opened November 29. “The culture of sea-island cotton as conducted in South Carolina,” said William Elliott, “exacts a vast amount of labor and attention. Small beds, parallel to each other and 4i/^ feet from center to center, are thrown up by the plow in February. Lender, or in these the manures are deposited; and in March and April layer beds are raised in the first. After the plants have appeared above the surface they have to be weeded and thinned, and as many as six plowings or hoeings are required during the season of culture, which extends from April to August. Then comes the gathering, sorting, ginning, cleaning and packing away in bales. The product varies from 120 to 150 lbs. of cleaned cotton to the acre, and from 3 to 5 acres are cultivated to each laborer.” At this time no sea-island cotton was consumed in the United States. The North Eastern Railroad, now the Atlantic Coast Line, from Charleston to Florence (102 miles) was chartered in 1851, and completed November 10. 1858. — The phrase, “Cotton is King,” originated with the United States Senator Hammond (of S. C.) who made use of it in a speech delivered in the Senate this year. The largest crop produced by any county in the State was that of Edgefield, 26,522 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in South Carolina, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61 Bales 2.52, .540 Bales 9,843 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 186.3-64 do do do do 1864^65 do do do do 186.3-66 do do do do 1866-67 115,873 8,085 do do 1867-68 2.32,059 9,114 do do 1868-69 185.409 8,820 do do 1.869-70 224.500 10,811 12 .34,940 KING COTTON 85 1860. — The Charleston & Savannah Railway, now a part of the Plant System, (106 miles) was chartered in 1853 and completed October 26. There were 973 miles of railway in operation this year. 1861 — ^Adjutant General Thomas instructed Gen. Sherman to take possession of all cotton on the islands in Beaufort county and ship it to New York, to be sold there for Government account ; also to use the negro slaves to gather the crop. The first sale bv auction of confiscated cotton under this order took place at New York, and it brought nearly 60 cents a pound. 1863. — Liverpool cotton brokers estimated that 131,776 bales of cotton had arrived in England from Charleston, Wilming- ton, Mobile, Savannah and Texas, and during the first six months of 1864 the amount was put at almost the same figure. During the last six months of 1864, 11,796 bales of cotton were shipped from southern ports. 1866. — The tax on cotton collected in the State by the Federal Government was $731,940, and in 1867, $1,429,281. One of the methods of contracting for labor on the planta- tion where the laborer furnished his own rations, was to allow the laborer one-third of the crop, the planter furnishing lands, mules and implements. This was also a common custom in other States at this period. 1868. — The tax on cotton collected by the Federal Govern- ment was $2,011,199. The caterpillar damaged the crop more than in any previous year. The Newberry District reported a loss of one-third of the crop. 1869. — The cotton worm destroyed a portion of the sea-island crop. Particular attention began to be paid to selecting improved varieties of seed. The discovery of the rich phosphate beds about Charleston attracted the attention of the State Agricultural and Mechanical Society. M. C. Hammond, of Beach Island, reported the following yield per acre in pounds of seed cotton from the use of several kinds of fertilizers : Dickson Compound, 1,258 ; Gardiner’s 86 SOUTH CAROLINA Manipulated, 1,278; Patapsco, 1,058; Baugh's raw bone, 1,012; Peruvian guano, 999 • Wilcox and Gibbs Manipulated, 988 ; and when no fertilizer was used, 481 pounds to the acre. Darlington county made the largest crop this year, 35,591 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in South Carolina, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 348,000 Bales 11,830 No data No data 1871-72 265,000 16,600 1872-73 260.000 16.691 1873-74 350,000 15,376 18 62. 87^^ 1874-75 360.000 19,945 18 70.282 No data 1875-76 3.30,000 23,852 1876-77 310.000 390.000 342,173 22,606 26.878 1877-78 1878-79 33,108 do 1879-80 522,548 33,624 14 82,424 1870. — One of the well known varieties of upland cotton, the “Peterkin,” was originated about this time by J. A. Peterkin of Fort Motte. J. W. Crawford, of Richland county, obtained a premium from the State Agricultural and Mechanical Society for a crop on five acres that yielded 12,510 lbs. of seed cotton, averaging 2,502 lbs. of lint. The land was fertilized with guano, plaster, ashes and stable manure, at a cost of $16.40 per acre. There were 1,139 miles of railway in operation this year. 1872. — The crop was considerably damaged by the caterpillar. The Charleston Cotton Exchange was incorporated in March 1876. It was originally organized in 1872 as the “Charleston Exchange.” During the year 3,335 bales of cotton were shipped from Mobile to Charleston. 1873. — The Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Charlotte, North Carolina, via Spartanburg and Greenville to Atlanta (286% miles) was com- pleted and opened for traffic September 26. The Port Royal & Augusta Railroad, now the Atlantic KING COTTON 87 Coast Line, from Augusta to Port Royal (112 miles) was chartered in 1856 and completed November 1. 1876. — In Marion county, on 4 acres, one planter made 10 bales. In Newberry county a planter produced 400 lbs. of lint per acre on gray sandy soil, manured with acid phosphate, stable and compost manure ; profit 33 per cent. ; 106 bales were raised on 120 acres. 1879. — For the first time the crop exceeded 500,000 bales. Edgefield county reported the highest total production, 33,- 894 bales, and Marlboro county the highest yield per acre, .58 of a bale. The Department of Agriculture estimated the loss from the ravages of the cotton worm from 1865 to 1878, inclusive, at 224,500 bales. Co.\iMERCi.\L Crops and Consu.mption of Cotton in South Carolina, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 592.658 Bales 46,147 70.344 1881-82 469.000 18S2-83 630,000 469.600 76,716 83.334 1883-84 26 1884-85 511.800 29 1885-86 554.652 03.383 29 1886-87 498.367 97.538 31 217.761 1887-88 595,342 .552.248 747,190 106.080 32 240,149 1888-89 124.459 35 278,000 .332,784 1889-90 1.33.342 34 1880. — There were 1,427 miles of railway in operation. The Chester & Lenoir Railroad, now the Southern Rail- way, from Chester to Lenoir, N. C. (109 miles), was partly built in 1852 and 1873, and opened to Lincolnton during this year. The Cheraw & Chester Railroad, now the Lancaster & Chester (31 miles) was completed this year. 1881. — The Department of Agriculture estimated a loss of 10,233 bales of cotton from boll-worms. 1882. — The Augusta & Knoxville Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Augusta to Greenwood (68 miles) was completed about May 1. The Central Railroad of South Carolina, now the Atlantic 88 SOUTH CAROLINA Coast Line, from Lanes to Sumter (4:0 miles) was opened April 1. The Charleston News and Courier contained this item : “Messrs. George H. Walter & Co. have received from Laurens county a bale of cotton reported to have been grown in 1853. The bale has about the usual appearance, although nearl}' thirty years old, with one of the first rope bands still remaining. This cotton soon after the close of the war could have been sold for 50 cents per pound, and as the bale is one of a lot of 14 the amount lost was large. A sample was exhibited at the Exchange which was looked at as a curiosity. It was about good middling in appearance, and had not suffered much by the action of time.” 1883. — A patent for a cotton picking machine was granted to Charles T. Mason, Jr., of Sumter (October 2). A few years afterwards. Mason built a machine that attracted more attention than any other up to the time of its exhibition for field work. In 1887 he constructed a new machine which he said he found by actual experiment in the field was a successful cotton harvester, though best adapted to cotton of low growth. At this time, there were 23 cotton mills, and 28 cotton oil mills, in operation in the State. The Georgetown & Lane Railroad, now the Georgetown & Western, from Georgetown to Lanes (37 miles) was completed and opened this year. 1884. — The crop in some sections was seriously damaged by boll-worms. The crop was greatly injured by drought that prevailed over nearly the entire State during the month of September. According to the Charleston News and Courier, there were this year 29 cotton mills in operation that consumed 76,416 bales of cotton of an average weight of 500 pounds each. 1885. — Drought in August injured the crop. 1886. — The Asheville & Spartanburg Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Asheville to Spartanburg (71 miles) was built from Spartanburg to Henderson in 1879 and com- pleted through to Asheville July 13. 1888. — The Georgia, Carolina & Northern Railroad, now the KING COTTON 89 Seaboard Air Line, from Monroe, N. C., to Atlanta (268 miles), passing through the State, east and west, was completed in October. 1889. — Barnwell county — according to the Census — had the largest cotton acreage, 134,931 acres, and Abbeville county the largest total production, 50,241 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in South Carolina, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1S90-91 Bales 859,000 Bales 164.814 44 415,158 1891-92 780,000 183,625 47 467,825 1892-93 635,000 200,219 51 503,269 1893-94 650.000 215,228 51 569.033 1894-95 862,604 229.580 48 619.849 1895-96 764.700 257,700 58 802,854 1896-97 936,463 297.782 73 1,050,198 1897-98 1.0.30.085 398.456 76 1,205,272 1898-99 1,035,414 466,181 80 1,285,328 1899-00 876.545 489.559 93 1,693,649 1890. — What may be accomplished by the intensive methods of agriculture is well illustrated by Harry Hammond, of Beach Island : “The lands of Marlboro county were thought to be exhausted in the early part of this century, and numbers of the population emigrated to the fresh lands of Alabama. A great change has taken place in that county in recent years. Very little of the land now lies fallow. Cropping is continuous, and there is a systematic rotation of crops. Cotton is planted on the same land every fourth year. Green manuring with the cowpea sown broadcast has been extensively practised, and, when cotton is laid by, peas are often drilled between the rows where the beds for the next year’s cotton crop are to be thrown up. All of the cotton seed, or its equivalent in meal, is returned to the soil, either alone or composted with stable manure, woods mold, and superphosphate of lime. In 1880 an average of $4.77 per acre for each acre in cotton was expended in commer- cial fertilizers. In 1890, in this county, 32,306 bales were pro- duced on 58,836 acres, or very nearly a bale to 1.8 acres, a yield not exceeded anywhere except in the alluvium of the Mississippi river.” 90 SOUTH CAROLINA There were 2,229 miles of railway in operation. The Ohio River & Charlotte Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Camden to Marion, North Carolina (174 miles), was completed about this time. 1891. — With the view of reducing the cotton areage, Harry Hammond, in an address to the Beach Island Farmers’ Club, proposed a law requiring planters to take out a license at $1.50 per acre for all lands put in cotton, the license to serve as a receipt against all other taxes. His idea was to make the law uniform in all the cotton growing States. The South Bound Railroad, now the Seaboard Air Line, from Columbia to Savannah (142 miles) was chartered in 1887 and completed in September. 1892. — The crops were injured by cotton lice. 1893. — Mason’s cotton picking machine was given a field test this year. In reply to some questions of the United States Senate Com- mittee on Agriculture, Charles A. Barry, of Spartanburg, stated that the establishment of cotton mills in the State had enhanced the price of the raw material to a considerable extent. Other planters testified that prices had been improved by the building of mills in the State. 1895. — The decadence in the production of sea-island cotton, said F. S. Shiver, in a bulletin issued by the State Experiment Station, was due to the fact that in recent years the cultivation of sea-island cotton had been largely in the hands of small negro farmers, who, true to their natural instincts, take no interest whatever in the improvement of the staple or in securing a greater yield per acre, but are satisfied so long as they can eke out an existence. It would appear, however, that in very recent years, the cultivation of the crop was being resumed by intelligent planters. 1896. — David Ravel, of Batesburg, obtained a patent for a .cotton picking device, the pickers being adjusted to rotating spindles which work back and forth into the plant. . The Columbia, Newberry & Laurens Railroad, from Colum- bia to Laurens (75 miles) was chartered in 1885 and completed early in this year. KING COTTON 91 As ascertained by the Department of Agriculture the average cost of raising a pound of upland cotton was 4.87 cents, and of sea-island cotton 15.78 cents per pound. 1898. — The largest crop in the history of the State to date, 1,035,414 bales, was produced this 3 'ear, The Charleston Cotton Exchange recommended 24 x 54 inches as the standard size for cotton bales, and also that bagging weighing 2 pounds to the yard be used. In a communication to the New York Commercial and Finan- cial Chronicle, J. W. Earle, of Holland, stated that the develop- ment of the Charleston phosphate beds had been the making of the Piedmont region of the Carolinas and Georgia. Previous to the war there was ver\^ little cotton made in Anderson county, and none in Oconee, and Pickens counties, and the other northern half of Greenville county. Now it was made quite up to the foot of the Blue Ridge. The guano made it mature and open before the frost kills it. “We make more clear money now at 5 cents,” said Mr. Earle, “than we did before the war at 10 cents. The cultivation has been so much improved or simplified, that we make from 10 to 30 bales to the mule, against 5 and 10 before the war. One of my neighbors made in three years, 26 and 28 and 33 bales to the mule, besides making corn enough to do him. He made 412 bales of cotton on 400 acres. His cotton crop was -all clear money and it brought him over $15,000.” Six varieties of cotton planted at the State Experiment Sta- tion showing the highest yield of lint cotton per acre were, in the order named: — -Texas Oak, Bates’ Improved Prolific, Drake’s Cluster, Excelsior, Peerless and King’s Improved. 1899. — During this \"ear 134,741 farmers engaged in the cultivation of 2,074,081 acres of cotton, from which was pro- duced 421,862,069 pounds of lint, or an average of 203 pounds to the acre. The counties reporting the largest area were Ander- son. Orangeburg, Laurens, Abbeville, Sumter and Spartanburg, ranking in the order named. Orangeburg county reported the highest total production, 65,149 bales. There were 2,791j4 miles of railway in operation. According to the Census there were in operation this year 3,368 cotton gins ; in 1900 there were 3,193, and in 1901 3,018. 92 SOUTH CAROLINA The average output of each gin during each season was, respec- tively, 260, 245 and 243 bales. The average cost for baling and ginning square bales of upland cotton in 1899 was $1.29 and round bales $1.00, and sea-island cotton $7.34 per bale. The cotton mills of Spartanburg county consumed this year 144,026 bales,- which placed it far in the lead of any county in the South in the domestic consumption of the staple. The mills of Anderson county consumed 41,180 bales, and those of Greenville county 54,793, total 239,999. The production of Spar- tanburg county was 36,739, of Anderson 39,615, and of Green- ville 26,809 bales, total 103,163 bales. Commercial Crop and Consumption of Cotton IN South Carolina, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 7S0.7S2 Bales 501,290 115 1.908,692 1901-02 732,719 607,906 127 2.246,926 1902-03 948.200 587,126 136 2,479,521 1903-04 814..35I 603,819 129 2.965,747 1904-05 1,192.925 658,019 134 3.296,194 1905-06 1,112,363 691,663 136 3,.355,010 1906-07 912,602 695,682 140 3.625,874 1907-08 1,163,565 640,376 141 3,686,150 1900. — There were in operation forty-eight oil mills that con- sumed 156,642 tons of seed valued at $2,186,408. Of the seed produced in the State 37.4 per cent, was manufactured into oil products valued at $3,043,547. By a process of carefully selected seed from the best plants, W. G. Hinson, of St. James Island, succeeded in producing a quality of sea-island cotton that commanded three times as much as the ordinary variety. The first new bale was received at Charleston, August 8 ; in 1899, August 7 ; in 1898, August 10 ; in 1897, August 3 ; in 1896, July 30; and in 1895, August 21. 1901. — Columbia organized a Cotton and Produce Exchange, 1902. - — The total valuation of textile plants in the State was $32,210,818. The year following the valuation increased to $34,923,740. KING COTTON 93 1903. — Floods in the Pacolet river, in June, destroyed several cotton mills at Pacolet, Clifton and Converse, entailing a loss of about $6,000,000. The stocks at interior towns (not including mill stocks) at the close of the season, August 31, were the smallest for many years, and amounted to less than 1,500 bales. Twelve hundred bales of cotton were shipped by a special train from Charleston to New York, September 22, to take advantage of the high prices paid in the latter market. The cost of the chartered train was $1:,800. Herbert S. Weber, in a report published by the Department of Agriculture, noting the results of some experiments at Colum- bia with Egyptian cotton seed, said: “It is safe to estimate that the cotton crop would be doubled on the same acreage as now grown by proper attention to the two factors so necessary to suc- cess, namely, the universal use of good seed, and careful methods of tillage and fertilization.” 1904. — The first new bale was received at Charleston from Bamberg August 13. In 1903 the first bale was sent to Augusta on the same date. 1906. — Congressman Ellerbe (of S. C.) introduced a resolu- tion in the House reciting that the Department of Agriculture’s estimate of 28,686,000 acres planted in cotton this season was not warranted, and directing the Secretary to furnish the House with all the information upon which the estimate was based. 1907. — The Legislature passed an act prohibiting all sales of cotton for future delivery. Dr. Y’. C. Irby, of Laurens, raised 23 bales of IMississippi long staple cotton on 33 acres, which he sold in February for $2,295. According to the Census there were 3,192 cotton gins in oper- ation, the average output of each gin being 365 bales. There were 101 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 220,071 tons of seed costing $4,562,072. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $5,941,881. CHAPTER V Georgia, and its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908^ — Number OF Cotton Miles and Spindles and Domestic Con- sumption OP Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. While it was the purpose of the founders of the Georgia Colony to make it chiefly a silk and wine producing country, they indulged in the hope that other staple products, among them cotton, would be produced. This is evidenced in one of Ogle- thorpe’s letters in which he says England will become the Colony's market “for great quantities of raw silk, and perhaps, for wine, oil, cotton, drugs, dyeing stuffs, and many other -lesser com- modities.” Nor was it long before experiments began to be made in growing cotton. Seed were sent out from England and as early as 1734, the Saltzbergers who settled on the Savannah river at Ebenezer, 21 miles from Savannah, experimented in its culture. The year following Francis Moore visited Savannah and saw it growing there. There is to be found in a pamphlet entitled “A State of the Province of Georgia, attested under oath in a Court of Savannah,” and published in 1740, the statement that “large quantities (of cotton) had been raised and it is much planted; but the cotton which in some parts is perennial, dies here in the winter, which, nevertheless, the annual is not inferior to in its goodness, but requires more trouble in cleansing from the seed.” In “A Des- cription of Georgia, by a gentleman who has resided there upward of seven years and was one of the first settlers,” published in London in 1741, it is stated that, “the annual cotton grows well there, and has been by some industrious people made into clothes.” In “An important inquiry into the state and utility of Georgia,” published in 1741, Samuel Seabrook the author, in a description of St. Simons Island, says the country was cultivated, and that on several small parcels of land granted to the soldiers of General 94 KING COTTON 95 Oglethorpe’s regiment, “the soldiers raised cotton and their wives spin it and knit it into stockings.” There is said to be among the records of the Habersham family a letter extant which shows that James Habersham cul- tivated the upland cotton at Bethesda as early at 1742, and that in 1754 he shipped 20 bales of cotton to Liverpool through his agent John Dillon. In a letter addressed by the Georgia office in London, in 1749, to the governor of Georgia is the following ; “You sa}^ sir, likewise in your letter that the people of Vernon- burg and Acton are giving visible appearance of revising their industry; that they are propagating large quantities of flax and cotton, and that they are provided with weavers, who have already wove several large pieces of cloth of a useful sort, whereof they sold divers, and some they made use of in their own families.” Before the Revolutionary War, Col. Delegall had in cultiva- tion 22 acres of cotton on one of the small islands near Savannah, the green seed or short staple being the variety planted. The origin of the various short staple varieties of cotton first introduced is somewhat obscure. Seed from Jamacia and Per- nambuco were imported into Georgia in 1786, and some of un- known variety had been previously sent out from England. But as to the origin of the sea-island, the finest and most valuable cotton in the world, we know that it originally came from Anguilla, one of the West India islands celebrated for its fine cotton, and that it was introduced into Georgia directly from the Bahama Islands in 1786. Thomas Spalding, of Sapelo Island, wrote this account of it; “The winter of 1786 brought several parcels of cotton seed from the Bahamas to Georgia. Among them was a parcel to Governor Tatnall from a relation of his, then Surveyor General of the Bahamas, and then another parcel was transmitted at the same time by Col. Roger Kelsal of Exuma (who was among the first, if not the very first, successful growers of cotton), to my father Mr. James Spalding, then residing in St. Simon’s Island, Ga., who had been connected in business with Col. Kelsal before the Revolution. I have heard that Governor Tatnall, then a young ^ William X. Habersham, in a communication to Savannah Morning News. 96 GEORGIA man, gave his seed to Mr. Nichol Trumbull, who cultivated it from that period successfully. My father planted his cotton seed in the spring of 1787 upon the banks of a small rice field, on St. Simon’s Island. The land was rich and warm ; the cotton grew and blossomed, but did not open its fruit. It, however, ratooned or grew from the roots the following year. The difficulty was now over. The cotton adapted itself to the climate, and every suc- cessive year from 1787 saw the long staple cotton extending itself along the shores of Georgia and South Carolina, where an en- lightened population, engaged in the cultivation of indigo, readily adopted it. All of the varieties of the long staple, or at least die germ of those varieties came from that seed.” As in other cotton regions Georgia planters experienced great difficulties in separating the lint from the seed. In 1788 Richard Leake, Esq., sent some samples of cotton from Savannah to the “Philadelphia Society for Encouraging Manufactures.” He stated that he would make 5,000 pounds in the seed on about 8 acres, and that he expected to plant the next year 50 to 100 acres if suitable encouragement was given. He requested that a gin be sent out to him, which he understood could be purchased in Philadelphia, and that it would clean 30 to 40 pounds of cotton in a day. At this time nothing but hand gins were in use. They were constructed with two small rollers revolving in opposite direc- tions, but would clean only about 25 pounds of cotton per day. A few years later (1790) the treadle or foot gin, which had been greatly improved by Joseph Eve, of Providence, R. L, was introduced. It could be worked either by horse or water power. In 179'3, Eli Whitney, a native of Connecticut, while a teacher in the family of the late General Green, near Savannah, invented his famous gin, for which he obtained a patent the following year. “In the State of Georgia where he worked,” says Prof. Brooks, “he received no compensation as the inventor of the gin, it being- alleged that Joseph Watkins, a planter of large means and influence, had devised the same machine for separa- ting the seed and lint of upland cotton, and that Whitney had visited IMr. Watkins and seen his machine in successful operation before he had produced one of his own. It is probable that the KING COTTON 97 main idea on which the cotton gin is founded was original with Joseph Watkins, but it is also probable that the same idea was equally original with Whitney. Both of these men drove spikes made from wire into wooden cylinders, and while this plan was best known at the time, it remained for Ogden Holmes (of South Carolina) to cut a saw from a sheet of metal, and dispense altogether with the wooden cylinder and spikes.”^ It is worthy of record that the very year this invention came with its bountiful promise of prosperity and wealth, one of the greatest enemies of the cotton plant first made its appearance in this country. The cotton worm for the first time invaded the fields of Georgia and South Carolina causing great damage. Its destruction was so great it was said that, “on one field of 400 acres only 18 bags were made.” During the first decade, 1800-1810, the largest crop produced was 98,000 bales. In the succeeding decades the increase was as follows: 1810-1820, 165,000; 1820-1830, 262,000; 1830-1840, 450,000 ; 1840-1850, 594,000 bales. The largest crop produced before the Civil War was 702,000 bales in 1859. The first crop made after the war (1866) was 233,000 bales which was less than the crop of 1825. It was in 1879, or fourteen years after the war, before the production was again equal to that of 1859. In 1880 over 1,000,000 bales were made, and in the decade 1890-1900 this was increased to 1,379,000 bales. In 1879 the area in cotton, according to the Census, was 2.617.000 acres. The estimate of the department of x\griculture for 1904 was 4,227,000 acres, showing an increase since 1879 of 1,610,000, or about 62 per cent. The production in 1879 was 814.000 and in 1904 1,968,000 bales, an increase of 1,154,000 bales or nearly 142, the increased production being 80 greater than the increased area. On the basis of the Census acreage for 1879 and that of the Department of Agriculture for 1906, (4,728,000) the increase would be 2,111,000 acres, or 80 per cent. : while the increase in production for the same period would be 821,000 bales or 100 per cent., the increased production being 20 per cent, greater than the increased area. These figures would indicate ^ Cotton, Its Uses, Varieties, Etc. Brooks (1898). 7 98 GEORGIA that the Agricultural Department’s estimated acreage for 1904 was much too small. Commercial Cotton Crops of Georgia, 1S00-1S09 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1800-01 53000 64000 65000 60000 72000 1805-06 95.000 75.000 71.000 98.000 94.000 1801-02 1806-07 1802-03 1807-08 1803-04 1808-09 1804-05 1809-10 1800. — The cotton worm made its appearance and damaged the crop. 1801. — A special invesigation of insects injurious to the cotton plant ascertained that the cotton worm, or caterpillar, was first introduced by French planters emigrating from Martinique and other French West Indies to Georgia during this year and 1802, 1802. — Georgia ceded to the Federal government all her lands west of the Chattahoochee river, embracing nearly 100,000 square miles of territory, the greater part of the present States of Alabama and Mississippi. 1804. — The cotton worm destroyed a large portion of the crop. 1807. — Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, brought suit in a Savannah court to sustain the validity of his patent. 1808. — An item in the 'Savannah Republican stated that at this time Kentucky bagging was in use in Georgia. It was recommended to the planters because it was cheaper than English bagging and was of home production. 1809. — A small horse-power cotton mill began operations this year at Louisville. Commercial Cotton Crops of Georgia, lSlO-1819 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1810-11 68,180 82,124 1815-16 121,006 1811-12 1816-17 125,241 1812-13 78,344 75,000 1817-18 11 9, .342 158,000 1813-14 1818-19 1814-15 98,268 1819-20 165,000 1810. — A writer in the Southern Cultivator said that the first cotton seed used in Georgia was the black seed. It was KING COTTON 99 subject to rot and was supplanted in 1810 by the Tennessee green seed, which yielded more in lint and stood the climate better without rotting, but was harder to pick, from 75 to 100 pounds being a good day’s picking. 1811. — The first cotton mill of any consequence in the State was known as the “Bolton Factory,” and was built this year on Upton Creek, 9 miles southeast of Washington, in Wilkes county. It was 60 feet by 10, two stories, attic and basement, and was constructed of brownstone. 1815. — The crop for the first time exceeded 100,000 bales. 1819. — The American steamship “Savannah,” built by Croker and Fickett, at Corlear’s Flook in the City of New York, was the first steam-propelled vessel that ever crossed the Atlantic ocean. The “Savannah,” said to have been built for the cotton trade, w'as a vessel of 380 tons, ship-rigged, and was furnished with a horizontal engine, placed between decks — the boilers in the lower hold. The vessel was launched August 22, 1818, and her first voyage was from New York to Savannah, under the com- mand of Capt. Moses Rogers, at which port she arrived April 19, after a seven days’ passage. On the 25th of May she left Savannah for St. Petersburg, via Liverpool, arriving at the latter port in 25 days’ passage. No further successful attempts were made to cross the ocean with steam vessels until the “Sirius” and “Great Western” arrived in New York from England, in April, 1838. C 0 MMERCI.A.L Cotton Crops of Georgia, 1820-1829 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1820-21 164,033 172,301 149,844 177,832 208,000 1825-26 253,592 240,385 155,776 234,166 262,006 1821-22 1826-27 1822-23 1827-28 1823-24 1828-29 1824-25 1829-30 1821. — ^John T. Donald, in the Southern Cultivator, gave this account of cotton picking in the early days : He was told by a Georgia planter that in the early days when 30 pounds was the usual day's picking, a planter's wife once pro- posed to her husband that if he would bring her a silk dress 100 GEORGIA when he went to Augusta she would pick 50 pounds in one day, if a servant was furnished to carry the basket. The husband readily assented. The wife set to work as early in the morning as the dew would permit, and by the middle of the afternoon had gathered 50 pounds. The report soon spread through the country that Mrs. had picked 50 pounds of cotton in one day and this operated as a wonderful stimulant on cotton pickers. Very soon a good many found that they could do the same thing. Occasionally some extraordinary picker would reach 60 pounds. After the Tennessee green seed was introduced, the picking was better, say from 40 to 70 pounds, and after getting accustomed to these “enormous weights,” it reached 70 to 80 pounds. About this time, a picker (who was a white man) upon having his cotton weighed, at dusk as usual, the weigher called out “90 pounds net.” The picker was astonished, believing it impossible. Next morning, still in doubt, he borrowed from a neighbor a pair of steelyards and reweighed his basket of cotton, but it was still 90 pounds. This created another furor of excitement. About 1821 an ambitious young man of the neighborhood, declared his determination to beat this record, so making arrangements with his mother to send him his breakfast and dinner, he went to the field before day, sat down quietly awaiting daylight, and as soon as it was light enough began picking, and continued at it so long as he could see a boll. He sent for two of his neighbors to weigh his cotton, and, lo and behold ! marvelous as it was, the scales told 110 pounds net. It was so enormous that other cotton pickers lost courage. This young man became the hero of the day, and neighbors living several miles away visited him to find out if it was true that he had picked 110 pounds in one day. He was afterwards congrat- ulated by hundreds of people at an old-fashioned regimental drill. 1822. — Sometime during President Monroe’s administration, VVm. H. Crawford, then Secretary of the Treasury, introduced and had distributed the Nankin variety of cotton. It had, how- ever, been experimented with prior to this period, but at no time proved a success. 1823. — The shipments from Savannah this year amounted to 169,524 bales, 82,230 of which were to foreign ports. The sea- island receipts were 11,130 bales. 1824. — During the year ended September 30 (1824) there were exported from Savannah 9,951 bales of sea-island and 142,358 bales of upland cotton. KING COTTON 101 This item appeared in Niles’ Register : “Died on the 10th of October, 1824, at his residence, Deptford Hill, three miles from Savannah. Nicholas Trumbull, Esq., a native of Smyrna, aged about seventy years, during forty of which he has maintained an unblemished reputation in this country. Mr. Trumbull, it is believed, was the first planter who cultivated, upon a scale for exportation, the article of cotton, now the greatest staple of the South.” For the first time the crop exceeded 200,000 bales. 1825. — About this time Samuel Griswold began the manufac- ture of saw-gins on an extensive scale at Clinton. The Georgia Journal (April 17) contained this item: “The cotton market opened last fall at 7 and 8 cents, and on yesterday 27 cents was offered and refused.” 1826. — Savannah receipts 184,238 bales of upland and 6,354 bales of sea-island cotton, total 190,592 bales. It was understood that a considerable quantity remained in the hands of planters. 1827. — Greater damage was done by the caterpillar in the lower counties than ever before known. The crops in Camden and Glynn counties were almost totally destroyed. It was estimated that from 30,000 to 40,000 bales were shipped from the port of Darien. In IMarch the foundation of a factory with 1,000 spindles and 30 looms was laid at IMoore’s Mill, 4 miles from Athens. This was the first cotton mill built in the State run by other than horse power. The editor of the local paper (at Athens) in noting this important event said : “A sense of safety and a feeling of independence combined, doubtless, with an expec- tation of profit have urged gentlemen to an undertaking against which their political convictions are at war. And, we are authorized to state that these sentiments have, by no means, undergone a change; that their project is certainly not to give countenance to a system which they have always denounced, but it is to be regarded as a measure unquestionably defensive.” About this time there was intense opposition in the South to the protective tariff then in force. The statement was made before a Congressional Committee by a cotton merchant, “that cotton picked in bags made of 102 GEORGL\ cotton, can be transported to England in as good order as that put up in hemp or flax bagging, and when well put up, would command more in the market, particularly if in square bales.” 1828. — The Georgia Courier estimated that 112,994 bales of cotton were shipped from Augusta and Hamburg. A sea-island planter sold ten bags of his crop for 90 cents a pound ; for his two succeeding crops he received $1.00 and $1.25 a pound. Four cotton mills, one at Augusta, two at Milledgeville, and another at Indian Springs were put into operation. A Georgia planter writing to the Southern Agriculturist said the first year his cotton was seriously injured by rust was in 1828. It made its appearance about August 1, and by the end of that month not a green leaf was to be found in a field of 40 acres. One field did not yield more than 20 pounds to the acre. The causes of rust were attributed to “atmospheric influences.” CoiM.MERCIAL COTTON CrOPS OF GEORGIA, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1830-31 256,377 271,791 268,463 251,429 2,36,612 1835-36 319,573 314,867 390,036 292,436 4,50.076 1831-32 1836-37 1832-33 1837-38 1833-34 1838-39 1834-35 1839-40 1831. — There was a great decline in the price of cotton, in consequence of which some heavy failures occurred at Macon. Cotton, which the fall previous was worth 9 to 11 cents, declined to 5 and 7 cents. 1833. — Lancelot Johnson, of Madison, obtained a patent for a cotton seed huller. N. Nixon, of the same place, also obtained a similar patent. 1834. — A sea-island cotton picker was expected to gather 25 pounds a day, and this was considered a good average. A laborer cultivated 4 acres which was expected to yield 500 pounds of clean cotton and would sell for 25 cents a pound. The fiber was separated from the seed by a small hand gin consisting of two wooden rollers, Jd to 1 inch in diameter, and revolving from 100 to 500 times a minute. The rollers were kept together by a KING COTTON 103 wooden frame and a square shaft, upon which was fixed a wooden or iron fly wheel, from 2 to 3 feet in diameter. The iron crank which turned the rollers was connected by strips of wood with a treadle worked b}' the foot of the ginner. This treadle, or foot gin, was imported from the West Indies and was of very ancient origin. It was in use in Georgia and South Carolina for many years, and cost about $10. In a contribution to the Southern Planter Thomas Spalding, of Sapelo Island, said; “INIiller and AVhitney’s gin was designed by Mr. Mdiitney at the plantation of INIr. Miller, 16 miles from Savannah, about the year 1795” (it was 1793), “and it seems to be derived from two machines already used upon cotton, a kind of cylindrical whipper and the circular cards, before that time introduced in manufacturing cotton.” The first railroad in the State was built this year. 1835. — Hon. Robert Toombs is said to have sold his plan- tation in the southwestern part of the State, on account of the ravages of the cotton worm. The crop this year exceeded 300,000 hales. 1837. — A cotton mill was in operation at Columbus, and in 1849 one was built at Roswell. 1838. — The first new bale of cotton was shipped to Charleston from Columbia county. Thirteen cents a pound was offered for it and refused. 1839. — A great convention of cotton planters was held at Macon, the object being an attempt to regulate the price of cotton. Commenting on the results of this effort Hunt’s Merchants Maga- zine says : “A few years since it was supposed that no matter how great a quantity of cotton was raised, high prices could be compelled for it abroad by a combination of paper credit with a view to hold. For such a purpose the famous Macon Convention was held, but of course utterly failed in its objects. The vast capital of the United States Bank governed the cotton market for a short time, and sustained prices for a season, only to make them sink lower in the end.” The famous “Cotton Circular” that attracted widespread attention throughout the country made its appearance this year. At first it was thought it emanated from the United States Bank, 104 GEORGIA at Philadelphia, but this was denied by the bank officials. Its authorship was afterwards attributed to one or two Southern gentlemen and one or two in New York; one of them Gen. Plamilton and another Gov. McDuffie, both of South Carolina. The circular was sent out to the banks and cotton merchants, and created no little excitement in money circles. It announced that an arrangement had been made with Humphreys and Biddle of Philadelphia and Liverpool, to advance three-fourths of the value of each bale of cotton (at 14 cents a pound), the consignments to go forward to the banking establishments, “who sustained by adequate means on both sides of the water, would be able to hold on ’till prices vigorously rallied.” The result of the circular was a meeting in New York (July 5, 1839) of fourteen prominent cotton planters, who issued a call for a convention, to be held at Macon, Ga., October 22. The convention met and passed the following resolutions : Resolved : — That this convention entirely concurs in the opinion expressed in said circular, that owing to the circumstances under which the cotton crop is usually sent to the market, the price of the article is not left to be regulated by the fair and natural influences of the law of supply and demand. Resolved : — As the opinion of this convention, that a remedy for the evil, as effective of its object as it is simple in its charac- ter, will be found in the recommendation of the circular “that the cotton of our country shall not be sent to market, accom- panied by a bill of exchange, which must coerce its sale at a fixed date, whatever may be the state of the market.” Resolved : — That the cotton planters and American shippers in the southern ports be earnestly reciuested to concur in the measures recommended by this convention, by which they may be certain of having their cotton held, and not forced on the market at a ruinous sacrifice. Resolved : — That the banks in the Southern States l^e in- vited to concur in a general system of advancing on the crop, as the only certain means of replenishing their stock of specie, and of placing their circulation on a sound basis. Of the 93 counties in the State all but 4 produced cotton. The counties making the largest crops were, in the order named : — Hancock, Morgan, Talbot, Upson and Jefferson. The counties that did not raise cotton were : Bryan, Houston, Rabun and Union. The crop for the first time exceeded 400,000. KING COTTON 105 There were 19 cotton mills in operation, with 42,589 spindles and consuming about 18,150 bales of cotton. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Georgia, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1840-41 256.931 No data No data No data 1841-42 .350,039 do do do 1842-43 462.664 do do do 184.3-44 •508,4.30 do do do 1844-45 489,175 do do do 1845-46 307,698 do do do 1846-47 375,083 do do do 1847-48 463,005 do do do 1848-49 554,296 20,500 do do 1849-50 499,091 20,230 35 51,150 1840. — There were 275 miles of railway in operation. 1843. — The crop for the first time exceeded a half million bales. The Georgia Central Railroad handled 42,834 bales of cotton. The first bale of new cotton received at Augusta was on August 24. The Central Railroad of Georgia, from Savannah to Atlanta (294 miles) was formed by the consolidation (December 1, 1872) of the Central Railroad Co., chartered in 1835, com- pleted in 1843, and the Macon & Western Railroad chartered in 1833 and completed in 1846. The Milledgeville Branch was chartered in 1837 and opened in 1852. 1845. — The cotton crop was seriously damaged by excessive drought throughout the growing season. The first bale of new cotton received at Augusta was from Columbia county, July 31. R. P. Burton sent the Savannah Republican a cotton stalk grown upon his plantation in Camden county, which it said beat anything ever known in those parts. It was of the fine big cream kind, nearly 12 feet high and the limbs measured at the foot of the stalk about 10 feet from tip to tip. The number of bolls and forms on two limbs alone, each 6 feet from the ground, amounted to 78. The whole stalk contained several hundred. It grew on land that had been planted in cotton eleven years in succession. 106 GEORGIA The editor proposed making a walking cane of one of the upper branches. The Georgia Railroad from Augusta to Atlanta (171 miles) was chartered December 21, 1833, and the main line and its branches (Camak to Macon, 71 miles — Union Point to Athens, 10 miles — Barnet to Washington, 17 miles) were completed in this year. The Macon & Augusta Railroad, chartered in 1859 and opened in 1872, was acquired by the Georgia Railroad during the latter year. 1816. — The following account of the condition of the crop in i\Iay was given by the Southern Planter : “It is a fact that on many farms in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina the cotton is not up, and much is just coming up. Some are plowing up and planting fresh seed. The cotton that is already up, and that which has been up some four or six weeks, looks smaller and seems to grow smaller, much of it perfectly lousy, with ‘sore shins,’ resembling a dried cracklin, and dying from the cold weather.” Great damage was done by the caterpillar, particularly in the southern tier of counties. The advantages of compressing cotton for export, was thus illustrated by the Savannah Georgian : “The bark ‘Georgia’ on one trip cleared with a cargo of uncompressed cotton consisting of 1,310 bales of 178,538 pounds. On her next trip she cleared with 1,580 bales or 621,200 pounds, a gain of 210 bales, or about 115,662 pounds.” 1817. — Throughout the counties of Troup, Harris, Talbot, Muscogee, Meriwether and Upson, six of the largest producing counties in the State, the heavy rains caused the forms to drop off. Both caterpillars and boll-worms destroyed the crop. A writer in De Bow’s Review (M. Tarver, of Missouri), recommending the use of slave labor in the cotton mills, because so much cheaper, and answering the assertion which was fre- quently made in those times, that slaves were not intelligent enough to make useful and profitable operatives, said, that this was a mere assumption, “it being a well established fact that negroes learned blacksmithing, carpentering, boot and shoe making, and all the handicraft trades, with as much facility as KING COTTON 107 white men, and that Mr. Deering, of Georgia, had employed slaves in his cotton factory for many years with decided success.” 1848. — The food allowance for slaves, as stated by J. L. M'hitten, of Hancock county, was 180 pounds of pork, 50 pounds of beef, and 15 bushels of corn for each individual, little and big, to consume in the year, besides milk, vegetables, some molasses, flour, sugar and coffee, amount not estimated, and in addition, sweet potatoes and fruits. The wages for farm managers or overseers, was $300 ; on small farms $200 ; and from that price to $400 in proportion to the number of hands and the skill of the manager. The average yield of cotton was 200 pounds of lint to the acre. The variety of seed planted most commonly was the Petit Gulf and Alvarado. 1849. — Frosts in April, with extremes of wet and dry weather, cut off the crop in central Georgia by one-half. Houston county produced the largest crop of any county in the State, IS',362 bales of 400 pounds each. The Central Railroad, extending from Macon to Savannah (191 miles) handled 203,725 bales of cotton during this year, as compared with 168,785 in 1848, and 87,524 the previous year. Co-M.MERCi.vL Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Georgia, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1850-51 Bales 450,130 631,939 690.539 Bales 13,000 36 51,400 1851-52 22.000 1852-53 20.000 1853-54 621,563 22,116 602,897 675,355 22,11,3 22,509 25,225 25,084 28,709 30,235 1856-57 575,940 503,595 658,425 701,840 1853-59 1859-60 33 85,186 1850. — Guano and other commercial manures were extensively used on the fields of Georgia and the Carolinas during the decade 1850-1860. W. C. Dickson estimated the yield per acre in Baldwin count}" at 500 pounds of seed cotton. 108 GEORGIA The Western & Atlantic Railway, from xA-tlanta to Ghat- tanooga (138 miles), now operated by the Nashville, Chat- tanooga & St. Louis Railway, was built by the State of Georgia and opened this year. About this time the Georgia Railroad was extended to the Tennessee river and in consequence the cotton receipts at Savannah were increased. There were 643 miles of railway in operation. The late cold spring and long drought in June and July cut off the yield of cotton. 1851. — The crop for the first time exceeded 600,000 bales. A Cotton Planters’ Convention was held this year at Macon. The plan presented to the convention for curing the evil of “irregular and unremunerative prices of cotton" was suggested in a pamphlet, as follows ; — If we do anything certainly and effectively, we must organize a Cotton Planters’ Association. This should be chartered by the States of South Carolina, Georgia. Alabama. Louisiana and Florida, with a capital of at least $20,000,000, to be increased in amount as the wants of the business may require. The Asso- ciation should erect or purchase extensive werehouses in Charles- ton, Savannah, Mobile, New Orleans, Apalachicola and St. Marks, and establish at each of these points a regular commission business, with a view to the storage and sale of the entire crop of the United States. For the purpose of securing to themselves the whole of the commission business, they should establish a minimum price, which for the purposes of this argument we will fix at 10 to 123/2 cents, according to quality and location, and averaging, say 11 cents a pound. This should be guaranteed to all their regular customers, and to all parties holding cotton pur- chased of them, so long as the cotton remains in their ware- houses. The world should have notice that, whenever the cotton offering was not wanted by others, at, or above, the minimum fixed, it would be wanted by the Association ; that when once purchased, it should never be resold until taken at cost, adding storage, insurance, interest on the investment, with a commission for purchasing, and another for selling. This accumulation of charges would induce the manufacturers to take their supplies before the Company would be required to take any ; nor is it, indeed, likely that they would ever be the purchasers to any great extent. Under such a system the planter would not crowd the market with cotton, as is now the case, and speculators at the minimum price would purchase freely and hold with confidence. COTTON PICKING IN GEORGIA. KING COTTON 109 1852. — Dr. Daniell, of Savannah, suggested as a remedy for the low price of cotton, that the Cotton Planters’ Convention called to meet at IMontgomery, Ala., offer a premium sufficient to stimu- late the mechanical skill of the world, to supply an effective ma- chine calculated to gin, card and spin into any of the numbers of yarn in ordinary use, about ten pounds of clean cotton per hour, which cotton planters may introduce upon their plantations to spin into yarn during the winter the cotton grown the preced- ing season. 1853. — Frosts occurred in this State, and as far south as Louisiana in the latter part of April. It was so severe as to require replanting on a large number of plantations. 1854. — The Augusta & Savannah Railroad, now the Central of Georgia, from Augusta to Millen (53 miles) was chartered in 1838 and opened this year. 1856. — At the Cotton Planters’ Convention which met at Savannah this resolution was passed : \\’hereas. a patent having been lately granted by the Govern- ment to a citizen of IMobile, by means of which by a continuous process cotton may be converted into marketable yarn, involving but a small expense, and calling into requisition the surplus labor of the field, therefore, it is suggested by this Convention that the subject should receive the serious consideration of the planting interests, as one calculated largely to increase its wealth. E. Crawford, of Early county, reported the average production in his county at 200 pounds of lint per acre. 1857. — A well known and popular variety of cotton called the “Dickson,” was originated about 1857 or 1858, at Oxford, by David Dickson. It was developed from the Boyd Prolific after a careful selection of the seed. Patents were granted to Joseph Shaw, J. M. Hall, and Roberts & Davis for cotton cultivators, and to T. W. White and Lorenzo D. Law. for cotton seed planters. The Atlanta & West Point Railroad was chartered in 1847, opened to La Grange in 1854 and to West Point during this year. 1859. — The following is an account of “A Cotton Landing on the Chattahoochee” and the manner in which cotton was shipped to market by river in the days before the railroads monop- olized this traffic ; 110 GEORGIA To guard against the flood, wliich may at any time sub- merge the stores on the banks, the planters build their wharves with several floors, four, five or six, so that boats may land their cargoes or take freight at whatever height the river happens to be at the time. These wharves or landings are but few and far between on those sparsely settled banks, and few of them are very commodious. Nor must you expect to be often accommo- dated by a flight of steps to convey you to the habitable upper regions ; generally you will have to scramble up the wild ascent as best you can. Sometimes the cotton bales are lowered by a rope from the top of the bank ; but more frequently they are shot down a long wooden slide or trench, through which not cotton bales alone, but pigs and provisions come tumbling in uproarious pell-mell. When, after the gliding smoothly on for hours amidst inanimate nature, you arrive at one of these landings, sudden is the awakening, as if from some pleasant dream. Freight, per- haps passengers, are to be conveyed on shore ; cotton, provisions, fuel are to be brought on board ; laborers, white and black, amid shouting and noise, set to work, heaving, hauling, and dragging whatever has to be heaved, hauled and dragged, the negroes in- variably accompanying their movements with as much action and loquacity as would suffice in loading half a dozen steamers. A planter or two and their overseers stand looking on ; two or three negresses with white turbans and black babies on the bank above, and some sprawling urchins at various elevations, are sure to enliven the scene ; some young ladies, too, have driven several miles from a neighboring plantation to enjoy the not too frequent excitement; the several conveyances belonging to this small assemblage forming all together such a business-looking crowd as may not be gathered together again for many weeks. However tranquilly the steamer threaded the solitude just now, you bid adieu to tranquillity for the next hour ; and what with hauling cotton hales on board, and stowing away incredible numbers of them by the aid of the inexorable jack-screw — what with “wood- ing up” or transferring from the shore to the under deck a stock of wood for fuel; and what with the jolting and bumping, and clamor and confusion attendant on these various performances, you would think the frail boat was going to pieces there and then. With her increasing cargo she sinks perceptibly ; by and by the banks are cleared and you are off again, probably to make no further stoppages during the day, or at most to take on wood from a lonely pile left stacked in readiness. The people in charge of these piles may have grown tired of waiting for the dilatory steamer and you will probably see a slip of paper stuck promi- nently on the pile, telling the Captain where to deposit his dollar notes in payment, tire mail bag (to be fetched at leisure) and KING COTTON 111 whatever packages he may have brought for the sequestered com- munity thereabouts. The Census returns gave Houston county the largest total production, 28,852 bales of 100 pounds each. David Dickson, of Oxford, succeeded in producing on one stalk of cotton, from a variety he named “Dickson’s Select Cotton,” only 5 feet high, 169 bolls. The crop for the first time exceeded 700,000 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Georgia, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61 Bales 501,519 Bales 34.508 1861-62 1862-63 1863-64 1864-65 1S65-6G 1866-67 232,974 402,001 298,790 18,590 20,956 20 280 1867-68 1868-69 1869-70 437,934 24,821 34 85,062 1860. — The gin house was generally the largest establishment upon the plantation, and not unfrequently the most expensive. It usually embraced the mill, dr 3 dng' house and gin, under the same roof. The machinery for operating both mill and gin was turned b}’ mules or horses. The building was raised upon posts about 8 feet high, and the “sweeps” of the mill and gin were in the open shed underneath the building. There were 1,120 miles of railway in operation. The increase in the yield of cotton in Georgia, said Dr. Joseph Jones, in a review of a recent Cotton Planters’ Convention, “has not corresponded with the increase in population, and the reason for this is to be attributed to the deterioration of the lands for want of rest and manures.” 1861. — In a speech at Atlanta Hon. Plowel Cobb proposed that the Southern planters should sell one-half of their cotton crop to the Confederate Government, and accept its bonds in payment therefor. The same year the Confederate Government passed an act prohibiting the exportation of cotton from the Confederate 112 GEORGIA States, except through the seaports of those States, and to punish persons offending against the law. 1865. — At the London World’s Fair held in 1850, Capt. John Corrie, of the schooner “Wanderer,” attracted by a sign placed over a small saucer containing some black seeds, read this notice : “Cotton Raised from these Seeds was Spun into Thread 150 Miles Long.” He managed to transfer five of these seeds to his vest pocket. “Nine years later,” says W. A. Gordan, of Savannah, “when the ‘Wanderer’ brought to Jekyl Island the last cargo of slaves imported into the United States, Capt. Corrie, noticing that cotton was growing on the island, hunted up the old vest and found the five cotton seed. He gave them to John Du Bignon then a cotton planter on the island. Mr. Du Bignon planted the seed, from which he obtained enough to plant a crop. The war inter- vening, the three bales made from this crop were hidden in a swamp to prevent seizure by the Union troops. After the war, in 1865, with the bagging nearly rotted off of the bales they were shipped to Savannah and sold by Tison and Gordon for $1,621/2 per pound, the highest price in fifty years obtained for cotton in that market.” The receipts of upland cotton at Savannah this year were 60,144 bales of upland, and 3,891 bales of sea-island. In 1870 the receipts of upland increased to 478,941 bales, but the receipts of sea-island cotton increased only 1,323 bales. 1866. — The amount of the cotton tax collected in the State by the Federal Government was $3,554,544, and in 1867, $3,282,276. 1867. — The Atlantic & Gulf Railroad', or Savannah, Florida & Western, now the Plant System, from Savannah to Bain- bridge (237 miles), was completed this year. Sixty-nine miles out from Savannah was built from 1854 to 1858 ; it was extended to Thomasville in 1861 and completed to Bainbridge in 1867. The Albany Branch was extended to East Albany in 1870. 1868. — As evidence of what can be done with “worn out” cotton lands. State Commissioner of Agriculture Stevens, cites this instance : In this year Mr. Samuel Bailey purchased a place in Oglethorpe county which was considered worthless for farm- ing purposes. The first year he cultivated only 16 acres, plow- ing deep and subsoiling, and leveling all washes as near as possi- KING COTTON 113 ble. He sowed one acre in wheat and 15 in cotton. From the acre of wheat he gathered 57 bushels, and from the 15 acres in cotton he obtained 11 bales weighing 465 pounds each. He advocated deep plowing and thorough preparation of the land, more especially when manuring highly with either barn-yard or commercial manure. By saving all manure accumulated on his place, he brought his lands up to a yield of 35 to 40 bushels of wheat and a bale of cotton to the acre. The amount of the cotton tax collected by the Federal Govern- ment was $5,059,274. The caterpillar was very destructive in some counties. In the central part of the State nearly a half of the crop was reported lost. A portion of the sea-island crop was also destroyed by the cotton worm. In some parts of the State the crop was also cut oft' by ten weeks of dry weather in May, June and July. 1869. — David Dickson, who was the first planter to introduce the use of commercial fertilizers in cotton cultivation, formulated a “compound” which he declared had never failed to grow g'ood crops and bring satisfactory dividends, no matter what might be the season. The Southwestern Railroad, now the Central of Georgia, from Macon to Eufaula, Alabama (144 miles), and its branches, from Ft. A'alley to Columbus, Smithville to Albany, Cuthbert to Ft. Gaines, Ft. 'Valley to Perry, and Albany to Arlington, were built some time prior to 1869 and leased in that year to the Central of Georgia Railway. Dawson county made the largest crop in the State, 19,690 bales. Commercial Crops and Consu.mption of Cotton in Georgia, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 600,000 Bales 27.027 No data No data 1871-72 328,000 .35.640 do do 1872-7.3 •505,000 39,122 do do 1873-74 500,000 .39,920 42 137,330 1874-7.5 460.000 .50,214 47 131,340 1875—76 420,000 50.600 No data No data 1876-77 505,000 47,958 do do 1877-78 680.000 57,078 do do 1878-79. 530,763 70,.308 do do 1879-80 814,441 71 389 40 198,656 8 114 GEORGIA On a little more than six acres B. G. Lockett, of Albany, realized 27,206 pounds of seed, or 1,420% pounds of lint to the acre. The land on which it was grown was strong limestone soil, chocolate colored, and manured with barn-yard manure and ammoniated bones. A premium for this crop was given at the Georgia State Fair. 1870. — The Macon & Brunswick Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Macon to Brunswick (187 miles), was opened in 1869, and began operations January 1. There were 1,845 miles of railway in operation. 1871. — Great damage to the crop in a large portion of the State on account of excessive rains during the month of June. 1872. — The Savannah, Griffin & North Alabama Railroad, now the Central of Georgia, from Griffin to Carrollton (60 miles) was completed in this year. On June 11, the cotton merchants of Savannah held a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and organized a Cotton Exchange. 1873. — On one acre of sandy land, clay subsoil, and which had been in cultivation sixty or seventy years, T. C. Warthen, of Washington county, produced five bales of cotton weighing about 500 pounds each. The land was fertilized with 1,400 .pounds of Peruvian guano, 60 ox-cart loads of raw pine straw, 60 bushels of green cotton seed and 400 bushels of well rotted stable manure. This was plowed under with a double-horse-plow, followed by a sixteen-inch scooter, breaking up the soil from 13 to 16 inches. The land was checked off in rows 3 feet apart, and the cotton seed — -“Dickson’s Cluster’’ — planted in hills on the 13th of May. In Ttine the plants were thinned to one stalk to the hill. The only implement used in cultivation was a twenty-four-inch sweep, the plants growing so rapidly as to prevent the vegetation of grass or weeds. The destruction by the cotton-worm was the worst ever ex- perienced. Five counties reported a loss of half the crop, and seventeen counties a loss varying from 25 to 50 per cent. The Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line, now the Southern Rail- way, from Charlotte, N. C., to Atlanta (286% miles), was com- pleted and opened September 28. 1874. — R. H. Hardaway, of Thomasville, estimated for a series KING COTTON 115 of years the cost of raising cotton per pound, as follows : 1866, 11.5 cents ; 1867, 12.5 cents ; 1868, 12.25 cents ; 1869, 10.9 cents ; 1870, 8.6 cents; 1871, 13.61 cents; 1872, 10.77 cents. The same year David Dickson, of Sparta, stated that when cotton is below 16 cents, the tenant and landlord, in four cases out of five, lose money. He estimated that two hands, on an average without manure would make only about three bales (of 400 pounds each). C. W. Howard, of Kingston, in an article on the “Condition of Agriculture in the Cotton States,” said that “the average yield of cotton in Georgia, according to the sworn returns of the tax re- ceivers, was one bale to 3 yi acres.” A Convention of Cotton Exchanges met at Augusta in June, and recommended the adoption of a uniform classification of cot- ton throughout the United States to be called the Standard Ameri- can Classification. The classification adopted represented the following grades : good middling, middling, low middling, good ordinary and ordinary. 1875. — Hon. Philip Cook, of Georgia, introduced in the House of Representatives a bill to refund the tax collected on cotton from 1863 to 1868. A law passed in Georgia after the Civil War, said the Bankers’ Monthly, enabled commission merchants to take out a lien upon farmers’ crops for loans advanced. The farmers vigor- ously and successfully clamored for a repeal of the law. They now (February, 1875) seek its readoption, finding that without it they cannot get any advance money from the merchants with which to pay their hands. 1876. — The price of fertilizers sold on time was $55.97 per ton. The average price per pound allowed for cotton in payment therefor, was 14.39 cents. “America is no longer beyond the rivalry of East Indian cotton,” said the editor of the American Agriculturist. “But there are now in Georgia alone over forty cotton factories, and • others are building, and Georgia is a more profitable consumer for Georgia cotton than any foreign country can possibly be.” A Milton county planter reported a product of 1,900 pounds of seed cotton per acre, on light gray soil, manured with 200 pounds of super-phosphates. 116 GEORGIA The Elberton Air Line, now the Southern Railway, from Elberton to Toccoa (50 miles) was completed in December. 1875'. — Burke county produced the largest crop, 29,172 bales, and Polk county the highest yield per acre, .48 of a bale. There were two cotton oil mills in the State. The Department of Agriculture estimated the loss from the cotton-worm from 1865 to 1878, inclusive, at 474,600 bales. The crop for the first time exceeded 800,000 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Georgia, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 1,009,260 798,000 Bales 69,750 1881-82 88,970 • 98.470 1882-83 942,000 752,500 807,400 960,025 1883-84 106,964 99,414 do 1884-85 1885-86 119,862 do do 1886-87 861,720 947,158 953,623 1,191,846 125,170 140,481 53 349,277 1887-88 361.684 1888-89 133,477 55 388,342 1889-90 145,859 53 445,452 1880. — For the first time in the history of the State the crop reached 1,000,000 bales. There were 2,459 miles of railway in operation. 1881. — The Department of Agriculture estimated that the boll- worm destroyed 20,958 bales of cotton. The Waycross & Florida Branch of the Plant System, from Waycross to St. Mary’s river, began operations this year; also the East Florida Railroad from the Georgia state line to Jackson- ville. The great Cotton Exposition was opened at Atlanta in Oc- tober of this year. At the Atlanta Cotton Exposition the Governor of Georgia made his appearance dressed in a suit of clothes made of cotton- ade, manufactured on the grounds, from cotton that had been picked from the fields on the same day in full view of the visitors to the Exposition. 1882. — A Board of Trade was organized at Columbus, and was incorporated in ISPO. KING COTTON 117 1883. — About this time there were 37 cotton oil mills in operation. 1881. — The Gainsville, Jefferson & Southern Railroad, from Gainesville to Jeft'erson and Florence (65 miles), was opened for traffic March 8. The Columbus & Rome Railroad, now the Central of Georgia, was completed from Columbus to Greenville (51 miles), during this year. 1885. — As early as the month of March this year the spinners’ stocks at Augusta were so nearly exhausted that one of the mills purchased 1,000 bales to be delivered from New Orleans. 1887. — The Georgia, Midland & Gulf Railroad, now the South- ern Railway, from Columbus to iMcDonough (98 miles), was completed in September. The Marietta & North Georgia Railroad, now the Atlanta, Knoxville & Northern Railway, from Alarietta to Murphy, North Carolina (111 miles) was completed this year. 1888. — The Atlanta & Florida Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Atlanta to Fort Valley (104 miles), was opened this year. Lice and cut-worms caused considerable damage to cotton planted early in the season. In Dougherty county the statement of a correspondent that plant-lice were more destructive than for forty years, was corroborated by similar testimony from several other counties in the State. 1889'.- — As early as the middle of September, Newton, Morgan and Marion counties reported a probable loss of from 20 to 33 per cent, due to the boll-worm. Burke county had the largest acreage in cotton and also the highest total yield, viz: 111,774 acres and 37,714 bales. The Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad, now the Sea- board Air Line, from Savannah to Jacksonville (about 171 miles) was chartered, and completed within a few years. The Georgia Pacific Railway, now the Southern Railway from Atlanta to Greenville, Miss. (439 miles) was completed from Atlanta to Columbus, Miss. (291 miles) in 1887, and to Green- ville in 1889. There were 3 print mills in the State. In the manufacture of 118 GEORGIA higher grade cotton goods, Georgia stood in the front of the Southern States, being the only one that made bleached yarns. Georgia and South Carolina were the only Southern States that were bleaching cloth, the total amount bleached in Georgia being 7,593,950 square yards. Commercial Crops and Consu.mption of Cotton in Georgia, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of vSpindles 1890-91 Bales 1.310.000 Bales 164,981 62 465,811 1891-92 1,200,000 178,944 57 495,564 1892-93 940,000 187,702 59 500,408 1893-94 1,000,000 176,.303 63 515,712 1894-95 1,247,952 218,685 61 551,806 1895-96 1,067,377 200,636 62 607,251 1896-97 1,299,340 227,831 76 683,407 1897-98 1,350,781 285,219 77 709,406 1898-99 1,378,731 281,527 79 696,394 1899-00 1,296,844 318,.302 86 969,364 1890. — The Brunswick & Western Railroad, now the Plant System, from Brunswick to Albany (172 miles) was completed about this time. The Georgia, Southern & Florida, now operated by the Southern Railway, from Macon to Palatka, Florida (258 miles) was chartered in 1885 and completed March 1. There were 4,601 miles of railway in operation this year. 1891. — On Wednesday, March 18, of this year the receipts of cotton at Savannah reached 1,000,000 bales, the highest number to date ever received in one season at that port. The Cotton Exchange gave a banquet in celebration of the event. The Georgia & Alabama Railroad, now the Seaboard Air Line, from Lyons to Montgomery, Ala. (265 miles), was com- pleted near the close of the year. The Macon, Dublin & Savannah Railroad, from Macon to Dublin (54 miles), was chartered in 1885 and completed this year. 1892. — The Georgia, Carolina & Northern Railway, now the Seaboard Air Line, from Monroe, N. C., to Atlanta (266 miles), was chartered in April, 1887, and opened for traffic April 24, of this year. A Convention of Cotton Planters and Factors was held Jan- uary 27, at Augusta, the object being to induce planters to reduce KING COTTON 119 the cotton acreage in 1892, by 20 per cent. Resolutions to this effect were adopted, and also the following; “That to meet the present and prospective depreciation of cotton, threatening bank- ruptcy, a moderate license tax be placed on cotton acreage for a period of four years, to lift the burden from all other crops and restraining the unprofitable culture of cotton.” 1893. — At the State Experiment Station the varieties showing the highest yield of seed cotton per acre, were, in the order named: Duncan’s, Jones' Improved, Hawkins, Bearing’s Small Seed, King’s, etc. Director R. J. Redding, of the State Experiment Station, said : “It is a very prevalent belief that a variety of cotton that will yield the larger proportion of lint to the hundred-weight of seed is to be preferred. This belief is based on the assumption that a large yield of lint in proportion to seed indicates a large yield of lint per acre. It is a plausible theory, but experiments show that there is no relation between the yield of lint per hundred pounds of seed cotton and the total yield of lint per acre.’’ 1895. — W. G. Cross, of Bibb county, was reported to have raised 2,360 pounds of lint cotton on one acre at a cost of 2.21 cents a pound. 1896. — The sea-island cotton crop this year amounted to 61,668 bales, the largest crop to date, of this variety, ever produced in the State. In 1879 the Census reported a production of only 3,420 bales. Of the twenty varieties of cotton experimented with at the State Experiment Station, the following in the order named showed the highest yield of seed cotton per acre : Strickland’s Improved, Texas Oak, X'ancy Hanks, Allen’s Improved Long Staple, Cleveland’s Improved, and Jones’ Improved. At a meeting held on January 6th the Augusta Cotton Exchange and Board of Trade endorsed the resolutions of the Memphis Cotton Exchange, urging planters not to increase their cotton acreage over that of 1895. As ascertained by the Department of Agriculture the average cost of making a pound of upland cotton this year was 5.23 cents, and of sea-island cotton, 9.99 cents per pound. 1897. — A report of the Director of the State Experiment 120 GEORGIA Station said, that Allen’s Long Staple had again proved to be the most productive long staple upland cotton ever cultivated at the Station. It would probably fetch 2 or 3 cents per pound more than the ordinary uplands if offered to a special buyer in large lots. 1898. — In November about 6,000 cotton mill operatives at Augusta struck against a 10 per cent, reduction of wages. The strike was settled the latter part of January following. In 1878 there were no cotton-seed-oil mills in the State. In 1890 there were 17, with a capital of $992,131, paying $1,298,421 for material that gave a product worth $1,670,196. By 1900 there were 46 of these mills, paying $3,246,814 for seed that yielded a product valued at $4,787,100. The largest crop in the history of the State to date, 1,378,731 bales, was produced this year. The Savannah Cotton Exchange passed the following resolu- tion : “That we indorse the report of the committee of the Con- vention of Interior Compress Association of Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, on May 12, 1898, and urge the planters and ginners to adopt the 24 x 54 press box, and recommend that the necessary alterations be made in time for the next crop.” During the fall months of this year the average price obtained for cotton by the planters of Burke county was only a fraction over 4 cents per pound. 1899. — During this year 183,907 farmers cultivated 3,513,839 acres in cotton, of which 170,756 acres were planted in sea-island cotton. The production of this area was 594,168,407 pounds (lint) of upland and 22,173,574 pounds of (lint) sea-island cotton, or an average yield of 175 pounds to the acre. There were 4,729 cotton gins in operation in 1899 ; 4,670 in 1900, and 4,793 in 1901. The Census estimates that the average output of each establishment during each season was, respectively, 274, 272 and 293 bales. The average cost for ginning and baling square bales in 1899 was $1.26 ; round bales, 90 cents, and sea- island cotton, $3.59 per bale. Burke county made the largest crop this year, 46,152 bales. The cotton mills of Richmond county, all of which are located at Augusta, consumed this year about 52,000 bales ; those of KING COTTON 121 Fulton county, about 32,000, and IMuscogee county, about 31,000 ; total 115,000 bales. The total production of these counties was not quite 12,500 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Georgia, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption N umber of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 1,270,597 1,405.092 1, 509,199- 1,329,278 Bales 107 1.016.258 1901-02 381,960 115 1,220, .374 1902-03 417,871 115 1,292,695 1903-04 447.138 116 1,.391,788 1904-05 1,968,260 493,456 119 1,490,138 1905-06 1,729,472 1,632,703 1,860,323 524,199 125 1,587,470 1906-07 538,597 126 1,708,554 1907-08 475,936 129 1,787,696 1900. — The Savannah Cotton Exchange adopted a rule that all sales of cotton in square bales shall be based on packages of standard size ; 21 x 54 inches, and when bales of other dimensions are tendered for delivery an allowance of 25 cents per bale shall be made to the buyer by the seller on such cotton. The Sea-Island Cotton Growers’ Association met at Valdosta in October, and advanced the price of their staple to 23 cents per pound. The first new bale of the season was received at Savannah July 28. In 1899 the first new bale was received July 28; in 1898, July 29'; in 1897, August 2; in 1896, Jul}^ 28; and in 1895, August 12. The “Jackson African Limbless” variety attracted considerable attention, and a stock company was formed to propagate and sell the seed. The prospectus of the company promised the pur- chasers a dividend of 300 per cent., as the company had been “repeatedly offered from $200 to $1,000 a bushel for the seed.” The Director of the Georgia Experiment Station, R. E. Redding, declared that this variety was not an African cotton, but was Welborn’s Pet, a well-known variety at that time. 1901. — The attention of the State Department of Agriculture was called to the prevalence in many sections of the State of a destructive disease known as anthracnose. The Interstate Southern Cotton Growers’ Association was 122 GEORGIA organized in February at Atlanta, with Harvie Jordan, of Monti- cello, as president. James Barrett, vice-president of the State Agricultural Society, stated that in working a one-horse crop of cotton it required two and one-half hands, or five hands to two plows. Or, it would require two hands and a half grown child for each mule. Very few farmers ever made ten bales to the plow. 1902. — The first new bale was received at Savannah on July 22, from Albany. 1903. — The stocks at interior towns at the close of the season, August 31, amounted to only a little over 6,000 bales, the smallest for very man}- years. There were six large cotton mills at Columbus operating 154.000 spindles, 4,000 looms, employing 4,000 hands and paying out $18,450 in wages every week, consuming annually from 40.000 to 50,000 bales of cotton, and representing a capitalization of $2,400,000. 1905. — Early in the spring the Southern Cotton Association began a crusade to reduce the cotton acreage in this and other States. In the fall the Association estimated the crop at 9,650,000 bales. The Southern Cotton Association officials visited Washington for the purpose of protesting against the Agricultural Depart- ment’s estimate of the cotton acreage made June 2. On July 25 the Department revised its acreage, changing the reduction from 11.4 to 14.9 per cent., making a total of 26,999,000 acres planted, or 4,371,000 acres less than that of 1904. This remarkable revision was justified by the Department upon the ground that the Statistician, “Mr. Hyde, with Mr. Holmes at his elbow prompting him, made the estimate higher than the facts at his hand from the reports from the seven classes of reporters employed by the Bureau warranted.” As a result of this, and the exposure of a “leak” in the Bureau’s cotton reports. Statistician Hyde was forced to resign and leave the country, while his assistant. Holmes, was indicted and prosecuted by the government. 1906. - — The Southern Cotton Association (May 31) estimated the area planted in cotton as 27,735,870 acres. The Department of Agriculture’s estimate was 28,686,000 acres, but this was KING COTTON 123 revised the following year to 32,049,000 acres, 3,368,000 acres being added to the original estimate. 1907. — The Legislature passed an act prohibiting speculation in cotton futures. Referring to the effects produced upon sea-island cotton culture by the invention of the sewing machine, W. A. Gordon in an address to the National Association of Cotton Manufac- turers at Boston said: “The invention of the sewing machine worked a revolution in the production of sea-island cotton. It was found that thread made from upland cotton could not stand the jerk of the sewing machine, and it became necessary to find a substitute. The genuine sea-island cotton was too expen- sive and yielded too small a quantity for the uses of the trade. In seeking to meet this demand, it was discovered that the level, sandy pine lands of Georgia (which were not adapted to the A seed used in Florida) would produce a good style of sea-island cotton of a coarser variety. After some experiments, the Carolina planter succeeded in producing a seed known as ‘The Gordon C seed,’ or ‘Gordon Low Bush’ seed, which was very prolific ; produced a staple somewhat coarser and shorter than the island cotton ; gave a yield of one pound of lint to three of seed on the Georgia lands, and yielded per acre nearly as much as upland cotton. This cotton was found to meet exactly the requirements of the thread men, and as it could be produced cheaply, a large acreage in the crop took place.” According to the Census there were 4,567 cotton gins in opera- tion, the average output of each gin being 408 bales. There were 137 cotton-oil mills in the State that consumed 381,399 tons of seed, costing $7,063,509. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $9,992,581. 1908. — “Brown’s Number One ” is the name of a popular variety of cotton seed, propagated after many years of careful experimenting by Marcus L. Brown, of Decatur, Dekalb county. It is an early variety, long limbed, large bolls (5 locks to the boll), is easily picked, and yields a very high percentage of lint. On one acre a Jackson county pla'nter made as much as 3,987 pounds of seed cotton, which turned out at the gin 1,590 pounds of lint. CHAPTER VI Florida, and its Cotton Crops from 1820 to 1908 — Number OF Cotton IMills and Spindles and Domestic Consump- tion OF Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. Captain Robinson, an Englishman who visited the coast of Florida in 1754, says the “cotton tree was growing in that country,’”- and William Roberts, in an “Account of the Discovery and Natural Flistory of Florida,” published in London in 1763, says ; “mulberries, grapes, and olives grow spontaneously, and if 1 am not mistaken, I was told by the Spaniards, they have the cotton tree, being probable enough, as it grows in Georgia in the same climate, not many miles distant.” There is another statement (1766) that “Cotton also grows wild here in great abundance,”' but what section of Florida is alluded to is uncertain, for Spanish Florida at that time embraced all the territory bounded on the north by 39° 38' north latitude, on the east by Altamaha river, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and on the west by Louisiana or the Mississippi river. The same authority says that in 1763 cotton was “so plentiful that most of the civilized inhabitants are clothed of manufacture of that natural production.” Cotton was undoubtedly cultivated in 1765, for William Stork® gives this extract from a letter written from St. Augustine (May 1765) to a friend in London : “I am informed by a gentle- man living upon St. John’s that the lands on that river below Piccolata, are, in general, good ; and that there is now growing good wheat, Indian corn, indigo and cotton.” There are no available records showing the production of cotton in Florida prior to its acquisition by the United States in 1819, but it is probable that it was cultivated to some extent from ^ The Cotton Plant. Dept, of Agriculture. 2 Universal History; London edition, 1766. ^ Description of East Florida; 17C5. 124 KING COTTON 125 the date of its introduction. The adaptability of the soil and climate, to the production of a superior quality of sea-island cotton, was known not many years after this variety was success- fullv introduced in Georgia, and it was profitably cultivated the first years of the last century by English settlers from the Bahama Islands. Speaking of the rich swamp lands of Florida (1812) Stoddard^ says: "They produced large crops of rice, and in some instances the best cotton, corn and indigo in the country. ^^Tst Florida, as already hinted, exhibits the greatest fertility. The country produces plenty of indigo, flax and tobacco, but cotton is now the staple crop.” In the decade 1820-30 the production increased from 1,500 to 10,000 bales. In the next two decades it increased from 33,000 to 50,000 bales. The largest crops produced prior to the Civil l\’ar were 65,000 bales in 1855, and about the same quantity in 1859. Beginning with a production of 40,766 bales the flrst year after the war (1866), the largest crop made in each succeeding decade until 1900, was as follows: 1870-1880, 75,000 bales; 1880- 1890, 78,000 bales; 1890-1900, 65,000 bales. The largest crop in the history of the State was 78,838 bales, produced in 1904. Co.M.MERCI.\L CoTTOX CROPS OF FLORIDA, 1820-1829 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1820-21 1.500 2.500 3,000 4.500 6.500 1825-26 7.500 10,000 7.000 6.000 5,787 1821-22 1826-27 1822-23 1827-28 1823-24 1828-29 1824-25 1829-30 1822. — In 1822, Mr. Anderson, an enterprising planter from South Carolina, had 40 or 50 hands employed in raising cotton at the Orange Grove plantation on Flalifax river, within 4 miles of Pelican Islands. “The planters upon Tomoca river and its vicinity,” says Mgnoles,' “are almost wholly English settlers from the Bahamas, who, quitting those sterile rocks, came hither to avail themselves of a better soil; all of them have prospered, and several have ^ History of Louisiana. " Obser\-ations Upon the Floridas. 126 FLORIDA become very rich by raising sea-island cotton, which for some years previous to this period (1822) well repaid their labors. The resident gentlemen on Amelia, Talbot and Ft. George Islands, at Pablo, Matanzas and at Tomoco, have cultivated it for many years and their brands have ever commanded the first prices in the markets of Savannah and Charleston, particularly those of our respected delegate, Joseph M. Hernandez, Esq., from his plantation. Mala Compra, at Matanzas, of which, by the way, it may be remarked that the soil (high hammock) is now as white and as sandy as the beach of the Atlantic, and yet most luxuriant crops are annually produced. Here, and at other plantations, exists a practice of cutting down the old cotton stalks and suffer- ing the shoots therefrom to spring up, which yield with but little trouble a cotton no way inferior to the first crop ; this is called ‘ratoon cotton.’ ” 182-1. — “Cotton was planted as early as 1824,” said the Ameri- can Farmer (1825), “how extensively is a question. In November, 1824, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, while in Washington, and then Secretary of War, received some samples of cotton from John Gamier, Esq., of Santa Rosa, accompanied with the following memoranda; No. 1 — from sea-island seed. No. 2 — from Mississippi and Mexican seed. No. 3 — from Mexi- can, or white seed. No. 4 — from Mississippi seed. These cotton samples had been sent to P. T. Jackson of the Waltham Manufac- tory to examine and give his opinion upon, and were then sent to Washington. It was pronounced to be as good as the other cottons of the country, except it was not quite so strong in fiber.” 1825. — Samples of sea-island cotton of Florida growth and produced in the western portion of the State, were exhibited at Pensacola and pronounced to be equal to that produced elsewhere. The crops in the eastern portion of the State were almost destroyed by the caterpillar. It was estimated that 300 bales of sea-island cotton would be raised this year in the “Little River Settlement.” 1827. — David B. McComb, in a letter from near Tallahassee (written at the request of Gov. Wm. P. DuVal for the informa- tion of a proposed Swiss Colony to Florida and Alabama), said: KING COTTON 127 “The two grand and important staples of the territory of Florida, are sea-island, or long staple cotton and sugar-cane. * * The staples of indigo, rice and cotton of South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia are thrown in the shade when compared with the abundant crops of these staples in Florida.” The Pensacola Gazette estimated that 50,000 bales of cotton, during the season 1827-28, would go to Apalachicola from the country bordering the Chattahoochee, Flint and Apalachicola rivers. Commercial Cotton Crops op Florida, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop 1830-31 13.073 1831-32 11,321 1832-33 10.714 1833-34 15.774 1834-35 20.021 Year Total Crop 1835-36 19.940 1836-37 20.926 1837-38 26.543 1838-39 25.059 1839-40 33,359 1830. — The cotton-worm caused considerable damage to the crop in Leon and adjacent counties. 1831. — The cotton- worm damaged the crop in the northern part of the State. Capt. Pascal Sheffield, of Southport, Conn., and a nephew of the Capt. Robert Sheffield who initiated the export cotton busi- ness from Charleston, South Carolina, about the beginning of the last century, during this year took out the first cargo of cotton from Apalachicola to Liverpool “in his good ship ‘Warsaw.’ ” 1834. — Three varieties of cotton were planted in the middle section of the State ; the common green seed originally from India, the Mexican, and the sea-island. 1838. — The crop was injured by the caterpillar. In Leon county it appeared early in August. Col. W’hitner said : “The second brood stripped the plants by the 20th of September and were so numerous that, after devouring the entire foliage, they barked the limbs and stalks and ate out bolls nearly grown.” 1839’. — Of the 20 counties reported in the Census, 7 did not produce cotton. The counties of largest production were : Leon, Jefferson, Gadsden, Jackson and Madison. 128 FLORIDA Commercial Cotton Crops of Florida, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1840-41 23.388 28,604 40,272 21.845 47,173 1845-46 28,913 31,963 38,444 50,037 45,131 1841-42 1846-47 1842-43 1847-48 1843-44 1848-49 1S44-45 1849-60 1840. — jMcCarty obtained a patent for a sea-island cotton gin with a roller 4 inches in diameter and 3 feet long, dressed with leather arranged spirally around it. The roller revolved over and in loose contact with a plate of sheet iron. The cotton was re- ceived and drawn in between the two, and the seed separated by means of a thin steel bar placed horizontally and operating ver- tically in front of the roller and with great rapidity. This gin came into general use and was popular with sea-island planters for many years. A gin costing $100 and propelled by one horse would clean from 150 to 200 pounds a day. In the northern part of the State the caterpillar damaged the crop. In many localities not more than half a crop was made. 1841. — There was a loss of about 20 per cent, of the crop in INIadison and Leon counties on account of the ravages of the caterpillar. 1843. — During the period 1833-1843 the Government sold 441,566 acres of land in this State. 1844. — The boll-worm made its appearance, and caused some damage, but notwithstanding a larger crop than usual was gathered. 1845. — Florida was admitted into the Union IMarch 3. 1846. — The caterpillar caused considerable loss .to the crop throughout the State. Perhaps the first experiment made with negro labor in a cotton mill was undertaken this year at Arcadia, a short distance from Pensacola. The Pensacola Gazette said of this mill : “The building is 94 x 38 feet, two stories high, with 960 spindles, 40 operators, all black girls, from 15 to 20 years, most of whom are married and who look happy and contented with their vocation. They are comfortably lodged, well fed, well clothed, and kindly treated.” The mill also contained 24 looms and made twills and other cotton goods. WEIGHING COTTON AFTER THE DAY’S PICKING. Courtesy of A. Simon, iMonticello, Fla. KING COTTON 129 1849. — Frosts about the middle of April damaged the young crop. Dr. David L. White stated that the average yield per acre was 800 pounds, and per hand from 3 to 4 bales. The Petit Gulf variety was preferred. The seed for sea-island cotton was obtained from South Carolina. The Census returns from Leon county showed the largest total production, 16,107 bales of 400 pounds each. Commercial Crops axd- Consumption of Cotton in Florida, L‘^50-18.o9 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption i'iumber of Mills Number of Spindles 18.50-51 Bales 44,863 Bales 406 No data No data 1851-52 57,143 542 do do 1852-53 62,442 728 do do 1853-54 56,205 670 do do 1854-55 52,000 614 do do 1855-56 65,000 625 do do 1856-57 56.545 701 do do 1857-58 59,5.38 646 do do 1858-59 48.606 713 do do 1859-60 65.1.53 435 1 1,600 1850. — The area in cotton was considerably increased. There were 21 miles of railway in operation in the State this year. 1852. — The crop of Leon county was injured this year by the caterpillar. 1854. — John Finlayson, of Jefferson county, estimated the average yield per acre for ten years throughout Middle Florida, at 250 pounds of lint. The cost of production and carriage to market he put at about $4.50 per hundred pounds. 1855. — W. P. Wright, a cotton broker of New York, in a circular said : “Uplands, and particularly Florida’s, are both good in staple and color and remarkably clean and free from leaf. They seem to be properly appreciated, almost for the first time, in Liverpool. I have seen samples of sales at % pence per pound more than the same grade of Orleans, owing to the supe- rior staple and freedom from leaf.” “This mention of our Florida cotton,” said a correspondent of the Floridan, “is the first compli- mentary notice of the kind I ever saw from such a quarter, and 9 130 FLORIDA shows we can make as good cotton as in an}' part of the cotton region.” On one of Gen. Bailey's plantations in Jefferson County, from 320 acres there were gathered and sent to market 364 bales, the lightest of which weighed not under 450 pounds. 1859. — Leon county showed the highest total production, 16,686 bales of 400 pounds each. The Florida Central Railroad, now the Seaboard Air Line, from Jacksonville to Lake City (60 miles) was chartered in 1851 and opened this year. Commercial Cotton Crops of Florida, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1860-61 46,557 No data do do rlo 1865-66 No data 40,776 56,612 36,014 39,789 1661-62 1866-67 1862-63 1867-68 1863-64 1868-69 1S64-65 1860-70 1860. — There were 402 miles of railway in operation this year. 1866. — The amount of the tax on cotton collected by the Fed- eral Government was $97,488 ; in 1867, $499,645 ; and in 1868, $321,812. The Florida Branch of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad, now the Plant System, was built in 1867-68. The northern counties lost much of the crop on account of the caterpillar. 1869. — Leon made the largest crop of any county in the State, 6,518 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Florida, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 60.000 Bales No data No data No data 1871-72 40,000 do do do 1872-73 60,000 do do do 1873-74 75,000 do do do 1874-75 55.000 60.000 do do do 1875-76 268 do do 1876-77 55,000 254 do do 1877-78 50,000 302 372 do do 1878-79 39.255 do do 1879-80 54,997 350 1 816 KING COTTON 131 1870. — There were 146 miles of railway in operation this year. 1872. — The crop was considerably damaged by the caterpillar. 1873. — In Jefferson, Taylor, Madison, Suwanee, Hamilton and Columbia counties “the damage from caterpillars was enormous.” A Taylor county correspondent stated that “the caterpillars have nearly stopped cotton culture in this county.” 1876. — A few counties reported damage by the caterpillar. In Jefferson and IMadison counties the crops were badly injured. 1878. — The cotton- worm made its appearance this year, but the damag'e was not great. 1879. — The Department’s estimate of damage from the cotton- worm, from 1865 to 1878 inclusive, was 49,700 bales. Jefferson county returns showed the largest total production, 10,368 bales, and Levy the highest yield per acre, 0.34 of a bale. CO.M.MERCIAL CrOPS AND CONSUMPTION OF CoTTON IN Florida, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 79,394 Bales 112 No data No data 1881-82 43.000 144 do do 1882-83 62,000 158 do do 1883-84 58,900 168 do do 1884-85 57,300 158 do do 1885-86 73,837 194 do do 1886-87 59,332 190 1 816 1887-88 66,179 No data No data No data 1888-89 68,543 do do do 1889-90 57,298 do do do 1880. — The largest crop to date, 79,394 bales, was produced this year. There were 518 miles of railway in operation this year. 1881. — Boll-worms, according to the Department of Agricul- ture, destroyed 4,077 bales of cotton. 1882. — The early part of the season was marked by the presence of cotton lice, to some extent, especially in the North Atlantic region. In June and July cut-worms made necessary considerable replanting in the eastern part of the State. These insects attracted especial attention in Gadsden county. 1883. — The Pensacola & Atlantic R. R., now the Louisville & Nashville, from Pensacola to River Junction (161 miles), where 132 FLORIDA it connects with the Seaboard Air Line, was chartered in 1881 and completed February 1. 1881. — Considerable damage was done by the boll-worm. A Board of Trade was organized at Jacksonville February 7. The South Florida R. R., now the Plant System, from Sand- ford to Tampa (115 miles) was chartered in 1879 and completed February 10. The Jacksonville, Pensacola, & Mobile R. R., now the Sea- board Air Line, from Lake City to the Chattahoochee river, was built about 1884. 1886. — The Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West R. R., from Jacksonville to Sanford (125 miles) was opened during February. 1888. — The rich phosphate deposits of Florida were opened this year. 1889. — Jefferson county census returns show the largest acre- age in cotton and also the highest total production, 9,776 bales. The Florida Central & Peninsular R. R., now the Seaboard Air Line, from Jacksonville to the Chattahoochee river (209 miles), where it connects with the Louisville & Nashville R. R. ; and from Fernandina to Cedar Keys (154 miles), was chartered in 1889. The old Florida Railroad, between Fernandina and Cedar Keys was opened in 1861. Commercial Cotton Crops of Florida, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1890-91 53.000 189.5-96 38,722 1891-92 65,000 1896-97 48,730 1892-98 45.000 1897-98 1893-94 55.000 1898-99 35.064 1894-95 50.729 1899-00 56,821 1890. — The Georgia, Southern, & Florida R. R., from Palatka to Macon (285 miles), was chartered in 1885 and opened March 1. There were 2, 489% miles of railway in operation this year. 1894. — There were mined in the State this year 589,174 tons of phosphate. 1896. — The State Experiment Station recommended the fol- lowing as an excellent fertilizer to be applied per acre, on KING COTTON 133 comparatively fertile soil; 100 pounds of acid phosphate, contain- ing at least 14 per cent, of available phosphoric acid ; 100 pounds of upland cotton-seed meal; 50 pounds of Kainit. This applica- tion, it said, should serve to produce a good yield, while, at the same time, the fertility of the soil will be maintained. The average cost of raising upland cotton this year, as ascer- tained by the Department of Agriculture, was 5.35 cents, and of sea-island cotton 11.13 cents per pound. 1899. — According to the Census returns, Aladison county made the largest crop, the yield being 11,077 bales, 8,983 of which were sea-island and 2,094 upland cotton. There were 3,234 miles of railway in operation this year. The Atlantic, Valdosta, & Western Railway from Jackson- ville, via Crawford to Valdosta, Ga. (115 miles), was chartered November, 1897, and opened on June 15. There were 236 cotton gins in operation in 1899 ; 246 in 1900, and 272 in 1901. According to the Census the average output of each gin each season was, respectively, 241, 226 and 210 bales. The average cost of ginning and baling upland cotton in 1899 was $1.62, and of sea-island cotton $3.78 per bale. The total area devoted to cotton this year was 221,829 acres. Of this, 99,036 acres were planted in upland and 122,793 acres in sea-island cotton. The yield from this land was 14,940,617 pounds of (lint) upland, and 12,056,267 pounds (lint) of sea- island cotton, or an average yield for both of 122 pounds to the acre. The largest area in any single county, 29,508 acres, was reported by Jackson county. The sea-island cotton crop this year, 31,238 bales, was the largest ever produced in the State, and exceeded the production of upland cotton by 5,655 bales. The sea-island crop was now almost twice as large as it was twenty years ago. Commercial Cotton Crops of Florida, ICOO-ICOS Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1900- 01 1901- 02 55,696 59,144 67,287 58,752 1904- 05 1905- 06 87,525 78,838 61,473 56,668 1902-03 1906-07 1903-04 1907-08 134 FLORIDA 1900. — There were mined in the State this year 709,423 tons of phosphate. 1901. — Pensacola began to attract attention as a cotton export- ing port, and buildings were erected for handling cotton. 1902. — The following are the cotton shipments from some of the largest cotton markets in the State during the season: Jack- sonville, 2,966 bales ; Alachua, 3,093 ; Marianna, 4,538 ; Monti- cello, 4,928; Gainesville, 5,503; Madison 5,761; and Tallahassee, 5,784 bales. 1903. — The stocks at interior towns at the close of the season, August 31, were the smallest ever known, consisting of less than 500 bales. The sea-island crop this year was the smallest in some years, amounting to only 23,995 bales. 1907. — According to the Census there were 259 cotton gins in operation, the average output of each gin being 219 bales. There were 5 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 8,699 tons of seeds, costing $155,625. The value of the products, in- cluding linters, was $237,627. 1908. — The Sea-Island Cotton Association of Georgia and Florida held a conference at Jacksonville and organized a com- pany with a capital of $250,000, to warehouse, handle and finance the sea-island crop each year. CHAPTER Vn Alabama, and its Cotton Chops from 1807 to 1908 — Num- ber OF Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Con- sumption OF Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. It is almost impossible to fix upon any definite time when cotton culture was first introduced into Alabama. Even before the Revolutionary War, and during the occupancy of the Mobile territory by the French there were some well cultivated planta- tions along- the Tensas river, and also on the Tombigbee just above its confluence with the Alabama river. Pickett^ says that in 1728 the Louisiana colony, which then occupied lands in the southern part of [Mississippi and Alabama, was in a flourishing condition, its fields being well cultivated, by more than 2,000 slaves, in cotton, indigo, tobacco and grain. M'hether cotton cultivation at this time was carried on in the Mobile territory is unknown, but it is reasonably certain that in 1772 it was produced, for machines for separating the lint from the seed were then in use. One of these machines is thus described by Roman “It is a strong frame of four studs, each about four feet high and joined above and below by strong traverse pieces. Across this are placed two well-polished iron spindles, having a small groove through their whole length, and by means of treadles, are put in opposite motions. The workman sits behind the frame, with a thin board before him on which is placed the cotton, thinly spread, which the rollers receive. The lint goes through the rollers, and the seed falls down in a separate pile. The French population have much improved upon this plan, by a large wheel which turns two of these mills with so much velocity that 70 pounds of clean cotton can be made every day.” A Mr. Krebs, who lived on the Pascagoula river, not very far ^ History of Alabama. - History of Florida. 135 136 ALABAMA from the French settlements, owned one of these improved machines and claimed to be its inventor. It was perhaps the best contrivance for cleaning cotton then in use, bnt the method of packing it for market was extremely primitive. i\Ir. Krebs resorted to suspending a canvas bag between pine trees and treading down the cotton until the bag contained “almost 300 weight.” Beginning with 1800 emigrants poured into the country which had been ceded by Georgia (1798) to the government. Many went from North Carolina to Knoxville ; there flatboats were con- structed and floated down the Tennessee river to INIuscle Shoals, “where they disembarked,” says Pickett, “at the house of Double Head, a Cherokee Chief. Placing their effects upon the horses, which they had brought down by land from Knoxville, they departed on foot for the ‘Bigbee Settlement’ about St. Stephens. After a fatiguing march they reached the residence of Levi Col- bert, a celebrated Chickasaw chief, who gave them the necessary directions. Pursuing their journey, they came upon the Tombig- bee, at the cotton gin which had not long been erected by the Federal Government to encourage the Chickasaws in the cultivation of the great staple.” About the same time (1802) two brothers from New England who went to the Boat Yard on Lake Tensas “pursued the business of weaving — a profitable employment in those days.” They estab- lished a cotton g'in at the Boat Yard, the first in that part of the country, now Baldwin county. Six months prior to this (April, 1802) Abram Mordecia, a Jewish Indian trader, procuring the consent of the Creek Chiefs, had established a cotton gin at Weatherford’s race track on the eastern bluff below the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa. It was built by Lyons and Barnett, of Georgia, who brought their tools, gin saws and other materials, from that State on pack-horses. The same enterprising mechanics also built a gin for the Pierces, and another at McIntosh Bluff upon the Tombigbee (in Washington county). The Indians cultivated cotton at this time, and Abram Mordecai bought it from them, ginned it, and carried it to Augusta, Ga., on pack-horses, “in bags much smaller than those of the present day.” Mordecai’s gin was afterwards burned by KING COTTON 137 the Chief of the Coosawclas and “a pretty squaw was the cause of the destruction of the first cotton gin in Alabama.’’ In 1809 there were some extensive and wealthy settlements about Ft. Stoddard, and the large islands formed by the Mobile and Tensas rivers “yielded large crops of cotton.’’^ During the decade, 1800-1810, Alabama was so sparsely settled that cotton production was necessarily small. The records show that in 1807 only about 500 bales were produced. The following year the production increased to 1,000 and in 1809 to 1,500 bales. The next decade, 1810-1820, the country was rapidly settled, particularly after the treaty of peace with the Creek Indians in 181-1, and by the end of the decade the population numbered about 128,000. Meanwhile the cotton crops increased from 2,000 to 68,500 bales. It was during this decade that its culture was introduced in Madison county (18C6) and upon the rich bottom •lands of the Tennessee river. In 1817 Gen. Andrew Jackson owned a large plantation oir the Tennessee, in Lawrence county, which was cultivated in corn and cotton by about 60 slaves. - During the decade, 1820-1830, the production increased from 75.000 to 163,000 bales. The increase in the three succeeding decades was as follows : 1830-1840, from 187,000 to 391,000 ; 1840-1850, from 301,000 to 596,000; 1850-1860, from 575,000 to 990.000 bales, the latter being the largest crop produced prior to the Civil War. In the decade, 1840-1850, Alabama was the largest cotton producing state in the Union. The first crop produced after the Civil War (1866) was 296.000 bales, which was larger than that of any other State ex- cept Mississippi. This was almost exactly the quantity produced in 1838. It required twenty-four years for the State to make as large a crop as that of 1859. The increase in production during the decades from 1870 to 1900 was as follows: 1870-1880, from 645,000 to 700,000 bales; 1880-1890, from 842,000 to 915,000; 1890-1900, from 1,011,000 to 1,176,000 bales. The largest produced crop in the history of the State was 1,462,000 bales in 1904. The Census of 1879 showed an area planted in cotton amount- ^ History of Louisiana; Stoddard. - Letters from Alabama; Anne Royall, 1830. 138 ALABAMA ing to 2,330,000 acres, and the Department of Agriculture 3.733.000 in 1906, which is an increase of 1,403,000 acres or 60 per cent, since 1879. The production according to the Census, was 700,000 bales in 1879', and 1,253,000 in 1906, an increase of 553.000 bales, or 79 per cent, since 1879, the increase in produc- tion being 19 per cent, greater than the increase in area. Commercial Cotton Crops of Alabama, 1807-1819 Year Total Crop 1807-08 500 1808-09 1,000 1809-10 1,500 1810-11 2,000 1811-12 5,000 1812-1.3 7,000 1813-14 10,000 Year Total Crop 1814-15 15,120 1815-16 38,422 1816-17 40,000 1817-18 41,233 1818-19 56,929 1819-20 68.500 1809. — In regard to the country on the Mobile river, which was at this time a part of West Florida, Stoddard says: “The IMobile affords a boat navigation of 350 miles; and coasting vessels may ascend above the line of demarcation, to Ft. Stoddard, about which we have some extensive and wealthy settlements. Just below this line, the river is separated into two or three channels, forming in its progress several large islands, one of which is about 30 miles long, and 8 miles broad, yielding large crops of cotton.” 1814. — A great influx of population and clearing up of lands for cotton planting, followed the treaty of peace with the Creek Indians made at Fort Jackson, August 9. 1817. — ^On March 1, of this year Alabama Territory was organized, its lands being taken from the eastern portion of the Mississippi Territory. As illustrating the rapid occupation of new cotton lands at this time, a traveler who had occasion to go from Nashville to Savannah in January, declared that on the way he fell in with crowds of emigrants from Carolina and Georgia all bound for the cotton lands of Alabama ; that their place of meeting was Burnt Corn, Monroe county ; that he counted the flocks and wagons, carts, sleighs, gigs, coaches, and that all told, there were two hundred and seven conveyances, twenty-nine herds of cattle, twenty-seven droves of hogs, and more than 3,800 people. KING COTTON 139 The cotton receipts at Mobile for several years were as follows : 1817, 7,000 bales ; 1818, 10,000 bales ; 1819, 16,000 bales ; 1820, 25,390 bales ; 1821, 44,000 bales ; 1822, 45,000 bales ; 1823, 43,732 bales. 1818. — The Government realized this year more than $3,000,000 from the sale of lands at public auction. At the Huntsville sale a planter bought a quarter-section of cotton land for which he paid $127 an acre. Three steamboats were built for the river trade, one to ply between Blakely and New Orleans and two for the up-river trade north of Blakely. Extraordinary prices were paid for Alabama cotton, some grades fetching 34 cents. Anne Royall visited Gen. Andrew Jackson’s cotton plantation on the Tennessee river, in Lawrence county. It was worked by 60 slaves. The land was so productive that large quantities of cotton were burned in the fields for want of hands to get it out of the way of the plow. The plants measured 6J^ feet high. An expert hand picked about 100 pounds per day. A saw gin, and the old style wood screw press were used. 1819. — Alabama was admitted into the Union December 14th. Commercial Cotton Crops of Alabama, 1820-1829 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1820-21 75,000 91,942 70,240 94,261 114,921 1825-26 160,454 144,231 118,619 132,808 163,321 1821-22 1826-27 1822-23 . . . 1827-28. . 1823-24 1828-29 1824-25 1829-30 1821. — The usual toll for ginning at this time was one-twelfth of the cotton. J. R. Bedford, a Florence correspondent of the American Farmer, described “a valuable improvement as an appendage to cotton gins, which operated as a screen and fan, separating trash and dirt from the cotton, as a wheat fan separates the chaff from the wheat.” It had recently been brought into use, he said, in the the vicinity of Natchez, and with the use of Carver’s gin the cotton in that neighborhood had acquired a reputation as superior 140 ALABAMA to that of Louisiana. Ten years before its introduction, the Natchez cotton was esteemed no better than Georgia upland or than good Tennessee, and 2 cents inferior to Red river cotton, but during the last season it commanded 2 to 4 cents more than Red river, and 3 to 6 and 7 cents more than Alabama and Tennessee cotton. An item in the Huntsville Republican stated that “the Big- Bend of the Tennessee river produced about 30,000 bales of cotton, and it was understood that more than usual would be packed in Scotch bagging, instead of Kentucky, which was growing into disrepute among the planters. In canvassing the county, the Tax Assessor of Madison county ascertained that there were 149 cotton gins in operation at which 20,088 bales were ginned and pressed, averaging 300 pounds each. 1822. — As much as a bale of cotton to the acre was produced on the best lands in the Tennessee Valley counties. Limestone county produced 6,000 bales of cotton of 350 pounds each, on 11,385 acres. There were 1,394 spinning wheels and 469 looms that made 11,445 yards of cloth. 1824. — For the first time the cotton crop exceeded 100,000 bales. A statement appeared in the Huntsville Democrat (April 20) that letters patent had been granted to George D. Diggs “for the application of the oil of cotton seed to all the purposes for which linseed oil was used, giving him the exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to others to be used, the said improvement.” 1825. — It was estimated that 80,000 bales of the crop of this year would be shipped from Mobile Bay. The crop of North Alabama and Tennessee for this year was estimated at 80,000 bales. Greater damage than ever known was done by an invasion of the caterpillar. A correspondent in Conecuh county placed the loss at 90 per cent, of the crop in that part of the State. 1826. — The export of cotton from the State this season was estimated at 125,000 bales, of which the northern portion pro- duced 50,000 and the southern, 75,000 bales. KING COTTON 141 1827. — On account of drought, thi.s was said to have been the most disastrous season to crops since the settlement of the State. The yield was estimated at only about one-half of an ordinary crop. Rot for the first time made its appearance in the cotton fields of North Alabama. The abnormally high price of hemp bagging and rope stimu- lated planters to encourage the manufacture and use of cotton bagging and rope. Some of the planters living at Huntsville ordered from a manufacturer at Nashville 25,000 yards, and the planters of Adams county, iMiss., ordered 20,000 yards, at 23 cents per yard. A correspondent of the American Farmer advocating the encouragement of manufactures in the South said : “It is computed that North Alabama consumes 300,000 yards of cotton bagging annually, at an average expense of $100,000, which large amount is principally paid to the Kentucky manufacturer in money.” 1828. — In the light of the subsequent history of the cotton industry, this was the rather curious advice offered planters by the editor of the Huntsville Advocate : “The supposed consump- tion of the whole of Europe and the United States is estimated at 1,250,000 bales. Take then the crop of the United States for the year 1826-27 — it was 957,281 bales — and let it increase in the same ratio for three succeeding years — from 569,240 bales in 1824-25 to 957,281 in 1826-27, and it will be more than sufficient to supply the whole demand of the consumers, without taking into consideration the large quantities raised in South America, the West Indies and other places. It is vain to answer this by saying that the consumption of cotton goods will increase in proportion to the growth of the raw material ; experience has proved the contrary.” The editor therefore urged the planters to “raise more of the necessities of life, etc.” Commercial Cotton Crops of Alabama, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop is.3n-31 187,164 18.3.5-36 275,522 l,S.31-.32 191,760 1836-37 278,813 1832-3.3 201.98.5 18.37-38 .361,782 1833-34 211 408 1838-39 296 011 1834-35 237.690 1839-40 391 ,495 142 ALABAMA 1831. — The cotton worm damaged the crops in the southern part of the State. The construction of the first railroad in the State, and the third in the Southern States, between Decatur and Tuscumbia, a distance of 46 miles, was begun this year. The object of this road was to afford transportation around the Muscle Shoals then obstructing the navigation of the Tennessee river. At first, the track was laid with wooden rails, and tram cars pulled by mules were used to transport cotton and other freight. The road was not completed until 1837. Afterwards it became a part of the INIemphis & Charleston Railroad. .\t this time there was a canal in operation connecting Hunts- ville with the Tennessee river. 1832. — The crop for the first time exceeded 200,000 bales. The Bell factory, located on Flint river, 12 miles north of Huntsville, was built this year. It was the first cotton mill constructed in the State. The buildings are at present in a good state of preservation, but the mill has been idle for some years. 1833. — Great sales of public lands were begun this year. The number of acres sold in the State for several years was as follows: 1833, 451,319'; 1834, 1,072,457; 1835, 1,587,007; 1836, 1,901,409 ; 1837, 381,773 ; the total for the five years being 5,393,965 acres. About this time a cotton-seed-oil mill was in operation in IMobile. Daniel Pratt began building' gins on Autauga Creek, four miles west of Washington landing, and 13 miles west of Mont- gomery. From 1833 to 1846 he had manufactured a little over 5,000 gin stands. He sold them in Alabama, Tennessee, IMississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas and some in Mexico, at from $3 to $4 per saw, according to the quality of each stand. 1835. — The following was the range of prices for cotton in IMobile for each year named : 1835-6, 14% to 16% cents ; 1836-7, lO % to 16 cents ; 1837-8, 7% to 12% cents ; 1838-9, 12% to 15% cents ; 1839-40, 8% to 8% cents ; 1840-1, 8% to 11% cents ; 1841-2, 7% to 10 cents ; 1842-3, 5% to 8 cents. Extensive speculations in the sales of cotton lands. KING COTTON 143 In May of this year middling upland cotton at Mobile was quoted as high as 20 cents per pound. 1836. — The cotton worm was particularly destructive in Greene county this year. 1837. — At this period a steamboat named the “Ben Sherrod” was plying between Florence and New Orleans, its chief cargo to New Orleans consisting of cotton. The crop for the first time exceeded 300,000 bales. 1838. — The cotton crop of North Alabama was estimated at 80.000 bales, and that of South Alabama at 250,000 bales, averaging 450 pounds each. The Tuscaloosa Manufacturing Co., owned a cotton mill at Scottsville in Bibb County, the capacity of which was increased from 500 to 700 spindles. It employed 20 hands, and one of the principal owners was D. Scott. The crop was seriously injured by drought and the cotton worm. An improved variety of cotton discovered at this time was described as growing much taller than the common plant, having a number of short lateral branches, only 4 or 5 inches in length and bearing twin pods or clusters of 6 to 7 pods on each branch. It was said to be finer than other short staples, commanded 4 or 5 cents more, and was more prolific. The plant was said to resemble okra, and in rich land grew to a height of 8 or 9 feet. A canal was constructed ■ along the Muscle Shoals of the Tennessee river, and opened this year. The following year from 30.000 to 40,000 bales of cotton passed through it on the way to New Orleans. 1839. — It cost the planter $12.15 to market a 420-pound bale of cotton at Mobile this year, and this did not include insurance. It cost $6.00 additional to land the cotton at Liverpool, making the total cost on both sides $18.15. According to the Census there were 14 cotton mills in the State operating 1,502 spindles. During the decade 1830-1840 the smallest receipts at Mobile were 17,216 bales in 1831, and the largest 76,458 bales in 1834. . 144 ALABAMA Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Alabama, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1840-41 • Bales 301,137 290,462 407,576 .3.39,806 443,657 363,451 283,401 406,141 596.000 564,429 Bales 1841-42 1842-43 1843-44 1844-45 1845-46 do 1846-47 1847-48 5.000 7.000 5,208 1848-49 1849-50 12 16,960 1840. — Dr. N. B. Cloud, of Montgomery county, witnessing the injury to the cotton lands as a result of the common methods of culture, began a series of experiments in the preparation and artificial fertilization of the soil. In 1842, he grew upon a single acre of poor sandy pine land, nearly 6,000 pounds of seed cotton. Barnyard manure was used and the plants set 3 feet apart each way. There were said to be over 300 steamboat landings on the rivers emptying into Mobile Bay from which cotton was shipped to the Mobile market. Forty-six miles of railway were in operation in the State this year. 1842. — In the month of March middling upland cotton was c|uoted at 4% cents per pound in Mobile. Eugene McCaa, of Linden, Marengo county, in a letter to the Department of Agriculture, said: “My father made 17 bales of cotton, which was shipped to Mobile and sold by Reeves, Battle & Co., for 3^ cents per ‘pound. Freight $1.00, warehouse charges 25 cents, wharfage, storage and everything in Mobile, 25 cents per bale. Commissions for selling, 21/2 per cent.” The crop for the first time exceeded 400,000 bales. 1843. — The first bale of new cotton was received at Mont- gomery August 16th and sold for 8^ cents a pound. Long continued rains and boll-worms damaged the crop. From 1833 to 1843, inclusive, there were 6,163,465 acres of government lands sold in Alabama. During the same period the cotton crop of the State increased nearly 100 per cent. AN OLD TIME GIN HOUSE AND SCREW I’RESS. Courtesy of W. L. l.)unn, I’inelops, N. C. KING COTTON 145 The following was the range of prices for cotton at Mobile for each year named : — 1843-4, 6^ to 8% cents ; 1844-5 4% to 6^ cents ; 1845-6, 6^ to 8% cents ; 1846-7, 9 to 11% cents ; 1847-8, 5% to 7% cents; 1848-9, 5 to 7 cents; 1849-50, 10 to 12 cents ; 1850-1, 8% to 12 cents. 1844. — An extensive cotton milt was erected at the Tallapoosa Falls near Tallassee. The cotton crop was badly damaged by drought. A drought in 1845 also cut off the yield. In Monroe, Greene and Clarke counties the caterpillar was very destructive. The Southern Advocate, printed at Huntsville, said of the weather conditions and its effect on the crop in North Alabama: “The weather for some time past has Ireen alternately very hot and cool, and remarkably dry. Much injury was done to the crop by worms and the dry weather, the loss being put at one-third.” In the southern part of the State the caterpillar did considerable damage. Nearly 400 bales of new cotton were received at Demopolis, IMarengo county, by August 31st. The IMiig, published at Eutaw, Greene county, noted that good cotton pickers in that neighborhood were gathering 300 pounds each per day. A Cotton Planters’ Convention was held at Montgomery, in April, the object of which was “to consummate an arrangement with the planters of the Southern States, which will diminish the cultivation of cotton, and consequently improve the price.” Five cotton factories were in operation in the State ; one in Lauderdale county, one in iMorgan, and one in Madison. There were two others, one at Scottsville, Bibb county, and one at Tallapoosa Falls, near Tallassee. In answer to a circular sent out this year by the Treasury Department asking as to the manufacturing, commercial and agricultural interests of the States, one of the returns was from a cotton factory located in Tallapoosa county and owned by Barrett & Marks, established in 1845. Its capital was $30,000, upon which was earned a profit of 15 per cent. It employed 30 hands, one-half of them being their own slaves. in 146 ALABAMA During the cotton season ended August 31, Mobile exported 521,996 bales of cotton, a part of which was received from the State of Mississippi. In January of this year middling upland cotton was quoted in Mobile as low as 3^ cents per pound. 1846. — The cotton crops in the black belt region of the State, particularly in the counties of Dallas, Lowndes, Perry and Autauga, were greatly injured in August and September by heavy and continued rains. The caterpillar caused more damage than at any previous time. A Barbour county correspondent stated that after destroy- ing the leaves they ate off the bark of the plant. 1847. — ^A great flood in December destroyed much of the crop in the southern part of the State. Continued rains in the summer and the boll-worm also damaged the crop, particularly in the cane-brake counties where they were very destructive. A Mobile cotton commission merchant, writing to a corre- spondent of the advantages of rope over iron ties, said; “A few years ago, a lot of cotton came to this port with iron hoops, but it was pronounced unmerchantable, because in compressing the hoops had to be taken off and ropes substituted. The planter dis- continued the use of hoops, and no bales have since been received here put up with them. All cotton is pronounced unmerchantable that is wrapped with other than good grass or hemp ropes.” He quoted the price of iron hoops at 7 cents per pound, riveted to suit, say, 2-pound iron rivets, 75 cents per 1,000. He added: “We think the use of iron hoops instead of ropes is not viewed in a favorable light by dealers and shippers of cotton.” 1848. — In May middling upland cotton was quoted in Mobile at 4 cents per pound, and in November at 4J4 cents. The crop for the first time exceeded a half million bales. Heavy rains in July and August, and the appearance of the boll-worm damaged the crop considerably in the central portion of the State. The Petit Gulf and green seed wmre the varieties commonly used. The freight rate on cotton on the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (67 miles) was 9'5 cents per bale of 500 pounds. KING COTTON 147 1849. — A cotton planter adopted this plan to encourage cotton picking: He offered premiums to his pickers every season, such as tobacco, handkerchiefs, molasses, calico dresses, etc., and he found that the extra work paid him large profits on the cost of the premiums. Before adopting the plan, no hand on his planta- tion would pick more than 200 pounds a day, even in a race. After adopting it, some of them for three consecutive weeks averaged 350 pounds a day. J. H. Dent, of Barbour county, reported a series of disasters to the crop, the late frost in April killing the first planting, excessive rains in May, June and July and a sudden and severe drought in August. Two new varieties of seed were introduced, the Banana and Sugar-loaf. The first yielded (on a small scale) 3,000 pounds to the acre, and the latter from extensive planting, 1,200 pounds (seed) per acre, an average of 400 pounds more than the Petit Gulf. The latter variety was regarded in Montgomery county as the best. The average yield per acre in Coosa county, as reported by Samuel S. Graham, was 150 pounds of lint to the acre. The Census returns show that Alabam.a outranked all other States in cotton production. CoM.MERCiAL Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Alabama, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles. 1850-51 Bales 575,080 Bales 4,000 10 12, .580 1851-52 659,668 5,000 No data No data 1852-53 695,434 5,000 do do 1853-54 692,934 6,220 do do 1854-55 590.321 5,704 do do 1855-56 775,939 5,806 do do 1856-57 67F.222 6,.506 do do 1857-58 698,621 7.8;i9 do do 1858—59 738.538 10.187 do do 1859-60 989,955 11,406 14 35,740 1850. — According to De Bow’s Review, the cost and charges to the planter of the Tennessee Valley for shipping and marketing his cotton, were as follows for a bale weighing 500 pounds and valued at $50: — From Whitesburg (the shipping port for Hunts- 148 ALABAMA ville) to Charleston, $6.38; from VVhitesburg to New Orleans, $5.00. John ]\I. Swope, of Lawrence county, estimated the average yield in his county at 180 pounds of lint per acre ; and cost of pro- duction 6 cents, when the same hands cultivate the usual quantity of land in corn, say acres. J. A. Brown, of Talladega county, stated that cotton seed had been found to be of great value as a fertilizer either for wheat, oats or corn. The sub-soil plow was introduced into Lawrence county. There were 183 miles of railway in operation this year. 1851. — ^John H. Dent, of Barbour county, gave the average yield of cotton in his county at 500 pounds to the acre. “It is allowed,” he says, “that it takes 1,600 pounds in the seed to make a bale of 450 pounds of clean cotton.” For the first time the crop exceeded 600,000 bales. There were at Mobile 42 fire-proof brick warehouses, cover- ing 40 acres of ground and capable of storing 310,000 bales of cotton, and ten Tyler and 2 Duval compresses with a capacity of 7,000 bales a day, or 168,000 per month. 1852. — During this year an Association was organized in Marengo county, one of the purposes of which was to collect statistics of the cotton crop. It was believed, the Association said, “that much of the sudden derangement of the price of cotton was attributable to the tardiness with which the amount of the American crop was ascertained, and hence during the early and middle parts of the season, it was in the power of all parties interested to magnify or diminish the estimate as best suited their interests for purchasing from the planter or selling stocks on hand. Hence the Association would organize to report at its meetings : — the rate of consumption ; the stocks of cotton in this and foreign countries ; the actual amount of cotton planted and gathered in each of the beats of the county, and that of the pre- ceding year. In the absence of any organized plan by which the crop can be known until the end of the commercial year planters are kept in suspense, as to the amount of the crop, the relation of supply and demand, and the uncertainty of higher or lower prices. Finally in the state of confusion, they look to the news- KING COTTON 149 paper statements and without aii}^ calculation or data whatever, based on facts, order their crops to be sold.” 1854. — The \\Tstern Railway of Alabama from Selma to West Point, Ga. (138 miles), was chartered in 1834, and opened from INIontgomery to West Point in 1854. The line from Montgomery to Selma was opened in 1870. J. H. Forman, of Chambers county, estimated the average yield in his county at 175 pounds of lint to the acre. 1855. — T. T. Pratt, of Cherokee county, estimated the aver- age yield of cotton in his county at 600 to 800 pounds of seed, or ‘250 to 400 pounds of lint. He put the cost of cultivation, preparing it for market, and transportation to Rome, Ga., at 8 cents per pound. The freight by water from Centre to Rome was 15 to 20 cents per 100 pounds, and the price at Rome 7 to 8 cents per pound. The crop for the first time exceeded 700,000 bales. An Alabama cotton planter invented and obtained a patent for a “cotton leaf and boll picker.” 1856. — The JMarion & Catawba Railroad (now the Southern Ry.), from Elizabeth to Akron (61 miles), was chartered in 1851 and opened this year. George G. Henry, of Mobile, invented a machine for spinning cotton on the plantation, the machine to be attached to the gin. De Bow’s Review referred to it as a machine “for the manufac- ture of seed cotton into improved yarns.” A similar machine called the “Clement Attachment,” attracted some attention about the year 1880. 1858. — The Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Selma to Dalton, Georgia (237 miles), began building in November, 1850, By 1855 the road was opened to Montevallo (77 miles) and by 1858 to Blue Mountain (136 miles), and completed to Rome, Ga., this year. 1859. — The first cotton-picking machine with a brush attach- ment was patented by Louis Bishop, of Talladega. The Mobile & Ohio Railroad, from Mobile to Columbus, Kentucky (472 miles), was chartered in Alabama, February 8, 1848. It took ten years to complete the entire line, which was officially opened in September, 1859. The branch from Mont- gomery to Columbus, Miss., 167 miles, was completed in 1900. 150 ALABAMA Dallas county showed the highest total production, 63,410 bales, followed by Marengo county with 62,428 bales, of 400 pounds each. The crop exceeded 900,000 bales, placing Alabama in the lead as a cotton-producing State. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Alabama, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61, Bales 707.400 Bales 12,970 1861-62' 1862-63 1863-64 1864-65 1865-66 1866-67 296,105 386.295 5.555 6,262 1867-68 1868-69 293.113 6,060 7,385 1869-70 429,482 13 28,046 1860. — There were 743 miles of railway in operation this year. The Mobile & Montgomery Railroad, now the Louisville & Nashville, from Montgomery to Tensas (163i/o miles), was com- pleted and in operation in 1861 ; March 5, 1872, the line was extended to deep water in Mobile harbor. 1861. — The Confederate Congress passed “an act to prohibit the exportation of cotton from the Confederate States, except through the seaports of said States, and to punish persons offending therein.” 1862. — A Montgomery newspaper contained this item: “We have understood that an agent of the French government is in the city, authorized to purchase an indefinite amount of cotton. The designs are evidently thus : the agent is to purchase a large amount of cotton, and then in case of a threatened Yankee occu- pation of the city, he would hoist the French flag over it to prevent it from being destroyed by our authorities.” 1863. — The Alabama Central Railroad, now the Southern Railway, from Selma to York (81 miles), was chartered February 17, 1850 and opened August 10. 1865. — The Mobile Advertiser and Register (September 3) KING COTTON 151 gave the following statement of the cotton trade of that port for the year ended August 31, 1865 : Stock on hand and on ship- board, not cleared, 24,290 bales; exported to Great Britain, 5,755; shipped coastwise to United States ports, 51,850 ; burned and destroyed by explosion, 11,410 ; total, 9'3,305 bales. 1866. — Dr. N. B. Cloud, of IMontgomery, in an article on “Cotton Culture” said of the new varieties: “The various new and improved varieties of cotton seed which from time to time have enjoyed a brief, but lucrative popularity, such as the Brown, the Banana, the Cluster, the Hogan, the Sugar Loaf, Boyd’s Prolific, and Hundred Seed, were developed from the ordinary Mexican or Petit Gulf, by carefully selecting the seed and careful cultivation in rich soils. For some time the Mastodon seed commanded $5 per bushel. The ‘Hundred,’ a superior variety developed by Col. Vick, of Vicksburg, Miss., from the Petit Gulf sold year after year at $2 per bushel, and the ‘Banana’ had such a wonderful reputation 15 years ago that the seeds were sold at a dime each, or $150 a bushel. Very little has ever been gained by importing foreign seeds, such as ‘Nankin,’ or Egyptian, or West Indian varieties.” The tax on cotton collected by the Federal government in the State amounted to $3,733,620. About 42 per cent, of the crop was destroyed this year by the caterpillar. They destroyed nearly all of the crop in Greene county. 1867. — The tax on cotton collected by the Federal govern- ment amounted to $3,049,868 ; and in 1868, to $3,604,584. 1868. — Great damage to the crop from the ravages of the caterpillars. One-half the crop was lost in Clay, Conecuh, St. Clair, Marshall, and Lawrence counties, and one-fourth in Cren- shaw and Barbour counties. 1869. — There were 8 cotton mills in the State with 27,364 spindles. IMontgomery county showed the highest total production, 25,517 bales. 1870. — There were 1,157 miles of railway in operation this year. The Mobile & Girard Railroad, now the Central, from 152 ALABAMA Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Alabama, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 645.000 505.000 550.000 675.000 520.000 600.000 Bales 8.808 10.560 15.081 1871-72 1872-73 1873-74 13,772 16 57,594 58,480 1874-75 ... 14,561 10,452 9 906 14 1875-76 1876-77 533.000 606.000 539,015 699,6.54 1877-78 11.778 14 508 1878-79 1879-80 14.702 16 49,432 Columbus, Ga., to Troy (84 miles), was chartered in 1846 and the road opened to Troy, June 15. The New Orleans & iMobile Railroad, now the Louisville & Nashville, from INIobile to New Orleans (141 miles), was chartered in 1866, and completed October 29. 1871. — The Alabama Great Southern Railroad, now operated by the Southern Railway, from Chattanooga to Meridian (296 miles), was originally chartered December, 1853, as the Northeast & Southwest Alabama Railroad, and was reorganized as the Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad in 1868, and opened for traffic May 17. The Selma & Gulf Railroad, now the Louisville & Nash- ville, from Selma to Pineapple (40 miles), was chartered in 1866, and opened May 1. The Mobile Cotton Exchange was incorporated November 13. The crop was considerably damaged in the southern part of the State from excessive rainfall during the month of June. The Montgomery & Eufaula Railroad, now the Central of Georgia, from Montgomery to Eufaula (80 miles), was char- tered in 1860, opened from Montgomery to Union Springs June 10, 1869, and completed to Eufaula in October. 1872. — The South & North Alabama Railroad, now the Louisville & Nashville, from Decatur to Montgomery (183 miles), was completed and opened October 1. The Wetumpka branch was completed July 1, 1878. The crop was damaged bv the caterpillar. In some localities “the boll-worm vied with the cotton-worm KING COTTON 153 in its destructive influence.” All through the canebrake region the loss was severe. 1873. — The crop was damaged by the caterpillar in thirty- eight counties. The destruction was not so great, however, as in 1872, which was the worst the State had experienced. The Mobile & Alabama Grand Trunk Railroad, now a part of the Southern Railway system, from Mobile to Bigbee River Bridge (59 miles), was chartered in 1866 and completed in Sep- tember. Subsequently, as the Mobile & Birmingham Railway, the line was extended (about 1890) to Marion Junction. 1871. — The Columbus & Western Railroad, now the Central of Georgia, from Opelika to Goodwater (60 miles), was char- tered in 1859, opened from Opelika to Camp Hill in 1869, to Dadeville in 1871 and to Goodwater in 1871. This line was subsequently extended (about 1890) to Birmingham and after- wards to Americus, Ga. (222 miles), giving Birmingham a direct connection with Savannah. 1876. — The crop was damaged by the caterpillar, and 50 per cent, of the top crop destroyed in Conecuh county, and 10 per cent, in Hale county. The greatest injury was done in the canebrake counties. 1878. — The cotton-worm damaged the crop in the central part of the State. 1879. — Dallas county census reports showed the largest total production, 33,531 bales, and Baldwin the highest yield per acre, .16 of a bale. There were three cotton oil mills in the State, at this time. The Department of Agriculture estimated the damage to the crop from cotton-worms, from 1875 to 1878, inclusive, at 536,700 bales, valued at $1,789,000. 1880. — There were 1,813 miles of railway in operation this year. 1881. — Boll-worms, as estimated by the Agricultural Depart- ment, destroyed 51,319 bales of cotton. The ravages of the worm were more destructive in Alabama than in any other State. 1882. — The East & West Railroad from Cartersville, Ga., 154 ALABAMA Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Alabama, 1880-1889 Year I'otal Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 842.072 Bales 20,136 No data No data 1881-82 581.000 17,076 do do 1882-83 810,000 18,624 do do 1883-84 630,400 20,230 do do 1884-85 648,700 18,802 do do 1885-86 760,447 22,669 do do 1886-87 752,220 23,646 17 69, .308 1887-88 842,880 25,055 16 79,004 1888-89 905,315 30,947 17 87,968 1889-90 915,210 29,942 13 79,2.34 to Pell City (117 miles) was chartered early in this year and opened in October. The crop was damaged by the boll-worm. 1883. — The general testimony of planters was that the cotton- worm appeared earlier than for many years. In Butler county, its presence was reported on the 14th day of May, or twenty days earlier than ever known before. The great damage threat- ened by this early appearance was prevented by dry weather during June and July, so that later in the season there was no unusual abundance of the insect. A cotton-picking machine consisting of a rotary rake, having tines and fan-blades and rotary brush, was devised and patented by B. T. Curry, of Huntsville. There were 20 cotton oil mills in operation in the .State at this time. 1884. — The caterpillar and boll-worms again made their appearance. The latter insects were, however, much less numer- ous than during the preceding year. 1885. — Drought in August injured the crop. 1886. — A handsome new Cotton Exchange building was dedi- cated (Alarch 1) at Mobile. 1887. — The Georgia Pacific Railroad, now the Southern Rail- way from Atlanta to Columbus, Miss. (291 miles), was char- tered in December, 1881, opened from Atlanta to Anniston (103 miles), in March, 1883; to Birmingham (167 miles), November 18, 1883, and to Columbus in 1887. This line was extended to the Mississippi river in 1889. KING COTTON 155 The Kansas City, ^lemphis & Birmingham Railroad, now the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway, from Birmingham to Memphis (251 miles), was completed in October, and its Bes- semer branch the following year. 1888. — J. W. Wallis, of Pickens county, obtained a patent for a cotton picking device, said to be based on a new principle in inventions for this purpose. Its main feature consisted of stationary and oscillating circular saws. A Cotton Exchange was organized at Eufaula. The crops planted early in the season suffered considerable damage from lice and cut-worms. 1889. — Dallas county planted the largest cotton acreage, 135,048 acres, and Montgomery made the largest crop, 45,860 bales. A convention held at Birmingham, composed of representa- tives of the “Alliance Wheel and Union,” adopted cotton bagging as a permanent covering for cotton bales, and appointed a committee to confer with the cotton exchanges, buyers and manu- facturers, to secure a reduction of tare on bales thus covered. COM.MERCIAL CrOPS AND CONSU.MPTION OF CoTTON IN Alabama, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption. Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1890-91 Bales 1,011.000 Bales 30.364 17 89,158 1891-92 1.075,000 39,709 20 109,448 1892-9.3 740,000 41,409 22 129,776 1893-94 810.000 47,438 21 153,601 1894-95 900,439 54,972 23 163,460 1895-96 663.916 58,998 24 187.192 1896-97 833,789 68,658 31 215,004 1897-98 1.112.681 97,404 37 263,764 1898-99 1.176.042 121,128 38 353,052 1899-00 1,103,690 154,841 44 437,200 1890. — For the first time the crop exceeded one million bales. There were 3,422 miles of railway in operation this year. 1891. — -The Chattanooga Railroad from Gadsden to the Georgia and Tennessee State line (87 miles) was chartered in 1890 and opened in June this year. The Georgia & Alabama Railroad, now the Seaboard Air Line, from ^Montgomery to Lyons, Georgia (near Savannah), 156 ALABAMA and a distance of 265 miles, was completed about the close of this year. 1893. — Congressman W. C. Oates, of Eufaula, reported from the House Judiciary Committee, the passage of which was recom- mended by the Committee, a bill providing for opening the United States Court of Claims to those who had paid taxes on cotton from 1862 to 1868, and then for a stay of proceedings until the Lmited States Supreme Court should pass upon the con- stitutionality of the cotton tax law. The bill stated that by Act of Congress approved July 1, 1862, and subsequent amending acts, a tax was imposed on raw cotton, tinder which collections were made and the money paid into the Treasury of the United States, aggregating $68,072,388. This money was collected in •the years 1863 to 1868, inclusive. In reply to some questions of the United States Senate Com- mittee on Agriculture, Hiram Hawkins, of Barbour county, stated that the cost of raising cotton in the past ten years had diminished. The cotton producer had learned to use more econ- omy on the farm, bought less of what he could raise at home, and by organized cooperation had learned to buy fertilizers, goods and implements cheaper than as an individual. Rent of land was also cheaper. Labor, considering its productive capacity, about the same cost. Farm animals were somewhat cheaper, and more of them v/ere raised on the farm. A patent was granted to Louis Cooper, of Bolling, for a cotton-harvester consisting of a series of revolving picker-cylin- ders combined with brush and fan. 1895. — The experiments conducted this year with Egyptian cotton seed, bv the State Agricultural Experiment Station, were not at all satisfactory. 1896. — Of seventeen varieties of cotton tested at the Auburn Agricultural Station, Hutchinson ranked first in yield, value of lint, and value of total product. Truitt stood second, Dickson Cluster third, and Peerless fourth. The following is a summary from a report on “Experiments with Cotton” by J. F. Duggar, Agriculturist of the Alabama Experiment Station : — New cotton seed are to be preferred since they usually insure a better stand ; the use of a roller after plant- KING COTTON 157 ing cotton caused the seeds to come up promptly and greatly improved the stand of young plants ; at experiment stations and on a great number of well-managed farms, barring off is never practiced, but shallow cultivation with some form of scrape is substituted ; m rows 3% feet apart — larger yields were obtained where the single plants stood 12 or 18 inches apart than where the distance between the plants was 24, or 30, or 36 inches ; subsoiling with a scooter gave an increase of 46 pounds of lint and 93 pounds of seed per acre over the yield of land not sub- soiled ; a mixture of Kainit and cotton seed meal proved more profitable in the dry season of this year than any other fertilizer combination. The average cost of cotton production this year, as ascertained by the Department of Agriculture was 5.38 cents per pound. 1897. — The group of varieties of cotton yielding most lint at the State Experiment Station were: Texas Oak, Griffin, Hawkins, Bearing, Mell Cross No. 15, Jones Reimproved, Duncan, Hutchin- son, Peter kin, Truitt and Whatley. 1898. — The largest crop in the history of the State to date, 1,176,042 bales, was produced this year. 1899. — There were 4,051 miles of railway in operation this year. Dallas county had the largest total production, 43,503 bales. During this year 192,388 farmers cultivated 3,202,125 acres in cotton, which produced 546,848,659 pounds of lint, or an average of 171 pounds to the acre. The five leading cotton growing counties, ranking in the order named were : Dallas, IMontgomery, Lowndes, Marengo and Bullock. The cotton mills in Madison county .consumed this year 14,360 bales of cotton, while the production of the county was not quite 16,000 bales. The mills of Montgomery consumed 20,489' bales, while the production was 41,183 .bales. There were 4,034 cotton gins in operation in 1899, 4,044 in 1900, and 4,161 in 1901. According to the Census the average output of each gin for each season was, respectively, 274, and 263, and 278 bales. The average cost for ginning and baling in 1899 was $1.47 per bale. 158 • ALABAMA Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Alabama, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic ConsumptioTj Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Rales 1,061,678 Bales 157,832 49 550,966 1901-02 ] .156,812 196.137 54 622,794 1902-03 1,011.325 201,303 54 694,386 1903-04 1,023,959 220.236 56 775,064 1904-05 1,461,990 229,121 60 802,062 1905-06 1,242,326 240„550 60 877,606 1906-07 1.241,133 249.119 62 897,768 1907-08 1,113,093 198,326 62 945,112 1900.^ — Of the numerous varieties of cotton experimented with at the Auburn Agricultural Station, from 1890 to 1900, inclusive, the best records were made by Peterkin and Truitt, the average yield of lint per acre for the seven years being 417 pounds for the first, and 425 pounds for the second variety. In a Bulletin on the “Varieties of Cotton,” prepared by J. F. Duggar, Agriculturist of the State Experiment Station, the following suggestions were made as to the selection of a variety for planting; “No one variety can be universally recommended. A knowledge of the characteristics of each variety may some- times aid a farmer in the selection of a kind suited to his conditions. For example, in the extreme northern portion of the cotton belt, where the growing season is short, earliness is one of the qualities desired. The King, Welborn, Dickson and Peerless, are among the safe varieties for localities where the growing season is short. Other qualities besides earliness, which must be taken into consideration in choosing a variety, are ease of picking, ability to withstand unfavorable weather without excessive shedding of forms, relative resistance to rust, tendency to produce a clean or trashy cotton, relative freedom from boll rot, etc..” There were in operation this year twenty-seven cotton oil mills that consumed 172,093 tons of seed valued at $2,019,085. Of the seed produced in the State 31.9 per cent, was manufactured into oil products, valued at $2,952,254. During the season 1900-1901, eight new cotton mills were completed and eleven projected. KING COTTON 159 1900. — Cotton seed crushers paid this season as high as $22.00 per ton for seed. The first new bale of the season was received at Selma August 10. In 1899 Selma received the first bale August 2 ; in 1898 Mobile received the first bale August 6 ; in 1897, July 31 ; and in 1896, July 26. In 1894 Selma received the first new bale August 10, and in 1893, Ozark, the first new bale arrived on August 2. 1901. — The receipts at Montgomery at the close of the season were 150,341, and at Selma 69,232 bales. The year previous the receipts at the former were 163,382 bales, and the latter, 69,841. 1903. — The receipts at Montgomery were 129,195 bales, and at Selma 67,164, the lightest in some years. The stocks at interior towns at the close of the season, August 31, were less than ever before known, consisting of less than 1,500 bales. 1905. — The State Commissioner of Agriculture estimated a reduction of 12 per cent, in the area planted in cotton. The receipts at INIontgomery and Selma were larger than in any previous year, the former being 210,765 bales and the latter, 126,102 bales' 1906. — A terrific storm, September 27-28, passed over a large area in the southwestern section of the State causing orreat O C? destruction to the cotton crop. 1907. — The Legislature enacted a law, prohibiting speculation in cotton for future delivery. A resolution charging the Secretary of Agriculture with inaccuracy in estimating this year’s crop (11,678,000 bales) and calling on him to furnish to Congress the figures and the informa- tion upon which he based his estimate, was introduced in the House (December 16) by Representative Heflin of Alabama. According to the Census there were 3,460 cotton gins in operation, the average output of each gin being 324 bales. There were 67 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 193,801 tons of seed, costing $3,459,348. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $4,969,827. CHAPTER VHI Mississippi, and its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Nxjm- BFR OF Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Con- sumption OF Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. The first mention of cotton growing in Mississippi is found in the journal of a voyage down the Mississippi river by M. Charlevoix. He arrived at Natchez in December, 1722, and there saw “in the garden of Sieur le Noir, chief clerk, very fine cotton on the tree.” About the same time, Capt. Roman of the British army, saw in southeast Mississippi, on the Pascagoula river, the black seed cotton growing on the plantation of Mr. Krebs, and also a machine’- invented by Mr. Krebs, which sepa- rated the lint from the seed.^ In 1728 the colony of Louisiana, which at that time included Mississippi, was in a flourishing condition, its fields being culti- vated in cotton, indigo, tobacco and grain by 2,000 slaves. Seven years later (1735), Bienville, in one of his dispatches to his government stated that the cultivation of cotton was proving advantageous ; and in 1746, Governor Vaudreuil, in a dispatch to the French Minister, mentions cotton among the articles received annually at New Orleans by boats that came down the river.® Referring to the period immediately following O’Reilly’s installment as the first Spanish governor of Louisiana (1769), .Stoddard * says : “Agriculturists from the English settlements began to turn their attention to the country about Natchez, and the culture of cotton became an object of importance.” How important, is evidenced from an address to Governor I.emos by the Natchez planters in which they complained of the unjust exactions of the merchants against them. In this address they See Alabama Notes, p. 135. 2 The Cotton Plant, Dept, of Agriculture. ® Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi; Wailes. ^ Plistory of Louisiana. 160 KING COTTON 161 say: "The merchants last year (1791) gave notice that they would take corn at half a dollar per bushel, beef at $4.00 per 100, and cotton at $25.00 per 100 in payment of debts. * * * We are now informed that while they will not abate their charges for merchandise they expect to have their debts paid in silver dollars. They encourage us to go into the culture of indigo, cotton, tobacco and corn, and after all the expense of preparation, they decline to take our produce unless they regulate the price.” ^ In 1772, Captain Roman, of the British army, was at East Pascagoula, and saw the black seed cotton growing on the plan- tation of iNIr. Krebs, and he also saw a machine of Mr. Krebs’ invention for separating the lint from the seed. In 1795, John Miller, an eminent London merchant, wrote to Col. Hutchins of Natchez: “The cotton grown by your son-in- law, William \’ousden. Esq., of Natchez, shipped here by Mr. David Ross, sold for a great price, 2s. 4d. per pound. It was very clean and the quality excellent, almost equal to the best Georgia sea-island.” The seed then in use had been obtained from Georgia and Jamaica. It was a black seed producing a fine fiber and good staple, and was the only variety planted until 1811. The rot then appeared, and in a year or two became so destructive that sometimes one-half of the crop was lost. The rot disappeared after the introduction of the green seed variety from Tennessee. Daniel Clark, in a letter to the Secretary of State, giving an account of the commerce of Louisiana and the resources of the iMississippi country in 1797, says that when the planters of the Natchez abandoned tobacco culture they next “turned their atten- tion to indigo, which they raised wdth success, but changed this branch for that of cotton, which now forms the staple article of their growth, and bids fair to be an object of the greatest importance. The crop of last year from that district is supposed to exceed -4 000 bales of 250 pounds each, and the average price has been 20 cents per pound.” - The Whitney saw gin w^as introduced in Mississippi in 1795. Wailes says that Col. Daniel Clark, then living near Ft. Adams, 1 Mississippi as a Province, Territory and State; Claiborne. 2 American State Papers;' 1790-1825. 11 162 AIISSISSIPPI Wilkinson county, had one constructed almost entirely by a negro mechanic from a rude drawing and a description of Whit- ney’s gin by a traveler who had seen it in Georgia. A year or two following, a Whitney gin, no doubt the second one in the territory, was operated by Thomas Wilkins, on Pine Ridge near Natchez. Pl is also known that several gins were in operation in Adams county previous to the Spanish evacuation of the territory. In 1796 David Greenleaf, an ingenious mechanic, was constructing gins in the vicinity of Natchez. He built the first public or toll gin at Selsertown, which for many years was operated by Edmund Andrews. After the introduction of the Whitney gin, the most important event that occurred in the early history of cotton planting, was the introduction of the Mexican cotton seed, during the decade 1800-1810.^ In almost every respect it was superior to any variety then in use, but its chief superiority was the hardiness of the plant, the increased yield, and the ease with which it could be picked from the pods. Other varieties were subject to rot, which destroyed a considerable portion of the crop, the yield was one-fourth less, and less than 100 pounds was the average day’s picking per hand. The iMexican variety was free from rot, and a hand could pick from 200 to 300 pounds in a day. During the first two decades, 1800-1810, and 1810-1820, the cotton crop increased from 2,000 to 49,000 bales, and in the next decade from 48,000 to 121,000. Beginning with 1833 the sale of public lands in Mississippi was extraordinary, amounting in four years to nearly seven and a c[uarter million acres. From 1833 to 1843, the total sales were 7,798,000 acres. Within this period the cotton crop increased from 215,000 to 553,000 bales. In the decade preceding the Civil War, 1850-1860, the increase was from 501,000 to 1,202,000 bales in 1859, the latter being the largest crop produced to date. Following the Civil War the first crop made (1866) amounted tu 306,000 bales, which was larger than that of any other State for this year. In the decade, 1870-1880, there was an increase from 650,000 to 963,000 bales, and in the following decade to 1.155,000. It was not until 1890, or 24 years after the ^ See notes, 1806 and 1846; pp. 165 and 17 2. KING COTTOxN 163 Civil War, that the State again produced a crop equal to the great crop of 1859. The largest crop in the history of the State was that of 1901, when the yield amounted to 1,775,000 bales. The area planted in cotton in 1879, according to the Census, was 2,106,000 acres, and as estimated by the Department of Agriculture, 3,160,000 acres in 1906, showing an increase of 1,351,000 acres, or about 61 per cent. The production in 1879, as given by the Census, was 963,000 bales, and in 1906, 1,181,000, an increase of 521,000 bales, or 51 per cent. The increase in area is, therefore, apparently 10 per cent, greater since 1879 than the increase in production. Co.MMERCiAL Cotton Crops of Mississippi, 1800-1809 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop lSOO-01 2,000 1805-06 5 000 lSOl-02 2, .500 1806-07 3, .500 1S02-03 3,101 1807-08 •^,000 1803-04 2.500 1808-09 5.600 1804-05 3,000 1809-10 4,000 1800. — The usual task for a cotton picker was 75 or 80 pounds of the black seed variety, and of sea-island from 50 to 70 pounds a day. 1801. — Sir William Dunbar, an extensive cotton planter when the Itlississippi territory was under British dominion, is credited with having introduced the first cotton screw press. The press was made for him in Philadelphia, in 1801, after a model sent by him to John Ross. It cost $1,000, and upon its receipt he wrote his correspondent : — “1 shall endeavor to indem- nify myself for the cost by making cotton seed oil. It will probably be of a grade between drying and fat-oils, resembling that made from linseed in color and tenacity, but less drying. Where,” he asked, “can a market be found for such oil?” This letter induced Claiborne, the Mississippi historian, to believe that Sir William was the first to suggest the use of cotton seed oil. This, however, was a mistake. The honor belongs to Dr. Otts, a ^Moravian of Bethlehem, Pa., who sent a sample of oil made from cotton seed to the American Philosophical Society in 1768. In a letter accompanying the sample he said: “This is the ol. 164 MISSISSIPPI Bombac, or oil of cotton seed, one bnshel and a half of which yields 9 pints of oil, and I have been informed it is successfully used in the West Indies for colic.” 1803. — Mississippi cotton was undoubtedly an article of export at this time, for the Charleston Courier of that year in its Price Current quotes Mississippi cotton as worth 20 cents a pound. Prices current at Natchez, June 27, 1803, are thus quoted: “Cotton (ginned), $14 to $15 per hundred pounds, dull.” 1806. — writer, in the Historical Magazine, referring to the origin of the name of the town in Mississippi called Cotton Gin Port, says : "The histor}' of Cotton Gin Port was known to the writer as early as 1818. When there in 1833, the remains of a large house were standing on a plantation of some extent near the place, but on the west side of the river, and recently aban- doned, the lands having a short time before been ceded to the United States. It had been the residence of George Colbert, the Chickasaw Chief, an intelligent and interesting half-breed who had accumulated considerable property, and had cultivated cotton for many years ; and the writer has always understood the place took its name from the fact that Colbert had established a public gin there for the benefit of the people of his tribe, many of whom, at that early day, raised cotton to a limited extent.” Among the varieties of cotton cultivated in Mississippi, were the sea-island, the upland, the Tennessee green seed and the Mexican. The upland first cultivated differed from the sea- island in the color of the blossom, the size and form of the boll, and in the length and fineness of the staple. Both were smooth, black, naked seed. The Tennessee cotton seed was invested with a thick green down, adhering firmly and was difficult to gather. It superseded the black seed because of its freedom from rot. In time both gave way to the Mexican. The superiority of the Mexican consisted in its vigorous growth, large size boll, which opened so freely that picking became much less difficult. Three times more Mexican could be picked than any other variety. Like the Tennessee, the seeds though larger, were coated with a coarse, felt-like down, of a dingy white or brown color. As to the origin of this seed, it was believed to have been introduced by KING COTTON 165 Walter Burling, of Natchez. It is related that when in the City oi iMexico, where he was sent by General Wilkinson in 1806 on a government mission, he dined with the Viceroy, and in the course of conversation on the products of the country he requested permission to import some of the Mexican cotton seed — a request which was not granted on the ground that it was forbidden by the Spanish government. But the Viceroy, over his wine, sportively accorded him free permission to take home as many Alexican dolls as he might fancy, a permission well under- stood, and which in the same vein was as freely accepted. The stuffing of these dolls is understood to have been cotton seed. Wilkinson, in his history (Mississippi as a Province, Terri- tory, and State), says that Dr. Rush Nutt, “a distinguished planter and scientist,” who removed from Virginia and settled near the old town of Greenville, Jefiferson county, in 1805, and subsequently at Petit Gulf, also obtained seed from Mexico, and by careful selection brought it to perfection. “The exact locality,” he says “whence that seed (Petit Gulf) was obtained is unknown. Dr. Nutt had traveled extensively in cotton producing counties, and brought home many varieties which were carefully tested, but he found only one that ‘filled the bill.’ Whether this seed had been picked up by him in his travels, or had been given to him, as is generally believed, by some passing wayfarer cannot now be ascertained. The characteristics of the new variety were a vigorous stalk, with short jointed limbs branching out nearer the ground, numerous large bolls, strong and fine staple, easily picked, yielding more than any other cotton, and not subject to rot. The original seed were large, white and woolho It was called the Petit Gulf seed because first planted on the rich cane hills of that locality, once so renowned for the production of cotton and for its skilful and opulent planters. The demand for this seed became co-extensive with the cotton zone and, in many instances, yielded a revenue equal to the lint. Importations have been subsequently made from Mexico, Guatamala, Eg 3 'pt and other countries, but no variet}^ introduced has proved equal to the original Petit Gulf.” For the accommodation of planters who could not aflford to build gins, some of the merchants of Natchez erected public gins. 166 MISSISSIPPI in and near that city. They charged a toll of one-tenth for ginning, calculating upon a yield of one-fourth of lint cotton. On the delivery of his cotton at the gin, the planter received what was called a “cotton receipt.” These receipts were made negotiable by law, and became literally the circulating medium of the country. They were received by merchants in payment of accounts, or for purchases of goods, and were also readily disposed of at the rate of $5 per hundred pounds of seed cotton, thus relieving the planter of all further trouble and charges, the. expense of packing, hauling, shipping, storage, insurance, etc. 1807. — Eleazer Carver began making cotton gins, near the town of Washington, in Mississippi Territory. His business increased so rapidly that he afterwards removed to Bridgewater, Mass., where the facilities for enlarging his business were much better. Commercial Cotton Crops of Mississippi, 1S10-1S19 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1810-11 .3.000 1815-16 28,238 1811-12 4.000 7.000 1816-17 24,000 26,109 1812-13 1817-18 1813-14 6,101 19,101 1818-19 49,500 43,000 1814-15 1819-20 1811. — Steam navigation was introduced on the Mississippi river. The first steamboat was the “New Orleans,” which ran between Natchez and New Orleans. It was built at Pittsburg by Nicholas J. Roosevelt, of New York, and is said to have earned some $20,000 in little more than a year. Samuel Davis was the first to ship cotton by steamboat from Natchez, and at the time he was thought to be taking a great risk. 1815. — The “Aetna,” built by the Mississippi Steamboat Com- pany at Pittsburg in 1815, was the first steamboat to make the trip up the Mississippi from New Orleans to Louisville. A correspondent of Niles’ Register, writing from the Missis- sippi Territory in November, said: “Our crops of cotton are more than half rotten, and strange to tell, although this thing has been creeping on us for three years, our planters, merchants, philosophers and all are unable to assign the cause." KING COTTON 167 1816. — A writter in De Bow’s Review referring to cotton plant- ing at this time said : All grew more than they could pick. He had seen the hands still picking in one part of the field in the spring, while other hands in the same field were plowing and planting. I'he stalks pulled up and piled for burning, even as late as April, looked like banks of snow. Many Choctaw Indian women were employed every fall to pick cotton, and were paid $1.00 per hundred pounds, in cash or goods, provisions and whiske}-. They did not pick as much as the negroes, but picked cleaner. 1817. — iMississippi was admitted into the Union December 10. 1818. — A’hat was known as “black” and sometimes “brown rot" caused considerable damage to the crop. Judge Shields wrote IMr. Poindexter from Natchez: "The rot has been so destructive in Wilkinson and below, that half a crop will not be made, notwithstanding the fine season we have had for picking. The level lands around Bayou Sara have suf- fered most.” 1819'. — At Natchez, Mr. Nuttall, who made the acquaintance of Sami. Postlethwaite, a progressive cotton planter, was told by him that “Cotton which constituted the staple commodity and wealth of the country, had, like all other crops, a considerable tendency to impoverish the soil ; before the country became so well settled and land so advanced in value, no method of improving the worn out lands \vas ever thought of. Such fields were then left waste, and new lands still continually cleared. Of late years some attention had been paid to renovating the soil, by plowing' in the herb of cotton, after being threshed to pieces as it stands in the field. A much more convenient and expedi- tious method, however, was that which ]\Ir. Postlethwaite prac- ticed, who employed a loaded harrow, or a roller armed with knives, which cut the plant into much smaller pieces. The seed, forming three-fourths of the crop in weight, being very oleagi- nous, would likewise return to the soil a considerable share of nourishment, as appeared by the experiment of applying it to maize, which thus treated, grew as luxuriantly as when manured with gypsum. The seed of the cotton also, when scalded, and mixed with a little salt, formed a nourishing and agreeable food for cattle." 168 MISSISSIPPI Commercial Cotton Crops of Mississippi, 1S20-](S29 Year Total Crop 1820-21 4S„500 1821-22 64,721 1822-2,3 .50,000 182.3-24 76,104 1824-25 95,104 Year Total Crop I 1825-26 I 101,019 1826- 27 i 04,108 1827- 28 .S6.170 1S28-29 91.000 I 1829-80 121,345 1820. — The first steamboat that ever landed at Port Gibson, the “Thomas Jefferson,” arrived there March 5. 1825. — Greater damage than ever known was caused by the caterpillar. For the first time the crop exceeded 100,000 bales. Niles’ Register says the crop of Mississippi this year turned out well. Much aid was afforded in the gathering of it by the Choctaw Indians, “who were paid for their services.” 1827. — An extensive drought greatly injured the crop. A proposition to encourage the employment of slaves in the manufacturing of cotton bagging, cotton cordage, cotton blankets, and coarse clothing was made at a public meeting, convened for the purpose, at Natchez in July. About this time there was considerable interest manifested in this subject in the Southern States. A correspondent of the American Farmer, writing from Natchez, on the subject of employing slaves in manufacturing in the South said : “The most important and valuable of all cotton machines, is Whitney’s saw-gin. On every large plantation of the slave States, this is managed solely by slaves. It does the work of nearly 1,000 ( ?) men. The first machine of this kind ever used on the Mississippi, was built almost solely by a negro black- smith, from an imperfect drawing, with a few explanations. Who, then, will pretend that slaves have no capacity to operate with cotton machinery?” 1828. — In the neighborhood of Natchez it was calculated that, on “middling soil,” 250 pounds of clean cotton was the average yield per a.nnum. A contributor to the American Farmer said: “I observe the planters, daily hauling corn out to their plantations to feed their hands and stock. It comes from up the river a considerable KING COTTON 169 distance. They, I believe, pay attention to nothing but cotton, and purchase everything else, instead of raising it.” Co.MMERCIAL COTTON CrOPS OF MISSISSIPPI, 1830-1840 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1S30-31 141. .522 120,905 145.4.30 215.237 234,160 1885-36 255,620 268,097 .339,979 230,917 .532,871 1831-32 18d6-37 18.32-3.3 1837-38 1833-34 . . 1838-39 1834-35 . . 1889-40 1830. — At this date there were 213 steamboats running on the Mississippi river. Dr. Rush Nutt, of Petit Gulf, was the first cotton planter to use steam in ginning cotton. Mr. Alexander, of Lake Con- cordia, was the second and Job Routh, of Lake St. Joseph, the third. Dr. Nutt, some years previous to 1830, improved the saw-gin by attaching long flues to the gin-stand with grated floors, so as to separate the dust and cut fiber or waste from marketable cotton. 1831. — The long continued wet weather caused much of the cotton to rot. A letter from Mississippi to Niles’ Register stated that there had been nothing Hke it since 1813-14. 1832. — A company was incorporated in March to establish a cotton factory to be operated by slave labor, but the enterprise failed. About this time cotton planting was very profitable. In a speech in the House of Representatives in 1832, Henry Clay said : “A friend now in my eye, a member of this body, upon a capital of less than $70,000 invested in a plantation and slaves, made the year before last $16,000. A member of the other House, I understand, made last year, about 20 per cent.” 1833. — P>eginning with 1833, the sale of public lands in Mississippi for four years amounted to 7,240,438 acres. The sales each 3 ^ear were as follows : 1833, 1,221,494 ; 1834, 1,064,054 ; 1835, 2,931,181 ; 1836, 2,023,709 acres. From 1833 to 1843 the total sales amounted to 7,798,000 acres. Meanwhile the cotton crops increased from a little over 215,000 bales in 1833 to 553,000 in 1844. 170 MISSISSIPPI The cotton exports from Mississippi were estimated at from 200,000 to 225,000 bales. The shipments down the Yazoo river amounted to about 10,000 bales. The crop for the first time exceeded 200,000 bales. The most extensive and pretentious of the four cotton seed oil mills in operation about this time, was the one at Natchez. The Journal of that city described the mill “as a substantial building 80 or 84 feet, one and a half stories ; comprising a steam engine of 22J4-inch cylinder and five feet stroke, driving 8 hul- ling machines, five sets of stones and a machine to prepare and grind the kernel for heating, eight cylinders for heating the meal, a earn and seven lever presses in proportion. The Journal boasted that it was the largest mill of the kind in the Union and capable of turning out from 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of oil per day. The oil produced was declared to be among the best of paint oils, easily refined, answering as the ver}^ best winter strained sperm oil for lamps — without the least disagreeable odor — and useful for woolens, machinery, etc. Exclusive of the oil was the cake, which made the very best cattle food.” 1834. — The shipments of cotton from Vicksburg this season were estimated at 50,000 bales. The following estimate of the crop of Mississippi for the season 1834-35 was made by a correspondent of the Washington National Intelligencer: — From Ft. Adams, 10,000 bales; Natchez, 55,000 ; Rodney, 12,000 ; Grand Gulf, 55,000 ; Vicksburg, 45,000 ; Sartartia, 8,000; Manchester, 15,000; Tombigbee, 25,000; other points, 25,000 ; total, 250,000 bales. 1835. — The shipments of cotton from Vicksburg were 70,000 bales. Miller & Lawes, of Washington county, obtained a patent for a cotton seed hulling machine. Extensive speculations in sales of cotton lands. 1836. — -The building of the first railroad in the State was begun this year. 1837. — Col. H. W. Vick, of Vicksburg, began some notable experiments in the selection and improvement of cotton seed. His experim.ents were conducted with seed then known as the little brown or drab Petit Gulf Mexican. In 1844 he originated KING COTTON 171 a variety known as “One-Hundred Seed” which became quite popular, also the Jethro variety. Niles' Register said the ^vlississippians were making great efforts to command the cotton market. The Brandon banks of that State ^';ere making large advances, some of their purchases being as high as 13^ cents for cotton. The ultimate object was to give the State a commercial position, less subordinate than that which she at present occupies in relation to New Orleans. During the season 1837-38, 11,787 bales of cotton were shipped from Natchez to Liverpool, Boston, etc. It was stated that more than double that amount would have been shipped, had there been facilities for compressing. 1838. — The crop was injured by drought and the boll-worm. 1839. — Of the 56 counties reported in the Census, all raised more or less cotton. The counties of largest production were : Warren, Wilkinson, Washington, Madison and Jefferson. The crop this year for the first time exceeded 500,000 bales, which placed iMississippi in the front rank as the largest cotton producing state in the Union. Co.MMERCIAL CoTTON CrOPS OF MISSISSIPPI, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1S40-41 392,671 395,761 584,669 473,300 553,340 1845-46 566,265 414,698 524,718 541,946 484,291 1S41-42 1846-47 1842-43 1847-48 1843-44 1848-49 1844-45 1849-50 1840. — About this period the wonderful cotton growing quali- ties of the Mississippi bottom lands began to be appreciated, and a great migration to this region began. It is said that 250,000 slaves were sent into that country in a single year — 1836. The East Indian government employed ten Mississippi and Louisiana planters, at a salary of $1,500 each, to go to India and teach the Indian planters how to raise cotton after the American method. A long drought in the upland counties injured the crop. 172 MISSISSIPPI 1843. — Tlie crop was damaged by long continued rains, and also by the cotton-worm. It was about this time that improved plows, cast iron mold boards, shares and points, began to be introduced among planters ; but Mr. Phillips, of Hinds county, relates the exceeding caution with which improved implements were tried. They looked with suspicion upon the newly “painted plows.” 1844. — .A. large cotton and woolen mill was erected near Natchez by Messrs. Robertson, Osgood and Wells. A great flood on the Mississippi and its tributaries damaged the growing crop, necessitating much replanting. The loss in Bolivar county alone was placed at 3(),UU0 bales. The cotton- worm also damaged the crop. 1845. — A New Orleans paper of this date said: “We under- stand that fifty-one bales of Nankin cotton, raised by Andrew Kerr, Esq., of Tunica county. Miss., was sold yesterday by the house of Ralph, King & Co., at 21^) cents per pound.” There was a cotton factory operated this year in Adams county, known as the Adams County Cotton Factory, that employed 2C men, 6 women and 4 children, all black slaves. In answer to a circular sent out by the Treasure Department it was stated that the hands v.'ere employed 300 days during the year and worked 8 hours a day. No profits were reported. 1846. — As to the importance of the introduction of the Mexi- can cotton seed, M. W. Phillips said : “Those planters who remember the old black or green seed varieties of cotton grown some twenty years ago, or longer, can fully appreciate the advan- tage that we now enjoy, from the improved or Mexican seed. We have only to call to mind, that the old description of cotton yielded about one-fourth or 25 pounds of cotton wool to the 100 pounds of seed cotton ; that the quantity gathered per day was at least one-fourth less; and the yield per acre one or two hun- dred pounds less. The improved seed can hardly be regarded as of less importance than the introduction of the Whitney gin.” One-third of the cotton crop was said to have been damaged this year b\' the caterpillar. Iron hoops, or ties, were introduced about this time. R. Abbey, who lived near Yazoo City, said only two things A COUNTRY STEAM GINNERY. Courtesy of W'oltT-Goldman Mercantile Co., Newport. Ark. KING COTTON 173 prevented their going into general use ; the determined opposition of all the cotton interests in New Orleans and Mobile, and the want of substantial information on the subject by the planters. Several patented iron screws or presses were introduced at this time, though the wooden screw press was almost universally used. 1847. — Wet weather and the boll-worm injured the crop in some parts of the State. One of the oldest of the improved varieties of cotton, which was in general use at this time and which is the parent stock of many of the cluster varieties recently used, was the “Boyd Prolific.” The originator. i\Ir. Boyd, said that it was from a single plant found in a field of “common” cotton. 1848. — Much damage was reported to the crop by boll-worm in the Natchez district. The jMexican and Brown seed were the varieties most commonly planted. The freight rate on cotton on the Vicksburg & Jackson R. R., 46 miles, v as 8714 cents per bale of 400 pounds. A heavy storm in September injured the opening cotton. 1849. — The average yield of seed cotton per acre, as given by the Census, was 700 pounds, which gave the State the second rank in production. The Census returns gave Marshall county the largest total production, 32,775 bales of 400 pounds each. iM. W. Phillips of Hinds county, in writing of the varieties of seed then used, gave much credit to Col. H. W. Vick, for his patient perseverance in improving the variety bearing his name, the result of which, he declared, had enhanced the value of cotton e.-^tates, millions of dollars. Some of the best seed in his judgment were Hogan’s, the Brown, Sugar Loaf, and “Vicks 100 Seed.” The Mastodon and Okra he considered “humbugs,” the Banana as identical with Hogan’s, and the Cluster and Pome- granate as also originating from Hogan seed. The young cotton plants were injured by frosts about the middle of April. Simeon Oliver, of Blernando, stated that the average yield per acre in De Soto county was 1,000 pounds of seed. The Sugar Loaf Cluster was regarded as the best for high yield. 174 MISSISSIPPI Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in • Mississippi, 1S50-1S59 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1850-51 Bales 501,146 Bales 290 No data No data 1851-52 613,200 388 do do 1852-53 670,062 520 do do 1853-54 603,132 861 do do 1854-55 592,430 789 do do 1855-56 700,969 804 do do 1856-57 606,811 901 do do 1857-58 598,900 830 do do 1858-59 897,108 1,016 do do 1859-60 1,202,507 1,519 6,344 1850. — In a letter to the Commissioner of Patents, Mr. Graham, of Franklin county, gave the following as the method of planting in his section of the State. “We generally plant about half and half, that is^ one-half corn, and the other half cotton. The number of acres thus planted is about 16 to the hand, 8 acres in corn and 8 in cotton. The average crop per hand is about 200 bushels of corn, and about 5 bales of cotton. An acre of cotton produces about % of a bale of 400 pounds. We get 13 cents per pounds for cotton, or $52 a bale. The cost of getting it to market is about $2 a bale. The supplies for hands consists of meat, for which we pay $13 per barrel, negro clothes, sugar, coffee, etc. The cost of supporting each negro cannot be less than $35 per annum. Good working horses were worth $100, and Kentucky mules $120.” E. Ford, of Clarion county, estimated the yield per acre in his county at 400 pounds on bottom lands, and on uplands from 150 to 300 pounds ; and the cost of production at 6 to 7 cents a pound. Some of the favorite varieties of seed in use at this period, were : the Sugar Loaf, Banana, the Brown, Vick’s 100-seed, Clus- ter, IMultitlora, Money-bag, Royal Cluster, and Pomegranate. There were in operation this year 75 miles of railway. 1851. — For the first time the crop exceeded 600,000 bales. .-V new style of gin was constructed by a Mr. Parkhurst. Instead of saws, cards were used to remove the lint from the seed; it was then blown strongly against a close wire cylinder which rer^olved and from which the lint was taken by vibrating KING COTTON 17o or revolving rods, coming off in a solid roll of batting ready for the press. It also cleaned the cotton of all dust and trash. 1852. — In a report to the Commissioner of Patents, a planter of Marion county said he averaged 1,850 pounds (seed cotton) on 20 acres, and 2,400 pounds on 40 acres. His “head picker” gathered an average of 290 pounds per day. Much damage to crops in this and the following year from “black rot.” 1853. — According to the best authorities the planters enjoyed unexampled prosperity during the period between the Mexican and Civil Wars. Aberdeen was at this time the principal con- centrating and shipping point for the plantations of North Mississippi and Western Alabama. Reuben Davis, says he has seen boats leave the wharf at Aberdeen with a cargo of 2,500 bales of cotton destined to Mobile, and that 40,000 bales were shipped from there every season. In some sections of the State the crop was damaged by the caterpillar. 1855. — The crop for the first time exceeded 700,000 bales. 1856. — The Mississippi river was so low this season that the packets running on the river could carry only small cargoes of cotton to New Orleans. 1857. — The Mississippi & Tennessee R. R., now the Illinois Central, from Grenada to IMemphis (99 miles), was chartered in 1852 ; construction began June, 1854, and the line was opened in June. Patents were obtained by R. A. Vick and T. A. Shannon for cotton cultivators. 1858. — The Memphis & Charleston R. R., now operated by the Southern Ry., from IMemphis to Stevenson, Ala. (272 miles), was chartered February, 1846, and opened for through traffic July 4. A hand-machine for gathering cotton was patented by Hors- ford and Avery, of Macon. One of the IMobile papers notices the receipt of some cotton yarn, spun on the plantation of Geo. S. Yerger, of Miss., and manufactured directly from the seed by the “Henry process.” ^ Mississippi and Mississippians. 17 ^ MISSISSIPPI The crop for the first time exceeded 800,000 bales. 1859. — The Mobile & Ohio R. R., from Mobile to Columbus, Ky. (472 miles), which traverses almost the entire length of the State north and south, was chartered in 1848-50, and opened in September. Yazoo county, according to the Census, showed the highest total production, 64,075 bales of 400 pounds each. Great floods on the Mississippi river and its tributaries in the Cotton States. The flood continued seventy days. There were 35 crevasses in the lower Mississippi and the flood did not s-ubside until the last of May. But notwithstanding this, planters were enabled to produce good crops even in the inun- dated lands of the St. Francis, the Tensas, the Yazoo, the Red and White rivers, and the largest crops to date were made in that year. Some of the planters producing large crops of cotton at this period were: Dr. Stephen Duncan, more than 3,000 bales; Samuel Davis and Prancis Surget, from 3,000 to 5,000 bales each, and the late General Wade Hampton, from 4,000 to 5,000 bales. For the first time the crop exceeded a million bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in- Mississippi. 18o0-18o9 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61 Bales 859,285 Bales 1,737 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 1863-64 do Ho do do 1864-65 do do do do 1865-66 do do do do 1866-67 .306,389 990 do do 1867-68 314,177 1,116 do do 1868-69 411,494 1 .oso do do 1869-70 .564,938 1 .320 5 3, .526 1860. — The Vicksburg & Meridian R. R., now a part of the Queen and Crescent system, from Vicksburg to Meridian (140 miles), was chartered in 1835, opened from Vicksburg to Jackson in 1841, and to Meridian during this year. There were 862 miles of railway in operation. The Chicago, St. Louis & New Orleans R. R., now the KING COTTON 177 Illinois Central, from New Orleans to East Cairo (547 miles), was chartered in 1852, and opened from New Orleans to Canton, 206 miles, in 1859, from Canton, Miss., to Jackson, Tenn., in 1860, and extended to the Ohio river, opposite Cairo, in 1875. 1863. — Writing to the American Agriculturist in regard to the possibilities of cotton culture at this time, a correspondent said : "There is, however, a field opened for Northern enterprise and capital upon which pioneers have entered with fair promise of success. A large part of the country along both banks of the jMississippi river, from Memphis to New Orleans is now in the hands of the government, having been abandoned by its owners. Three Commissioners of Plantations have been appointed to superintend the leasing- of these lands for the present 3 -ear. The}' meet at X’icksburg every few weeks to decide upon appli- cations. The following conditions are required : For the use of the lands the occupant engages to pay the government, in lieu of rent, a tax of $4 per bale of cotton raised thereon, and 5 cents per bushel of corn and potatoes, and to pay one-half the value of the ungathered crops that may be on the farm at the period of entering upon it. The lessee was to employ at least one able- bodied negro to 8 acres of improved land, permitting the children of the employed person to accompany them and engage to feed and clothe them, and to perm.it the children to attend the nearest school. 'I'he wages to be paid the hands are as follows : $7 per month to able-bodied males over 15 years of age ; $5 per month to able-bodied females over 15 years of age ; and for children between 12 and 15 years of age, half price. Applications are to be made to the Commissioners in writing, accompanied by proof of loyalty, and pecuniary and business capacitv to carry on a plantation. Lessees can purchase supplies of Quarter- masters at militar}^ posts within the cotton region. Those who engaged in the business last }"ear are said to have made mone}-.” 1864. — The Peeler variet}q one of the most popular now in use, originated this }^ear in W^arren county. 1866. — Caterpillars destro}’ed about 30 per cent, of the crop, and were particularly destructive in the river counties. The tax on cotton collected b\' the Federal government amounted to $756,629 ; in 1867 to $4,464,664, and in 1868 to $3,521,702. 12 178 MISSISSIPPI 1868. — The caterpillar caused some loss to the plantations in the river counties. 1869. — There were in the State 3 cotton mills with 3,332 spindles. The Census returns gave De Soto county the highest total production, 12,500 bales. A planter near Columbus set his cotton plants 314 feet apart each way, thinning to two stalks to the hill, and cultivating as with corn. The result was a yield double that grown in the old way. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in ^Mississippi, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 650.000 Bales 1 ,456 No data No data 1871-72 495,000 1,920 do do 1872-73 625.000 3,126 do do 1873-74 575,000 2,545 11 15,150 1874-75 550.000 3,120 No data No data 1875-76 670.000 3,256 do do 1876-77 760.000 4,356 do do 1877-78 775,000 5,179 do do 1878-79 748,952 6,380 do do 1879-80 963,111 6,411 8 18,568 1870. — On November 15th, 161 hands on one of Gov. Alcorn’s plantations in Coahoma county, picked 53,644 pounds of cotton, or an average of over 400 pounds each. Two picked over 1,100, two over 900, five from 600 to 800, ten from 500 to 600, twenty-three from 400 to 500, and forty-five an average of 400. One-third of the pickers were women. Prof. Hillgard (of jMississippi) made the suggestive state- ment that when the lint only of the cotton crop was removed from the land, it takes from it not more than 4 pounds of soil ingredients for each bale of cotton made : but when both lint and seed were permanently removed the land lost, on an average, 42 pounds of soil ingredients for every bale. In the former case the cotton crop was one of the least exhaustive known ; in the latter, one of the most exhaustive. There were 990 miles of railway in operation this year. The New Orleans & Mobile R. R., now the Louisville & KING COTTON 179 Nashville, iToni Mobile to New Orleans (141 miles), was char- tered in 1866 and completed October 29. The importance of using" great care in preparing cotton for market, said the New York Commercial and Financial Chronicle, was well illustrated by a single bale of 443 pounds, which was sold the past week at 50 cents per pound. It was raised by W. B. McShaw on his plantation in Lee county. Miss. After being picked it was taken into his parlor, where it was carefully cleaned of seeds, .sand, leaf, bark and other impurities by Mrs. and Miss McShaw. It was sent to the Agricultural Fair at St. Louis last October (1870) and received the first premium, $500, for the best bale of short staple cotton. The different prizes won and prices paid for this bale have been such that in the aggregate an average of $7.50 has been realized for each pound. 1871. — Excessive rains during the month of June injured the crop in the lower half of the State. The Alabama, Great Southern R. R., now operated by the Southern Ry., from Meridian to Chattanooga (296 miles), was chartered in 1853, but not completed until May this year. 1872. — The caterpillar caused considerable damage to the crop. Rain, sleet and snow, during the latter part of the picking season, is said to have resulted in a loss to the State of at least 100,000 bales of cotton. As to the production of cotton per hand the New York Com- mercial and Financial Chronicle gave the following information : “The cotton lands of Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Red River are reported to us as sometimes reaching 8 to 9 and even 10 bales per hand, while similar land in Alabama and South- western Georgia only produces 4 to 6 bales, and the upland of Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas, only 2 to 3 bales. In the earlier history of planting the average for these States was believed to be 5 bales per hand; later, and before the Civil War, opinion had settled down to 3 bales or 1,500 pounds. Since the war the best information at hand showed the average to be about 1,200 pounds to the hand ; the average for all States being 4 to 5 bales per hand.” 1873. — A Board of Trade and Cotton Exchange was organ- ized at Meridian, August 8. 180 MISSISSIPPI The damage from the cotton-worm was greater than ever this year. A loss of 20 per cent, was reported in Wilkinson, Jeffer- son, Claiborne, Clark, Warren, Rankin, Madison, Washington, Lowndes, Le Flore, Grenada, Lee, and some other counties. 1874. — J. H. Mitchell of Friar’s Point, obtained a patent for a cotton-picking machine with rotary concave and convex picking brushers and endless apron. 1875. — Considerable damage was done to the growing crop by excessive rains and floods in the Mississippi Valley. 1876. — The crop was injured this year by worms, drought, wet weather and early frosts. The worms were particularly destructive in the eastern part of the State. 1878. — The crop was again injured by the cotton-worm. The Natchez, Jackson & Columbus R. R., now the Illinois Central, from Natchez to Red Lick (34 miles), was chartered in 1870 and completed to the latter point in February. 1879. — The Department of Agriculture estimated the loss from cotton-w'orms, from 1875 to 1878, inclusive, at 706,070 bales. The Census returns showed that Washington county pro- duced the largest crop, 54,873 bales, and that Issaquena county produced the highest yield per acre, .88 of a bale. There were eleven cotton oil mills in the State. This year witnessed quite an exodus of negroes from the Mississippi Valley to Kansas. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Mississippi, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 869.555 Bales 7.763 No data No data 1881-82 895,000 9,902 do do 1882-8.3 1,064,000 10,798 do do 1883-84 901, .300 11,7.30 do do 1884-8.5 883,200 10,902 do do 188.5-86 1,019,470 13,144 do do 1886-87 9.35,390 13,723 7 .39,748 1887-88 1,062,797 14,705 8 41,956 1888-89 1,057,746 15,718 9 49,600 1889-90 1.154,725 17,366 9 57.004 1880. — There were 1,127 miles of railway in operation this year. KING COTTON 18] Some damage to the crop in the fall months resulted from excessive rains. 1881. — dhe boll-worm, as estimated by the Department of Agriculture, destroyed 38,111 bales of cotton. The $1,000 premium for the best bale of cotton grown in the United States was awarded by the Atlanta Cotton Exposition to Thomas Compton, a planter living near Batesville, Panola county. 1882. — There was a disastrous overflow in the Mississippi river districts this year. The Natchez, Jackson & Columbus R. R., now the Illinois Central, from Natchez to Jackson (100 miles), was chartered in 1870, opened to i\Iartin in 1879, to INIyles in 1881 and to Jackson, October 6. 1883. — At this time there were 24 cotton oil mills in operation. The New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., now a part of the Queen and Crescent system, from jMeridian to New Orleans (196 miles), was chartered in 1870, and completed to New Orleans November 1. 1884. — The Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Ry., now the Yazoo & ^Mississippi Valley R. R., from New Orleans to Memphis (455 miles), which parallels the Mississippi river, was constructed as follows : On May 1, 1884, the track had been extended from New Orleans north 140 miles; from Vicksburg south 46 miles and north 90 miles, and from Memphis south 98 miles, leaving two gaps of 78 miles, which were completed in October, 1884, and the entire line opened November 1, 1884. The Leland branch was completed in 1885 and other important branches in 1889. In spite of the increased acreage the cotton yield was lowered this year on account of the damage done by the boll-worm. In 1885 the cotton-worms and boll-worms appeared in some locali- ties in the southern part of the State. Attalla, Copiah, Holmes and Madison counties, suffered severe losses in 1889 from the ravages of the boll-worm. 1886. — A Cotton Exchange at Vicksburg was incorporated June 29, though the Exchange was organized some years prior to that date. A Cotton and Merchants Exchange was organized at Natchez in July. 182 MISSISSIPPI With a machine invented and patented by C. E. Wright, of Vicksburg, it was proposed to cut down the cotton stalk, break, disintegrate and separate the branches, twigs and bolls from each other, and deliver them to a receiver forming a part of and moving with the harvester, from which receiver they would be removed to be further separated and ginned. 1887. — The Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., now the St. Louis & San Francisco Ry., from Memphis to Birming- ham (251 mules), was completed in October, 1887, and its Aber- deen branch in 1888. 1888. — A Cotton Exchange was organized at Greenville this year. 1889. — Washington county returns to the Census showed the largest area in cotton, and also the largest total production, viz; 128,571 acres, and 87,022 bales. The Georgia Pacific R R., now the Southern Ry., from Columbus to Greenville (168 miles), began building from Colum- bus westward in July, 1887, and was completed July 1. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Mississippi, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1890-91 1,209.000 15,907 8 51,620 1891-92 1,250,000 1,5,122 7 51,936 1892-9.3 755,000 16 .310 7 .52,648 189.3-94 1,050,000 14,469 7 46,217 1894-95 1,231,227 15,757 7 .5.5,393 1895-96 1,0 13, .358 16,6.54 8 61,448 1896-97 1,201,000 16,863 7 64,148 1897-98 1,. 524, 771 20, .508 7 6.3,004 1898-99 1,247.128 21,6.50 7 66.432 1899-00 1.264,048 21,440 10 88,584 1890. — There were 2,471 miles of railway in operation this year. The crop was injured by the boll-worm. Lawrence, Noxubee and Scott counties were the centers of the greatest damage. 1891. — Forty-six varieties of cotton were planted at the State Experiment Station, which yielded an average of 79'6 pounds of seed-cotton and 254 pounds of lint per acre. The largest yield of seed-cotton per acre, 1,370 pounds, was from KING COTTON 183 Texas Storm Proof, which also gave the largest yield of lint, 488 pounds. The largest per cent, of lint was from Peterkin. The six varieties giving the highest total values per acre were; Eureka, $36.66; Texas Storm Proof, $35.81; Allen, $34.43; Drake’s Cluster, $30.09 ; Bailey, $29.29 ; Willis, $27.30. A Cotton Exchange was organized at Yazoo City, July 7. 1892. — The Tombigbee Cotton Mills at Columbus reported net earning.s for the year of 18 per cent. The crop was damaged in the Mississippi river districts by early spring overflows, which were followed in the summer by a disastrous drought. 1893. — The following is from a statement prepared for the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture by Gen. Stephen D. Lee, President of the State Agricultural College : — “The actual, financial and material condition of the cotton-raisers is bad. They are generally in debt, and many of them are insolvent. Those insolvent are in the ratio of two and three to one in the present depressed condition of the price of land, the price being merely nominal with no purchasers. The solvent planters are those who raise their own supplies, and regard the cotton crop as a surplus. The solvent planters are the white men who live in the piney woods or sandy land and do their own labor and raise their own supplies, and have few negroes about them, while the depression or insolvency is almost general on the richer or black lands, worked almost exclusively by negroes under the plantation system.” 1894. — “The concurrent testimony of farmers and others,” says Dr. Otken^ (of Summit, Miss.), “that the value of the work of negroes on the farm, as compared with the same kind of work done in slave time under humane masters, and that work under no effective supervision today, may be thus expressed: the value of the work done by the old slave negroes is 50 per cent, of what it was in olden times ; that of the younger negro men, 30 per cent. ; and that of the colored females, 20 per cent.” 1895. — On account of the very low price of cotton a conven- tion of cotton planters was held at Jackson, January 11. to effect 1 Ills of the South. 184 MISSISSIPPI a reduction in cotton acreage, which, according to the estimate of the Department of Agriculture resulted in a reduction of 3,503,000 acres as compared with the previous year, 1904. 1896. — The Department of Agriculture ascertained the aver- age cost of cotton production this year to be 5.36 cents per pound. 1897. — The Gulf & Ship Island R. R., from Gulfport to Hat- tiesburg (70 miles), was opened in January. Andrew Fleming, of Natchez, sent to a New York cotton house a .sample of a bale of cotton that was grown in 1859. The Classification Committee of the New York Exchange classed it as good middling and good body and staple. It was said to possess just as good working qualities as newly grown cotton. The largest crop in the history of the State, to date, 1,524,771 bales, was {)roduced this year. The greatest flood ever known to cotton planters in the Delta. The Mississippi rose in April and May from half a foot to two and a half feet higher than ever before, and inundated all the river counties. All of the rich bottom lands lying between the Mississippi and the Yazoo rivers, extending from the northern boundary of the State south to Vicksburg, and comprising nearly 2,000,000 acres of farm lands, of which about one-third was devoted to cotton, were overflowed. 1899. — There were 186,995' farmers engaged during this year in the cultivation of cotton. The area planted was 2,897,920 acres, which produced 643,339,470 pounds of lint cotton, or an average of 222 pounds to the acre. The following counties, ranking in the order named, planted the largest area : Yazoo, Washington, Hinds, Bolivar, Noxubee, Holmes, IMonroe and Panola. The 24 varieties of cotton planted at the State Experiment Station yielded an average of 933.5 pounds of seed cotton and 311.4 pounds of lint per acre. The largest yield of seed cotton, 1,312 pounds was Roby’s Prolific, which also gave the largest yield of lint, 451.3 pounds. The six varieties giving the highest total values per acre were : Roby's Prolific, $41.66 ; Hawkins Jumbo. $41.31; Smith’s Improved, $40.22; Ozier’s Big Boll, $39.26 ; Kiiig’s Improved, $38.52 ; and Kemper Cotton Co., $37.54. KING COTTON 18.5 There were in operation this year, according to the Census, 3,976 cotton gins; in 1900 there were 3,934 and in 1901, 4,145. The average output of each gin for each season was, respectively, 318, and 268, and 308 bales. The cost of ginning and baling square and round bales in 1899 was, respectively, $1.78 and $1.14 per bale. There were 2,787i/o miles of railway in operation this year. W'ashington county reported to the Census the highest total production, 64,551 bales. CoMMERci.\L Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Mississippi, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consump'iion Number of Mills Number of Spinrlles 1900-01 Bales 1,055 968 Bales 24.424 14 118..320 1901-02 1,275,439 .32,618 16 1.30,346 1902-0.3 1,451,626 .34,050 17 1.39.192 1903-04 1.4.39,294 .35.148 20 151,544 1904-05 1,774,789 .35,5.34 22 153,888 1905-06 1.168,0.59 43,637 90 162.864 1906-07 1,483,408 40,095 21 175.272 1907-08 1,442,881 40,837 20 177,124 1900. — A patent was obtained by William Warmack, of Pluto, for a cotton-picker constructed with vertically-aligned rows of reciprocating picker stems operating in a frame with roller brushes. There were in operation this year forty-one cotton oil mills that consumed 394,678 tons of seed valued at $4,577,995. Of the seed produced in the State 63.8 per cent, was manufactured into oil products valued at $6,671,001. 1901. — The Delta was the only section of the State where it was the general custom to pay cash wages for the cultivation of cotton. Five cotton-picking machines, constructed by the American Cotton Picking Company, of Pittsburg, were shipped to Green- ville for practical field tests. One of the machines, run by gasoline, was operated on the Urquhart plantation near Wilczinski (Washington Co.) and it was estimated picked from 80 to 85 per cent, of the cotton on the stalk. The Cotton Ginners Journal noted that the cotton ginning 186 MISSISSIPPI business was undergoing significant changes. Most important of these was the practice of buying cotton in the seed. It made the ginner an operator on a broader scale. He was a buyer and a seller of cotton, a warehouseman as well as a ginner, and inevitably, too, it made him a “speculator.” 1903. — The stocks at interior towns at the close of the season, August 31, were the smallest for many years, amounting to less than 2,000 bales. 1904. — The scarcity of negro laborers induced Capt. Eldridge, of Hillhouse, who expected an unprecedented yield of 6,000 bales on his plantation, to make a contract in Texas for 150 Mexicans to pick his crops. 1906. — A lot of 350 bales of long staple cotton was sold at Port Gibson (November 30) for 23 and 24 cents per pound. A terrific storm on the 27th and 28th of September passed over almost the entire State causing great damage to the crops. Many millions of pounds of cotton were damaged and lost. 1907. — The first new bale of cotton raised in Washington county was received at Greenville on August 31. The Mexican boll-weevil crossed the Mississippi river from Louisiana, and made its first appearance in the State in Adams and Wilkinson counties. A negro planter marketed at Greenwood, in December, one of two bales of long staple cotton grown on one acre of land, for which he received $138, or about 26 cents per pound. A stock company with a capital of $250,000 was organized in March, for the purpose of handling and marketing the long staple cotton of the Delta. In pursuance of a resolution of the Farmers’ Union pledging the members to use cotton bagging in preparing the crop of 1907 for market, arrangements were made with the Wesson cotton mills to manufacture all the bagging needed. The Gilruth Co., of Yazoo City, own a number of plantations in Yazoo, Holmes and Sunflower counties from which they market annually about 5,000 bales of cotton. They work over 500 mules, and employ more than 1,200 negroes. The best grades of cotton sold as high as 19 cents per pound at Vicksburg. KING COTTON 187 According to the Census there were 3,5-11 cotton gins in operation, the average output of each gin being 108 bales. There were 92 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 315,509 tons of seed, costing $5,355,390. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $9,018,803. Several Mississippi plantations were visited by a committee of English spinners, having in view the purchase of cotton lands in the South and the raising of cotton for mill supplies. The committee having the matter in charge, in a circular letter stated that the purchase of a plantation in this country, “would afford, when improved machinery was introduced, a most valuable demonstration to the American planter of the great economies it is possible to effect in the ginning and baling of their valuable product.’’ An effort was made to raise the money to carry out the plan, but meeting with little encouragement, the undertaking was abandoned. 1908. — The Legislature passed an act prohibiting all dealings in any commodity for future delivery, imposing a heav}- fine and imprisonment for its violation. CHxVPTER IX Louisiana, and its Cotton Crops from 1800 to 1908 — Num- ber OF Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Con- sumption OF Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. In a memoir addressed to Count de Poncliartrain, December, 1697, on the importance of establishing a colony in Louisiana, by M. de Remonville, he says, after describing the natural pro- ductions of the country : “Such are some of the advantages which may be reasonably expected, without counting those result- ing from every day’s experience. We might, for example, try the experiment of cultivating fine and long staple cotton.’’ Among the Colonial Archives at Paris there is a memorial from the Colonial government of Louisiana, which appears to have been drawn up by M. St. Denis in 1723, stating that the country about Natchitoches is favorable to all the agricultural products of Europe, and to cotton and tobacco. There is also another paper, bearing no date, drawn up in Versailles, which sets forth the project of colonization for Louisiana, and the demand for a large tract of land on condition of its being cultivated in tobacco, cotton, sugar, indigo and cane. The Louisiana colony, says Pickett,^ was in a flourishing condition in 1728, “its fields being cultivated, by more than 2,000 slaves, in cotton, indigo, tobacco, and grain’’ ; and in 1736, Gov- ernor Bienville describing the condition of the colony at that time, said ; “The planters are disgusted with the cultivation of tobacco on account of the uncertainty of the crop. * * * With regard to cotton, the production is very limited on account of the difficulty of separating it from the seeds, or rather because the cultivation of indigo is more favorable.” M. Michel, in a report to the French minister on the condition of the country in 1752, gave some interesting details on the 1 History of Alabama, Vol. 1. 188 KING COTTON 189 cultivation of cotton, and the difficulties experienced in separating the wool from the seed. About this time a French planter of enterprise and capital, M. Dubreuill (who a few years afterward erected on his plantation now covered by the lower portion of the citv of New Orleans, the first sugar mill in Louisiana) invented a cotton gin which greatly stimulated the culture of cotton in the colony. In 1758 white Siam seed were introduced into Louisiana. Du Pratz says : “This East India plant has been found to be much better and whiter than what is cultivated in our colonies, which is of the Turkey kind.”^ Among the French Archives at Paris there is a most curious and instructive report on cotton in 1760." It was found to be a very profitable crop in Louisiana, for in the year 1768 the French planters, in a memorial to their government, complained that they had been turned over to the Spaniards just “at the time when a new mine had been discovered ; when the culture of cotton, improved by experience, promises the planter a recompense of his toils, and furnishes persons engaged in fitting out vessels with cargoes to load them.”® In 1800 the cotton crop of Louisiana was 3,000 bales, and ten years afterward, 8,000. In the decade 1810-1820, it increased to 52,000 bales. During the decade 1820-1830, the increase was from 54,000 to 139,000 bales, and the decade 1830-1840, from 89.000 to 411,000 bales. The largest crop in the next decade, 1840-1850, was 468,000 bales, and the largest made prior to the Civil War was 778,000 bales, in 1859. The first crop after the war amounted to 165,000 bales, which was just about equal to that of 1835. Four years later the crop more than doubled. In the decade 1870-1880, it varied from 396.000 to 650,000 bales, and in the next decade 1880-1890, from 359.00 to 659,000 bales. The following decade the highest pro- duction was 788,000 bales, and in 1904 the largest crop in the history of the State was made, 1,109,000 bales. The area planted in cotton in 1879, according to the Census, was 865,000 acres, and in 1906 the Department of Agriculture ^ The History of Louisiana, Le Page Du Pratz; 1758. 2 De Bow’s Review; Vol. 1. ® Louisiana Historical Collections. 190 LOUISIANA estimated it to be 1,778,000. showing an increase since 1879 of 913,000 acres, or about 106 per cent. The production in 1879 was 508,000, and in 1906 977,000 bales, an increase during the same period of 469,000 bales or about 92 per cent. According to this showing, the increase in the area planted since 1879, is greater by 13 per cent, than the increase in production. Co.M.MERCiAL Cotton Crops of Louisi.ana, 1800-1809 Year Total Crop 1800-01 3,000 1801-02 3,500 1802-03 5.000 1803-04 4.741 1804-05 6,000 Year Total Crop 1805-06 7,000 1806-07 4 500 1807-08 5,239 1808-09 7,800 1809-10 8,000 1800. — The first cotton planted in the Ouachita region, was in 1800, and the first gin was built in 1801-02, The quantity exported did not exceed from 100 to 500 bales until 1809 or 1810. 1801. — French planters emigrating from the French West Indies are said to be responsible for the introduction of the cotton-worm into Louisiana about 1801 or 1802. 1804. — “In 1804 the cotton-worm made one of its widest and most devastating invasions,” says Dr. Phares in a lecture before the Woodville Farmers’ Club. It was on this occasion that Father St. Pierre was most earnestly entreated, by his parish- ioners of Louisiana, to furnish holy water with which to repel “les Chinelles.” On November 23, cotton was worth 17 to 18 cents. On July the 5th, 1805, it was worth 23 to 24 cents' and very scarce. 1806. — The Louisiana Gazette (New Orleans), referring to the wealth of Louisiana said an acre of cotton land would produce 250 pounds of cotton, at 20 cents, $50, or $200 to the negro culti- vating 4 acres. 1809. — Cotton was one of the staple commodities of the Opelousas district (now St. Landry parish and a portion of AvoyellesL Cotton was also the principal crop of the planters who had settled on the Red river. KING COTTON 101 Commercial Cotton Crops of Louisiana, 1810-1819 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1810-11 6,220 1815-16 35,557 1811-12 7,135 1816-17 35,000 1 2-1 10,160 15.221 20,021 1817-18 - • 39,212 lSlJH-14. 1818-19 • . 52,000 1814-15 181b-20 48,000 1812. — The Spanish settlements on the La Fourche, consisting of 200 families, cultivated rice, cotton, corn and flax. Louisiana was admitted into the Union April 30th, and that part of West Florida west of the Pearl river, was added to its territory. 1814. — Mr. W^infree, in De Bow’s Review, said that in 1814, or thereabouts, the caterpillar ate the cotton down to the ground in Iberville parish during the month of June. 1816. — Joseph Vidal, of Concordia parish, on August 12 shipped a bale of new cotton to New Orleans. It weighed 360 pounds and was of such superior quality that an offer of 36 cents per pound was made for it. 1818. — At this period there were 18 steamboats engaged in the river trade to and from New Orleans. 1819. — General Wade Hampton, who owned upwards of 400 slaves, raised in one season 500 hogsheads of sugar and 1,000 bales of cotton, then collectively worth upwards of $150,000. General Hampton’s great plantation was about 70 miles up the river from New Orleans at Ouma Point. CO.MMERCIAL CoTTON CrOPS OF LOUISIANA, 1820-1829 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1820-21 1821-22 54.500 69,221 , 55.000 80,159 101,133 1825- 26 1826- 27 138,777 121,795 100,748 95,000 106,207 ■ 1822-23 1827-28 1823-24 1828-29 1824-25 1829-.30 1820. — The American Farmer said: “It appears from respectable oral information that a species of cotton, till lately unknown to us, has been introduced into Louisiana. It is called the Mexican cotton. It is found to ripen in a greater degree 192 LOUISIANA at one time, has a shorter season than any other variety, and is collected in much greater quantities by a laborer in one day. The cotton wool is represented to hang out of the pods and even drop at times from them." This no doubt referred to the Mexican cotton, said to have been first introduced by Dr. Rush Nutt of Petit Gulf, or Walter Burling, of Natchez, Miss. (See Miss, notes, 1806.) 1822. — Since the introduption of the first steamboat on the Mississippi river (1811), 89 steamboats were enrolled at New Orleans with a tonnage of 18,000 tons. The Arkansas river had already been several times ascended by a steamboat, more than 500 miles from the Mississippi. 1823. — During the week ended September 27, the crop in Louisiana was reported to be greatly damaged by high winds and excessive ruins. It was said that the crop would be cut off at least one-third. An overflow covered a large area, and on July 5, the greater portion of the cotton fields in Concordia and Ouachita parishes was under water, entailing a loss of some 30,000 bales of cotton. 1824. — i'or the first time the crop exceeded 100,000 bales. 1825. — In New Orleans cotton sold for 23 to 25 cents a pound. The destruction of the crop by the caterpillar was the worst ever known. It was said to be general in extent, embracing all the cotton States. A New Orleans cotton house failed for .$1,225,000, due to speculations in cotton. A very remarkable state of affairs occurred in New Orleans in the fall of this year, when the purchase of cotton for eleven weeks was almost totally suspended. The Commercial Intelli- gencer of that city, November 5, said in its market report; “After an entire suspension of sales for eleven weeks, hearing of a few transactions since our last, we made more inquiry than usual, and found that there had been sold in all 173 bales of Louisiana and Mississippi cotton, of common and good cpiality, at 15, 151/2. 16, 161/0, 17 and 17% cents.” 1827. — An unprecedented drought seriously damaged the crop. KING COTTON 193 1828. — The kinds of cotton chiefly cultivated were the green seed or Tennessee, and the Mexican. The green seed did not have so fmc a staple but was less subject to rot. The Mexican was of a finer staple, yielded more abundantly and had not hitherto sufifered from rot. It began about this time to come into general use, and the importation of seed from Tampico and Vera Cruz developed into a considerable business. Sea-island cotton was said to grow well on ground that had been exhausted by continued cultivation of other kinds. 1829. — A revolution in agriculture was fairly inaugurated about this time, according to a writer in the Southern Bivouac; “Old things were passing away and all was becoming new. The first field money crops were indigo and cotton, with rice and tobacco as side crops for home supply ; and so late as 1831-32, many indigo vats were to be seen along the Teche. But the success of the sugar crop along the Lower Mississippi coast had turned the attention of planters to seed cane and at this time that was the one great thing needful. In 1835 nearly all the planta- tions on the Teche were in sugar. The old gin houses were turned into sugar mills. Fifty years ago (1835) the Creole population of southwestern Louisiana represented the wealth and power of their section. The planters generally had an easy time of it ; very few of them in debt, they fared sumptuously every day on what they raised themselves and dressed in their neat home cottonade. They moved about in good style and equipage, but there was nothing of the snob, no servants in livery, or aristocracy aping, so disgusting to true Americans everywhere. And in those years as now, they were a polished people, after the similitude of their ancestry, jealous and sensitive of their honor, and brave in defending it. Very few of the Creoles of that day spoke English, or if at all very imperfectly. Their house servants were often used as interpreters, as it seems no trouble for a negro to learn a language. They carried sociability to an extent rarely met with elsewhere. For years it was their custom in ‘Chicot Noir’ neighborhood anrl vicinity to meet at each other's houses every Sunday, and have a good time generally, eat, drink and be merry.” 13 194 LOUISIANA Commercial Cotton Crops of Louisiana, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1830-31 117,743 183.5-36 164,617 1831-32 89.002 1836-37 243.774 1832-33 121,580 1837-.38 291,748 1833-34 156.857 186.238 1838-39 241,871 411.224 1834-35 1839-40 1830. — An item in Niles’ Register stated that from 50,000 to 60,000 bales of cotton were shipped from the Red river during the season 1830-31. 1831. — The first railroad was constructed connecting Lake Ponchar train with New Orleans. This was the second railroad built in the cotton States. 1832. — There was a cotton compress built in New Orleans, known as the “Levee Cotton Press,” as early as 1832. It cost $500,000 and its capacity was 200,000 bales per annum. The Orleans Cotton Press, with a capacity of 150,000 bales, and warehouses for storing 25,000 bales, cost $754,000 and was com- pleted in 1835. 1835. — The City Council of New Orleans ordered the pur- chase of cotton oil “for the use of the City.” The same year the Advertiser of that city announced that the Legislature had incorporated a company entitled the “Cotton Seed Oil and Insur- ance Co.,” and that a mill for making oil would be built in October. 1836. — The New Orleans Price Current (August 6) noted the receipt, “hy the steamer ‘Lamplighter,’ ” of 20 barrels of cotton seed oil and 20 tons of cotton-seed-oil cake. This was no doubt the product of the Natchez, Miss., cotton-seed-oil mill. The crop exceeded 200,000 bales for the first time. The Merchants Exchange Building, fronting on Royal Street and Exchange Place, was completed this year at a cost of $ 100 , 000 . 1839. — The Alexandria Gazette stated that three hands on the plantation of T. D. Spurlock, on Bayou Robert, picked each 518, 490, 390 pounds — ^total 1,398 pounds of cotton from 5 o’clock A. M. to 7 P. M. ; and on the same day three hands on G. Y. KING COTTON 105 Kelsoe’s plantation picked 587, 565, 497 pounds, total 1,649 pounds. Of the 38 parishes reported in the Census of 1839, all raised cotton but eight, Jefferson, Plaquemine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Union and St. John Baptist. The parishes of largest production were: Concordia, West Feliciana, Carroll, East Feliciana and Pointe Coupee. The price of cotton on a Louisiana plantation, in Ouachita parish, from 1839 to 1846, inclusive, for each year was as follows : 1839, 5 % to 8J^ cents ; 1840, 9 to 121/2 cents ; 1841, 7 to 9^ cents; 1842, 4% to 7 % cents; 1843 5% to 9 cents; 1844, 4% to 6J4 cents ; 1845, 6i/4 to 7% cents ; 1846, 10 to 11 cents per pound. The crop for the first time exceeded 400,000 bales. Commercial Cotton Crops of Louisiana, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1840-41 350.812 299,840 1845-46 445,783 303,571 1841-42 1846-47 1842-43 456 858 1847-48 467,626 4-37,518 1843-44 373,786 1848-49 1844-45 399,524 1 849-50 178,737 1840. — There were 26^2 miles of railway in operation. 1841. — Great injury to the crop by the "army worm” in all of the cotton growing parishes. In the upland parishes the crop was also damaged by a long summer drought. A New Orleans- circular March 14, said: “The cotton rates to Europe have further advanced, and we quote at l%d. for cotton to Liverpool in American ships and Ij^d. to lA in British. To Elavre 2% cents have been paid, and corresponding rates for other ports on the continent. There is more offering coastwise than vessels can take and some of our rates are merely nominal, viz: New York — per pound, llj @ 1% cents; Boston — per pound, 1% @ 1J4 cents.” As to the origin of the Mastodon cotton, a variety quite popu- lar at this time, ]\Ir. Abbey (in De Bow’s Review) made the following statement : 196 LOUISIANA The name, Mastodon, was given to it by myself ; its nativity I have never learned. All I know in relation to its origin is, that a traveler in the interior of Mexico, about 5 years ago pur- chased four seed at a high price and brought them to this country. It has been grown now four years by myself. Last year about 20 or 30 other persons cultivated small quantities in Mississippi and Louisiana. On either the river bottoms or uplands, the product is greater than that of the common cotton, and a much more certain crop. The picking of the Mastodon is somewhat better than our common cotton, the bolls being about double the size. It hangs in the bolls slightly tighter than our common cotton, which prevents its falling out in the field. It gins a little harder than the common. It is the easiest to raise and prepare for market pound for pound. The length of the staple is about 2 inches, and is regarded in New Orleans as remarkable for strength and firmness. My present crop (1845) is the first and only Mastodon ever raised in the United States that sold in New Orleans at 16 cents; other small lots were sold at 12^2 cents. This was a disastrous year for the cotton trade. In June and February the price began falling, and by October there was a decline of 2% to 3 cents per pound, involving the failure of many large firms in New Orleans, New York and Liverpool, the liabilities reaching nearly $10,000,000. 1842. — In 1842-43 the price of middling cotton in New Orleans in the first week of each month was September, 6J4 cents ; October, 7 cents ; November, 6 cents ; December, 6 cents ; January, 6 cents ; February, fii/o cents ; March, 4% cents ; April, 5 I/J cents ; May, 6 cents ; June, 614 cents ; July, 6J4 cents ; August, 6J4 cents. The average for the year on the above basis was 5.95 cents. The average in 1844-45 was 5.71 cents; in 1845-46, 6.78 cents; in 1847-48, 7.05 cents, and in 1848-49, 6.40 cents. 1843. — From 1833 to 1843, the public lands sold in this State amounted to 2,639,000 acres The crop w’as damaged by long continued rains and cater- pillars. 1844. — The marked feature of this year was the abundance of the caterpillars in certain parishes. East and West Feliciana, East Baton Rouge. St. Marys, Jackson, IMadison and Catahoula, all lost more or less of the crop. KING COTTON 197 A flood in the Mississippi and its tributaries in June destroyed much of the crop. In the parishes of Carroll, Madison, Tensas, Catahoula and Franklin great damage was done. A partial esti- mate made by the Concordia Intelligencer put the loss at 14,000 bales. Planters on the Red river and its tributaries put their losses at about 130,000 bales. The first bale of the new crop was delivered at New Orleans July 29, from the plantation of A. Doherty, W. Feliciana parish. 1845. — Edmond J. Forstall, in an article published in the New Orleans Topic estimated the crop of Louisiana at 338,989 bales of 450 pounds each, the estimate being based on an average of 1,636 pounds to the hand. The market reports of the day quoted middling to fair cotton in New Orleans as low as 4% cents per pound. The following were the charges of New Orleans commission merchants for handling cotton, as established by the Chamber of Commerce : On sales of cotton, 2^/0 per cent. ; or for selling, $1.00 per bale, and 20 cents per month for storage. 1846. — It was the current report that the crop was nearly destroyed by the caterpillar ; there was too much wet weather and it was thought that one-sixth only of the quantity of cotton was gathered as compared with the previous year. In September of this year cotton was quoted in New Orleans at 11% cents per pound. In May following it dropped to 6 cents. 1848. — The overflow of the Red river caused great damage to the growing crop. The wages of agricultural laborers, according to Prof. De Bow, of die State Statistical Bureau, varied from $12 to $20 per month, the former for females and the latter for stout males ; agricultural laborers, however, were seldom hired, at least for field work. 1849. — Frosts about the middle of April injured the young plants. The Census returns gave Tensas parish the highest total production, 21,665 bales, of 400 pounds each. Middling upland cotton at the beginning of the season was worth at New Orleans 9-J4 cents, and on February 1, advanced to 13% tents per pound. 198 LOUISIANA Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Louisiana, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1850-51 Bales 250,465 412,829 447,298 322,596 .305,911 450,347 323,953 Bales No data 1851-52 1852-53 1853-54 1854-55 1855-56 2.233 3 080 1856-57 1857-58 379,816 2,767 1858-59 500.218 3,056 4, .339 1859-60 777,738 2 6,725 1850. — There were 80 miles of railway in operation this year. G. W. Thompson, of Sabine parish, stated that he had raised sea-island cotton on the high lands of this parish, where it yielded nearly as well as the Petit Gulf. The range of prices for middling upland at New Orleans was from 10% in January to 13% cents per pound in October. New Orleans became the center of a very remarkable and disastrous short-crop speculation this season, 1850-51. Cotton is said to have been shipped from the city to Liverpool at a loss of over $70 a bale. 1851. — The range of prices for middling upland at New Orleans was from 6% in August to 13% cents per pound in Janu- ary; in 1852, from 7 in January to 10 cents in September ; in 1853, from 8 in February to 11 cents in September ; in 1854, from 7% cents in May to 9'% in January; in 1855, from 7% cents in Janu- ary to 12 cents in June; in 1856, from 8% cents in January to 12% cents in December ; in 1857, from 9 cents in December to I 614 cents in September (the latter was the highest quotation for many years) ; in 1858, from 9% cents in January to 12% cents in October; in 1859, from 10% cents in October to 12% in April. 1852. — M. W. Huntington, in a report to the Commissioner of Patents said: cultivators on the bottom lands of Black river, Catahoula parish, obtain an average product in a series of years of 2,000 pounds of seed cotton per acre, about 30 per cent, of which is clean, marketable cotton.” KING COTTON 19y 1853. — William Wilber, of New Orleans, exhibited some samples of cotton oil at a meeting of the American Institute held at New York in October, 1853. The following year, M’ilber & Co., constructed a cotton-seed-oil mill at New Orleans and began making oil with a huller patented by Mr. Wilber in 1855. 1854. — L. Rathbun estimated the yield of cotton in Bossier parish at from 300 to 800 pounds of lint to the acre, and the cost of transportation to New Orleans at about 25 cents per 100 pounds. Dr. Coxe, in an article in the New Orleans Delta, undertook to demonstrate that the planters were throwing away the seed of a 3,000,000 bale crop, that might be made to yield them millions of dollars annually; that lOQ pounds of seed cotton would pro- duce 2 gallons of oil, 48 pounds of oil cake and 6i/4 pounds of soapstock, which last, with additional ingredients of small value, made 20 pounds of soap ; that if only one-half the seed of 3,000,000 bales was used, it could be converted into oil. oil cake and soapstock worth $38,820,000. 1855. - — [Martin & Aldige built and put in operation a cotton- seed-oil mill at New Orleans. A few months later another oil mill was built by A. A. Maginnis. A Commercial Convention was held in New Orleans which adopted this resolution: “That this Convention recommend to the merchants and capitalists of southern ports the establishment of lines of steamers between their respective ports and the dif- ferent ports of Europe. Also, that to further this great object. Congress be recommended to make such appropriation for deepen- ing the inlets and harbors for other purposes as may be deemed necessary.” Apparently the object was to check the decline of exports of cotton from New Orleans and southern ports, which were going overland through New York. 1858.- — P’or the first time the crop this year exceeded 500,000 bales. In commenting on a statement that Col. Bond, of Georgia, had produced a cotton crop in 1858, amounting to 2,100 bales, a con- tributor to De Bow’s Review, said: “There are half a dozen planters in Concordia parish and in others, as also many more 200 LOUISIANA in ^Mississippi that make a higher mark than this.” He mentioned A. V. Davis, Esq., of Concordia parish, as making several hun- dred bales more than Col. Bond; R. L. Marshall, of Louisiana, as making 3,500 bales, and John Ruth, Esq., of Hard Times, equally as much, if not more ; Fred. Stanton, Esq., 2,800 bales in 1859, and a still larger crop in 1855 — all in Louisiana. L. R. iMarshall, of Natchez, Miss., was a producer of 4,000 bales ; Dr. Stephen Duncan, of Mississippi, more than 4,000 bales. "The greatest estates of the two princely planters of this region,” he added, “the late Samuel Davis and Francis Surget, Esq., always produced from 3,000 to 5,000 bales each, until their deaths divided their estates.” The late Ned Richardson, of Jackson, Miss., who owned a number of plantations in Louisiana and Mississippi, between 1870 and 1880 often made crops exceeding 10,000 bales, and was no doubt the most extensive cotton planter in the world, unless the Khedive of Egypt be excepted. The crop for the first time exceeded a half-million bales. 1859. — The largest crop to date, 777,738 bales, was produced this year. Tensas parish, according to the Census produced 141,493 bales of 400 pounds each, which was the highest yield made by any parish. The Chicago, St. Louis 8z New Orleans R. R., now the Illinois Central, from New Orleans to East Cairo (547 miles), w'as char- tered in 1852, and opened from New Orleans to Canton, IMiss. (206 miles), in 1859, and extended to the Ohio river in 1873. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Louisiana, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1860-61 5.55,755 4,979 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 1863-64 do do do do 1864-65 do do do do 1865-66 do do do do 1866-67 164,949 1,265 do do 1867-68 1.59,941 1,426 do do 1868-69 2.57,437 1 ,380 do do 1869-70 .350,8.32 1,707 4 13,084 COTTON COMPRESS AT ALEXANDRIA, LA. Courtesy of W. Collier Estes, Shreveport, La. KING COTTON 201 1860. — There were 335 miles of railway in operation this year. The range of prices at New Orleans for middling upland was from 1)14 in December to 111/4 cents per pound in October. 1861. — Only 27,678 bales of cotton were shipped from New Orleans coastwise and to foreign countries during the season 1861-62. The New Orleans Crescent strongly urged the planters to destroy their cotton, “rather than let it fall into the hands of the Yankees." 1862. — The exports and coastwise shipments of cotton from New Orleans amounted to 23,750 bales. There was an increase in 1863 to 128,130, and in 1864 to 192,351 bales. 1863. — The tax on cotton collected in the State by the Federal Government amounted to $19,921; in 1864, $436,045; in 1865, $593,108, and in 1866, $4,300,150. 1865. — The following appeared in a New Orleans paper: — - “The abrogation of the $5.00 per bale hospital tax and the 20 per cent, war tax on cotton by proclamation of the President, have had a happy effect throughout the country and especially upon our market, giving an impetus to all branches of the busi- ness. Not only is the great staple coming forward more freely, but the demand is more general and active, with an advance of profits.” 1866. — Middling upland cotton was worth from 31 to 49 cents per pound at New Orleans in 1866 ; from I 414 to 331/2 cents in 1867 ; from 15 to 311/0 cents in 1868 ; and from 23% to 321/4 cents in 1869. The merchants of New Orleans memorialized the Secretary of the Treasury in regard to the oppressiveness of the direct tax on cotton. This tax was collected under an act of Congress passed July 1, 1862, requiring the producer to pay a tax of 2 cents per pound. Subsequently, July 13. 1866, the act was so amended as to increase the tax to 3 cents per pound. The total amount of tax so collected during the six years the laws were in force, was $68,072,388.99. The caterpillar destroyed nearly one-half of the crop this year. 202 LOUISIANA Prof. De Bow, after making an extensive tour through the cotton States, estimated that the crop would not exceed 1,200,000 bales, as only about a half of the cotton land would be under cultivation, and the negro, “under the wild hopes of freedom, would not return to the plantation, besides the efficient labor had been reduced by the war at least one-fourth.” 1867. — The Report of the State Commissioner of Immigration said: “The quantity of this product (cotton) raised by exclusive white labor has been immensely greater than has been heretofore estimated. In every part of this State (La.) as soon as you leave the limits of the great plantations during the season of cultivation, we find not only white men, but boys and girls labor- ing at all hours in the fields. These people are uniformly the most robust, vigorous and healthy of the population.” The tax on cotton collected in the State by the Federal Gov- ernment amounted to $2,971,708, and in 1868 to $1,777,569. 1868. — The caterpillar caused some damage, but not so much as in 1867. 1869. — -The Census gave Concordia the largest total produc- tion of any parish in the State, 26,712 bales. Dr. Alford, on 2)4 acres of poor pine land, applied superphos- phates at the rate of 350 pounds to the acre, planting and culti- vating in the usual manner. From the fertilized land so treated, he made 3,000 pounds of seed cotton, or 1,333 pounds of lint to the acre were gathered, while similar land adjoining and not fer- tilized, produced only 100 pounds per acre. Commercial Crops axd Consumption of Cotton in Louisiana, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 600.000 Bales 1.911 No data No data 1871-72 396.000 2,520 do do 187‘>-73 520,000 2,790 do do 1873-74 510.000 2,790 3 15,000 1874-75 520.000 2,340 No data No Data 1875-76 650,000 2,278 do do 1876-77 560,000 889 do do 1877-78 420,000 1.057 do do 1878-79 476,629 1.302 do do 1879-80 508.569 1 ..358 2 6,096 KING COTTON 203 1870. — There were 450 miles of railway in operation this year. The New Orleans & INIobile R. R., now the Louisville & Nashville, from New Orleans to Mobile (141 miles), was chartered in 1869 and completed on October 29, 1870. The following are the lowest and highest quotations for middling upland cotton at New Orleans for each of the years named : 1870, U% to 24% cents ; 1871, 14 to 201/2 cents ; 1872, I8I/2 to 21% cents; 1873, U% to 20 cents; 1874, 14 to 18 cents; 1875, 121/0 to 16 cents; 1876, 10% to 13% cents; 1877, 10% to 12% cents; 1878, 8% to 11% cents; and 1879, 9'% to 12% cents. 1871. — The crop suffered from continuous rains during the month of June. The rainfall at New Orleans during the month was 11.3 inches, as compared with 3.3 inches the previous June. The caterpillar destroyed much of the crop. The loss in- St. Landry parish was very great, 45 per cent, in Iberia, and a third of the crop in Washington. Avoyelles reported a total loss and Caddo serious injur}". 1872. — I'he damage from the caterpillar was almost as serious this year as in 1871. 1873. — The destruction caused by the cotton-worm was said to be the most serious on record. In the southern parishes from one-third to nearly the whole of the crop was reported as destroyed. An effort was made to have Congress refund the revenue taxes collected on cotton from 1863 to 1868. The amounts collected from the planters during each fiscal year while the law was in force, were as follows: 1863, $351,311; 1864, $1,268,412; 1865, $1,772,983; 1866, $18,409,655; 1867, $23,769,079; 1868, $22,500,948; total, $68,072,388. 1874. — The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans, and other cities, began (October 1) the quotation of prices for the new grades of cotton established by the National Cotton Exchange. The new classification was as follows : Ordinary, good ordinary, low middling, strict good ordinary, middling, good middling, middling fair and fair. The National Cotton Exchange proposed to the Weather Bureau a plan for collecting information by telegraph in regard to the growing cotton crops which was adopted. 204 LOUISIANA 1875. — A planter of Bossier parish reported making 600 bales on 480 acres. In Concordia parish a yield of II /2 to 2 bales to the acre was not uncommon. 1876. — The damage by the caterpillar this year was slight as compared with previous '-ears. 1878. — The cotton-worm injured the crop in seven parishes. They were most injurious in Bienville, Bossier and Caddo parishes. 1879. — The’ Department of Agriculture estimatefl the loss from cotton-worms, from 1875 to 1878, inclu.'^ive, at 438,700 bales. The Census gave Tensas parish the largest total production, viz : 41,859 bales, and East Carroll the highest yield, a little under a bale per acre. There were 23 cotton oil mills in the State. Commercial Crops and Consu.mption of Cotton in Louisiana, 1880-1889 Total Domestic Number Number of Crop Consumption of Mills Spindles Bales Bales 1880-81 3,59.147 .5,175 No data No data 1881-82 485.000 6,601 do do 1882-83 .560,000 7,199 do do 188.3-84 490,200 7.820 do do 1884-8.5 485,200 7,268 do do 1885-86 487,722 8.763 do do 1886-87 471,974 9,160 2 27.000 1887-88 504.622 9,517 2 26,500 1888-89 446,778 8.036 2 30.000 1889-90 6.59,180 12,223 2 45,101 1880. — Excessive rains in the fall months injured the crop greatly. There were 652 miles of railway in operation this year. J. P. Aloore, of IMilliken's Bend, patented a device for cotton picking consisting of brushes and combs made to revolve in a frame that would straddle the cotton rows. The Louisiana Western R. R., now the Southern Pacific, from New Orleans to Houston (362 miles), began building in 1879 and the whole line was put in operation in August, 1880. The Louisiana Western, now the Southern Pacific, from Lafayette to Orange (112 miles), was completed in August. KING COTTON 205 1881. — Boll-worms destroyed 29', 649 bales of cotton, as esti- mated b>' the Department of x-\griculture. One of the largest cargoes of cotton ever handled by a Missis- sippi river steamer, was carried into New Orleans in March of this year by the steamer "Henry Frank,” and consisted of 9,226 bales. 1882. — The corner-stone of a new Cotton Exchange building at New Orleans was laid January 23,d. The boll-worm damaged the crops. In 1883 the cotton-worm also made its appearance, and in 1885 both of the above insects infested the cotton fields. The Texas & Pacific Ry., from New Orleans, via Shreve- port, to El Paso, Texas (1,236 miles), was organized in 1871 and completed on January 1. The Texas & Pacific Ry.. from New Orleans to Shreveport (325 miles), was opened for through traffic October 15. 1883. — There were 19 cotton oil mills in operation in the State at this time. The New Orleans & North Eastern R. R.. now the Queen & Crescent, from New Orleans to Meridian (196 miles), was chartered in 1870 and completed November 1. 1884. — The Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R.. now a part of the Queen & Crescent Line, from Delta to Shreveport ( 169 miles ; . chartered in 1883, was opened from Delta opposite Vicksburg, to Tlonroe, in January, 1861, and to Shreveport in August. The Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Ry.. now the Yazoo & Tlississippi A'alley Railway, from New Orleans to Memphis (455 miles,, was constructed from New Orleans to Vicksburg (235 miles'), in 1884 and the entire line opened November 1. The New Orleans Cotton Centennial was held this year. Senator Garland (Ark.), who introduced a bill for the Govern- ment's encouragement of the Exposition, said the project had originated in November, 1882, with the Cotton Planters’ Associa- tion at their convention in Little Rock, Arkansas. 1885. — According to Zacharie’s New Orleans Guide, there were seven cotton-seed-oil mills in operation in that citv. 206 LOUISIANA 1886. — The Natchez, Red River & Texas R. R., from Vidalia to Black River, was chartered in 1881 and completed in April. 1889. — Claiborne parish returns to the Census showed the largest area in cotton, 70,991 acres, and Tensas the largest total production, 40,957 bales. A Convention of American Cotton Exchanges was held on September 11 at New Orleans, which adopted the following resolution: “That on and after the first day of October, 1889, all cotton shall be sold at net weight, allowing 24 pounds off gross weight for tare on jute covered bales, and 16 pounds off for tare on cotton covered bales, the cotton covering to be of standard weight, % of a pound to the yard.” Co;viMERCiAL Crops axd Consumption of Cotton in Louisiana, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1890-91 Bales 736,000 Bales 12,894 2 50,000 1891-92 635,000 15,087 4 50.400 1892-93 340,000 16,999 4 50,000 1893-94 473.000 14.713 4 52,.328 1894-95 760.757 16,429 4 57,828 1895-96 513,843 13,.344 4 60.752 1896-97 567,251 14.922 2 57.752 1897-98 788,325 16,065 3 59,252 1898-99 717,747 18,749 .3 58,272 1899-00 708,508 15,695 5 62,222 1890. — A bill was introduced in Congress taxing all dealers in options or futures in all farm products $1,000 per annum, and also requiring the dealer to pay 5 cents a pound for each and every pound of cotton sold for future delivery. The Cotton Exchanges at New Orleans, New York, and other cities protested against the passage of the bill. It never became a law. There were 1,740 miles of railway in operation this year. 1892. — The Kansas City, Watkins & Gulf R. R., from Lake Charles to Alexandria (98 miles), was chartered in 1887 and completed in July. A fire originating among the compresses at New Orleans on April 3, destroyed about 30,000 bales of cotton. 1893. — -Cotton has long since ceased to be the product of the KING COTTON •>07 negro, said Edward Atkinson. The white States and white districts have become the cotton centers of the South. The negro parishes of Carroll, Tensas and Madison, the finest cotton country in the world, where the yield is greater and the staple the finest, produce far smaller crops than they bore thirty years ago, while the white counties of Texas have increased their production four and five-fold. Otken states (Ills of the South) that if the gain in cotton production by white labor is 2^ per cent, annually since 1883, then the cotton produced by white labor in 1893 is about 70 per cent, of the entire crop. The crop was cut off by continuous wet weather in the spring, and also by the ravages of insects. 1894. — Regarding the condition of the cotton planters the Commissioner of Agriculture said in his annual Report (1894) : “They have learned self-reliance and find to their joy that a few bales of low-priced cotton, with everything else needed on the farm raised at home, is absolutely better than scores of bales, with everything to buy.” The general condition of the small farmers was, he believed, better than ever, and that the continued low price of cotton had been largely instrumental in forcing such a desirable result. The New Orleans & North Western R. R., from Natchez to Bastrop, was chartered in 1887 and completed in May, 1894. 1895. — The New Orleans Cotton Exchange issued a circular calling attention to the inferior bagging and ties used for wrap- ping cotton bales, and urged the use of 2 ^/^ pound bagging and heavier ties. 189'6. — The average cost of raising a pound of cotton this year as ascertained by the Department of Agriculture was 5.01 cents per pound. 1897. — The largest crop in the history of the State to date, 788,325 bales, was produced this year. The steamer “Milwaukee,” which cleared from New Orleans for Liverpool on October 30, carried 23,814 bales of cotton. To date this was the largest cargo of cotton ever carried from any United States port. (See Texas notes, 1900.) The unprecedented floods in the Mississippi in April and May, 208 LOUISIANA and the breaking of the levees inundated about a million acres of farm lands, one-fourth of which was devoted to cotton. In consequence planting was greatly retarded in the river counties. The Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf R. R., now the Kansas City Southern, from the Arkansas State line, via Shreveport to Port Arthur, was chartered in 1887 and the entire line from Kansas City to Port Arthur (786 miles), was opened Sep- tember 11. 1899. — There were 2,148 cotton gins in operation this year ; in 1900 there were 2,089, and in 1901, 2,207. The average output of each gin, for each season, according to the Census, was, respectively, 330, 342 and 390 bales. The average cost of ginning and baling in 1899 was $1.75 per bale. Mayor Flower, of New Orleans, issued a call for a Cotton Congress to meet in New Orleans on February 19, the object being to discuss a remedy for the low price of cotton. Some of the varieties of cotton planted at the Calhoun Experi- ment Station and which returned the highest yield of seed cotton per acre, were, in the order named: Hawkin's Prolific, Texas Burr, Truitt’s Improved, Jones’ Improved, etc. The experiments with sea-island and Egyptian cottons were not satisfactory. There were 2,664 miles of railway in operation this year. St. Landry parish had the highest total production, 44,729 bales. The Texarkana, Shreveport & Natchez Ry., from Shreveport to Texarkana (72 miles), was chartered in 1888 and completed during this year. During this year 88,328 farmers engaged in the cultivation of 1,376,254 acres of cotton which produced 349,760,572 pounds of lint, or an average of 254 pounds per acre. The parishes report- ing the largest acreage were, St. Landry, Caddo, Claiborne, Bossier, De Soto, Natchidoches, Avoyelles, Morehouse and Pointe Coupee. The Census returns showed that St. Landry parish not only planted the largest area in cotton, but also produced a larger crop than any other parish in the State. The area planted was 78,369 acres, and the yield 42,036 bales. KING COTTON 209 Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Louisiana, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 714,073 Bales 16.694 5 62,652 1901-02 860.848 17,843 6 67.052 1902-03 911,953 17,320 6 67,252 190.3-04 858.568 13.568 5 67,048 1904-05 1,109.121 13,917 5 67,496 1905-06 523,021 16,141 4 92,700 1906-07 955.473 16,182 4 91,252 1907 -OS 662,032 14,012 4 89,552 1900. — There were in operation this year twenty-one cotton oil mills that consumed 250,983 tons of seed valued at $2,833,767. Of the seed produced in the State 71.7 per cent, was manufactured into oil products valued at $1,397,891. • The crop was damaged by the boll-worm. Pointe Coupee and Cameron parishes were the center of the greatest injury. The steamer "iNIechanician" cleared from New Orleans for Liverpool (October 31) with a cargo of 26,000 bales of cotton. The record cotton cargo, 26,120 bales, was carried by the steamer “Irada" from Galveston to Liverpool. October 20, 1900. (See Texas notes, 1900.) The Louisiana & Arkansas R. R., from Ashland, La., to Stamps, Ark. (92 miles), was chartered in 1898 and opened in 1900. A patent was granted to John A. Peer, of New’ Orleans, for an automatic cotton-picker, consisting of laterallv extending picker-belts, the revolving belts being provided with pickers and separated so as to permit the branches of the plants to pass between them. Patents for cotton-picking devices were also granted to William. J. Dyer, of Shreveport, and to George C. Phillips, of (Manchac (in 1894). 1902. — A patent was granted to Peter F. Haertl, of Shreve- port. for a cotton harvesting machine. 1903. — The Mexican boll-weevil made its first appearance in Sabine parish. In 1907 it. reached and crossed the Mississippi . State line. The stocks at interior towms at the close of the season. August . 14 210 LOUISIANA 31, were the smallest in many years, and amounted to less than 1,000 bales. It is said that a pool, formed by New Orleans and New York cotton merchants, made $8,000,000 on the advance in the price of cotton during the season. Referring to the great scarcity of cotton at the close of the season, a news item said that a great deal of “queer cotton” was received at New Orleans. Owners of gins scraped their floors and made up several bales, and one bale, of the crop of 1872, was received from Georgia which had been held by a planter for thirty-one years. The bale had lost 50 pounds of its original weight, but the staple was as good as ever. The planter ordered the bale to be sold whenever the market reached 16 cents. 1904. — The price of July cotton contracts, on January 26, reached 16 cents in New Orleans, and on January 28, 16.90 cents. A few days later (February 1) July cotton sold at 18.14 cents. A convention was held at Shreveport to devise some means of exterminating the boll-weevil. 1905. — A great cotton convention was held at New Orleans, January 12, when the Southern Cotton Association was organ- ized, the object being “to protect and develop the cotton and agricultural interests of the cotton growing States.” The Con- vention adopted resolutions to hold the balance of the crop for 15 cents a pound, and to reduce the cotton acreage 25 per cent. The announcement of the Government condition report at New Orleans, July 3, caused a remarkable advance in future contracts. October contracts within a few minutes rose from 9.40 cents to 10.53. The ginners’ report of November 21, also caused a sensational advance, spots gaining nearly % cent a pound and futures 102 points, all within an hour and a half. 1906. — The first cotton bloom of the season was exhibited at Forest Hill, Rapides parish, April 30. A severe storm on September 27-28 damaged the crop consid- erably in the northeastern section of the State. The eastern limit of the territory infected by the boll-weevil at this time was the center of Rapides parish, about 50 miles from the Mississippi river. KING COTTON 211 The Sonthern Cotton Association held its second annual convention at New Orleans in January, and resolved to reduce the cotton acreage 15 per cent, from that of 1905, and to hold the balance of the crop for 15 cents. According to the Department of Agriculture the acreage increased over 5,000,000 acres, and New York prices after the convention was held advanced from 11 cents in February to 13% cents in August. 1907. — According to the Census there were 1,874 cotton gins in operation, the average output of each gin being 364 bales. There were 50 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 178,572 tons of seed costing $2,857,152. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $4,722,078. CHAPTER X Texas, and Its Cotton Crops from 1833 to 1908 — Number OF Cotton Mills and Spindles and Domestic Consume T iON OF Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotion Production. It is not at all improbable that the cotton plant was a native of Texas. And why not? The earliest Spanish explorers found it in South and Central America, and in Mexico, and certainly the climate and soil of Texas were equally adapted to its growth. And there is very good historical evidence that it was also found in Texas. One of the many Spanish expeditions to America was that of Panfelo de Narvaez, which left Spain in 1527. The expedition was wrecked on the Gulf coast, and of the three hundred who set out with Narvaez, only four returned to civilization. They were cast ashore at some point west of Matagorda Bay, and after living with the Indian tribes of Texas some six or eight years, finally made their way to Sinaloa on the western coast of Mexico. They travelled as far inland as the Red river, and in 1536, some- where in North Texas, they encountered a tribe that wore cotton shirts and used cotton blankets.^ Although there were Spanish and French settlements in Texas as early as 1685 and 1691, they were made simply for the pur- pose of acquiring a title to the soil. For more than one hundred years the Spanish occupied this splendid country, without turn- ing a hand to develop its resources, and it was not until August, 1821, when Austin arrived on the banks of the Brazos river, after having obtained permission of the Spanish governor to explore the country, that it began to attract the attention of the outside world. One of the earliest of Austin’s colonists was Col. Jared E. ^ Narrative of Alvrz Nurez CabrcT de Vaci. translated by Buckingham Smith (1858y. 212 KING COTTON 2i;j Groce, to whom, perhaps, belongs the distinction oi introducing cotton culture. In 1825 he erected on the Brazos river the second cotton gin in the territory, the first having been built by John Cartwright, of “the Redlands.” Beginning with 1825, and induced by the extreme liberality of the Mexican colonization laws, immigrants poured into Texas, and wherever new settlements were made cotton culture was introduced. The production of the staple increased from year to year, until in 1834 it exceeded 2,000 bales. In 1840 it was nearly 8,000 bales, and when the State was admitted into the Union (1845) it had reached 27,000 bales. The Census of 1850 showed a production of 58,000 bales, and that of 1860, 431,000, which was the largest crop made prior to the Civil War. By reason of the newness and cheapness of its lands, Texas, after the war, became the most invdting field in the South to the impover- ished cotton planter, particularly to the small and thrifty class of planters. Emigrants poured into the State, and from a pro- duction of 245,000 bales in 1866 the crop increased to 1,105,000 bales in 1878, which placed Texas in the lead as a cotton produc- ing State. During the decade 1880-1890, the crop increased to 1,594,000 bales, and in the next decade, 1890-1900, to 3,363,000. The two greatest crops produced in the State were 3,536,506 bales in 1900, and 4,029,261 bales in 1906. The Mexican boll-weevil, which is believed to have crossed the Rio Grande river in the vicinity of Brownsville in 1892, has spread over the State with remarkable rapidity. In 1895 it had made its way 200 miles north of Brownsville, in 1901, 500 miles, in 1903, had crossed the Louisiana line, and in 1906, the Red river into Indian Territory, and now infests every county except- ing a few in the western and northwestern sections of the State. Cotton culture is extending with great rapidity to the unset- tled western counties, and it will not be very many years before every tillable county in the State will produce more or less of this crop. As to the possibilities of cotton culture in Texas Governor Sayers, in 1900, made the statement that at that time not exceed- ing one-third, if so much, of the cotton producing area was then under cultivation, and making due allowance for the diversifica- 214 TEXAS tion of crops, that if assurance could be given that for ten years in succession the price of cotton at the gin would average 8 cents per pound, the annual product of the State would within that time reach fully 10,000,000 balesd The Census returns for 1897 placed the area under cultivation at 2,178,000 acres, while the estimate of the Department of Agriculture for 1906 was 9,439,000 acres, an increase of 7,261,000 acres, or 333 per cent. The production in 1879, according to the Census, was 805,000 bales as compared with 4,029,000 in 1906, an increase of 3,224,000 bales or 400 per cent. This shows an increase in production during this period of 67 per cent, more than the increase in area. Commercial Cotton Crops of Texas, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1830-31 335 1835-36 3.599 1831-32 .541 1836-37 2,931 1832-33 1837-38 3 935 1833-34 2,100 1838-39 4 922 1834-35 3,084 1839-40 6,970 1831. — This year the population of Texas numbered about 20.000. In 1834, according to Almonte’s Report to his Govern- ment, the number at each settlement was : Bexar, 2,400 ; San Patricio, 600; Nacogdoches, 3,500; Gonzales, 900; Victoria, 300; Jonesborough, 2,000; Goliad, 700; San Felipi, 2,500; San Augus- tine, 2,500; Columbia, 2,100; Liberty, 1,000; Mina, 1,100; total, 21 . 000 . The crop of one planter on the Brazos river, who had 93 acres under cultivation, consisted of 80 bales of cotton, 2,000 bushels of corn, 500 bushels of sweet potatoes, besides other articles of minor importance. This would indicate that cotton was the chief crop of the new emigrants. Edwin Waller sent a schooner load of cotton from the mouth of the Brazos to Matamoras this year. The cotton ( in the seed) sold for 621/2 cents per pound. Such was the rapid increase in the production that it was estimated that in 1834 the crop was sold for .$600,000. ^ Future Demand for American Cotton. (J. L. Watkins), Dept, of Agriculture. KING COTTON 215 One of the Texas historians says; “Cotton planting com- mences in February in Texas, and picking begins at an earlier and continues for a longer period than in the United States. It has been noted as a remarkable fact in North Alabama, that a single cotton blossom had been discovered in a field as early as July 4. In the same year between June 25th and 30th, 190 blossoms were counted upon a single stalk of cotton on the Caney in Texas. Superior cotton-growing land will yield from 1^/2 to 2 bales of clean cotton to the acre.” 1833. — Upwards of 2,000 bales of cotton, weighing from 400 to 500 pounds each, were exported from the Brazos river during this year. At this time cotton was exported regularly from Brazoria to New Orleans, where it paid 2i/^ cents duty, and realized 10 to 1014 cents per pound for the exporter, after paying cost of transportation. The citizens of Texas held a convention at San Felipi, at which they memorialized the Mexican Congress to separate Texas from the province of Coahuial, to which it had been annexed and allow it a separate state government. No attention was paid to the memorial, but Col. Joan Almonte was sent by President Santa Anna to visit Texas and make a report as to its condition, etc. 1834. — Cotton-worms appeared for the first time and injured the crop. They were said to have been introduced from a boat- load of cotton seed brought from New Orleans In a report to the Mexican government Col. Joan Almonte said : “There will be exported during this year about 2,000 bales of cotton from the Nacogdoches Department. There .are machines for cleaning and pressing cotton in the Departments of Nacogdoches and the Brazos.” This year the population was estimated at 36,000, of which 15,300 were Indians. 1835. — On the 27th of November the financial committee that made a report to the Provisional government on the resources of Texas estimated the export of cotton at 60,000 bales. (The estimate was undoubtedly exaggerated.) 1836. — ^On account of the war with Mexico for Texas hide- 216 TEXAS pendence, the people about this time raised comparatively little cotton, or crops of any kind. Texas was declared an independent Republic this year. 1837. — During the latter months of the year a large number of immigrants came into the country. They brought with them substantial means and industrious habits. Lands had risen in value so that Texas was in a prosperous condition. During the year her farmers had made good crops, that of cotton alone being estimated at 50,000 bales and worth at the selling prices, $ 2 , 000 , 000 . The first steamboat that visited Houston was the "Laura,” in January of this year. Commercial Cotton Crops of Texas, 1S40-1849 Year ■ Total Crop Y ear Total Crop 1840-41 7,941 13,237 15,328 18,170 25,879 1845-46 27.008 18,317 40,000 50,183 58,072 1841-42 1846-47 1842-43 1847-48 1843-44 1848-49 1844-45 1849-50 1843. — This year 15,328 bales of Texas grown cotton were marketed at New Orleans. The crops were injured by floods. A. M. Hanna reported making a crop of 51 bales (Dean variety), 500 pounds to the bale, 1,800 pounds to the acre, and 17 bales to each hand, on 70 acres of black prairie land. 1844. — Z. P. Walker, of Wharton county, reported the highest yield of cotton in his county, on the best alluvial and cane lands, at 3 bales to the acre, of 500 pounds each, but on account of high winds and rains the average yield was reduced to 11/2 bales gathered to the acre. 1845. — The caterpillar and boll-worm caused great destruc- tion to the crop. An event that has had the most important bearing upon the future cotton supply, occurred during this crop year. On Decem- ber 22, the Republic of Texas was formally admitted into and became one of the United States. 1846. — The caterpillar made its appearance very early this MARKETING COTTON AT WACO. TEXAS. Courtesy of W. J. Neale. W aco, Texas. KING COTTON 217 year and caused more damage than ever. They made great havoc in the coast counties, but the inland counties did not suffer so much. Walker, however, and some of the surrounding counties, lost from 50 to 60 per cent, of the crop. 1847. — A contributor to De Bow's Review estimated that the area planted this year in cotton in Brazoria county was 7,054 acres, and the yield 500 pounds of lint cotton to the acre, worth, at 10 cents per pound, $352,700. The acreage in cotton was greatly increased ; in some counties as much as one-third, in others one-half, while 300 or more bales were mentioned as the first crop raised in some counties. The crop of Jasper county was estimated by John Frazer at 582 bales of 500 pounds each. Seed cotton was worth 2 cents a pound. 1848. — The varieties of seed most commonly in use were the Mexican and Mastodon. S. W. Kellogg made the following estimate of yield in each of the counties named : Brazos, 245 ; Robertson, 225 ; Leon, 600, and Limestone, 700 bales of 500 pounds each. 1849. — Frosts about the middle of April resulted in much damage to the young plants. Colorado county reported to the Census the highest total production of any county in the State, 4,771 bales of 400 pounds each. At this period a large amount of cotton produced in the State found its way to the New Orleans market, via Red river. This was the usual route to market prior to the building of the trunk line railroads in the ’70’s. Early cotton was in blossom about ]\Iay 20th. It began to open generally about August 1, though much was open and ready to pick before that time. The usual time of picking among planters generally was about August 10th, on bottom lands and earlier on uplands. Eight bales per hand weighing 500 pounds each was about the average on well-managed plantations. Bottom lands averaged 2,000 pounds or more to the acre, uplands 12 to 1,400 pounds to the acre. Ten bales may be made and gathered by each hand, and sometimes more was raised. The season for 218 TEXAS gathering cotton was from 3 to 4 weeks longer in Texas than in Alabama. Commercial Cotton Crops of Texas, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1850-51 65,727 78,598 100,553 132,116 125,427 1855-56 139,679 107,385 174,882 259,974 431,463 1851- 52 1852- 58 18.56-57 1857-58. .. 1853-54 1858-59 1854-55 1859-60 1850. — Frank H. Clark gave the yield of Red river bottom cotton lands at 1,600 to 2,000 pounds of lint per acre. S. G. Par- sons estimated the average yield per acre in the upper Trinity river country at a 500-pound bale to the acre. 1851. — Edward Dougherty, in a report to the Commissioner of Patents (from Cameron count}^, said: “Cotton was formerly cultivated in this valley, but the advent of the American army here, in 1846, was the cause of all agricultural operations being suspended. Cotton has not been cultivated since, although several planters will renew its cultivation this year.” The Hogan variety was reported as yielding 1,788 pounds per acre in San Augustine county, whereas, the Petit Gulf planted on the same kind of soil yielded but 1,300 pounds of seed cotton. The yield of Wharton county was reported as a bale of 500 pounds to the acre. The question was, not how much per acre, but how much per hand. The general opinion was that the average per hand was 8 bales. The average yield in Guadelupe county was reported to be 400 pounds of clean cotton per acre, and the average for Colorado county, 350 pounds. 1852. — The crops were badly damaged by floods. For the first time the crop this year exceeded 100,000 bales. The Galveston News stated that D. W. Quarles, whose plan- tation was on Oyster Creek, P)razoria county, had made this season on 160 acres of land, with 12 hands, 400 bales of cotton. 1854. — The Galveston. Houston & Henderson R. R., from Galveston to Houston (50 miles), was chartered in 1848 and completed in 1854. KING COTTON 219 1858. — The crop for the first time exceeded 200,000 bales. 1859. — The Census gave San Augustine county the highest total production of any county in the State, 31,342 bales of 400 pounds each. Cotton grown by Germans attracted attention in Liverpool. In a review of the cotton supply of the world, in Ure’s “Cotton Manufacture” is the following: “Last of all, but not least in importance, are 16 bales of free grown cotton from Texas, which was sold at 7%d. per pound. We sincerely trust that the German emigrants who produced them, may be stimulated to increase their crops a thousand fold.” The crop exceeded for the first time 400,000 bales. There was one cotton mill in the State operating 2,700 spindles that consumed 1,278 bales of cotton. Commercial Crops and Consu.mption of Cotton in Texas, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61 Bales 308,314 Bales 1,505 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 1863-64 do do do do 1864-65 do do do do 1865-66 do do do do 1866-67 247,837 1,870 do do 1867-68 206,354 2,108 do do 1868-69 267,436 2,040 do do 1869-70 350,628 2,448 4 8,878 1860. — A patent was granted to S. Z. Hall, for a gin feeder and to S. r. Sweeney for a cotton planter. There were at this time 307 miles of railway in operation in the State. 1861. — Texas and also Mississippi and North Carolina, fol- lowed the example of the Confederate government in issuing bonds on the security of cotton obtained in exchange for the bonds, or by the issue of State treasury notes. Her cotton bonds were made payable from 6 to 12 years “after the close of the war,” and the interest of one issue was made payable in specie one year after its close. One of the objects of this legislation was to supply the planters with a “sound circulating medium.” 220 TEXAS 1862. — The San Antonio & Alexican Gulf R. R., from Port Lavaca to Indianola, 25 miles, was opened this year. 1866. — The tax on cotton collected by the Federal govern- ment was $1,395,524. Considerable damage was done this year by the caterpillar. Goliad county reported almost a total loss. The loss in the State was said to amount to about 40 per cent. 1867. — The caterpillar was very destructive this year. In Colorado and Fayette counties their damage was greater than ever experienced. There was almost a complete failure of the crop in Red River county. The tax on cotton collected by the Federal Government was $2,780,307. In 1868 it was $1,326,570. 1868. — The caterpillar damaged the crop, but not so badly as in 1867. 1869. — The Census returns showed a larger yield in Wash- ington than any other county in the State, its total production being 22,452 bales. There were 2 cotton mills in the State operating 1,716 spindles. At this time the region of cotton cultivation extended nearly half-way across the the State, from east to west, and embraced in its limits about 108,000 square miles, or about 41 per cent, of the land area. A line marking its western limit would pass southward from Red river, through the counties of Montague, Wise, Parker, Erath and Hamilton to Atascosa, and thence east- ward to Matagorda county. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Texas, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 400,000 Bales 2,730 No data No data 1871-72 280,000 3,600 do do 1872-73 495,000 4,192 do do 1873-74 500,000 2,755 4 10,225 1874-75 535,000 351 No data No data 1875-76 690,000 228 do do 1876-77 7.35,000 216 do do 1877-78 610,000 257 do do 1878-79. 1,105,1.33 360 do do 1879-80 805,284 246 2 2,648 KING COTTON 221 1870. — The crops of cotton were very large in 1869-70, not- withstanding the floods. There were 711 miles of railway in operation this year. D. ]\I. IvIcRae of Weberville was granted a patent for a cotton-picking machine consisting of guards, saws and brushing drums. 1872. — Considerable damage was caused by the ravages of the caterpillar. The International & Great Northern R. R., from Longview to Houston (236 miles), was chartered in 1870 and completed in December. A bale of cotton produced in Dallas county and weighing 39'4 pounds was received at Galveston, July 16, and from thence shipped to New Orleans. It was sold in Galveston for 93 cents per pound, gold, which with the $200 premium paid by Galveston factors, would make about $625 received by the producer for the 394 pounds. 1873. — The Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. was completed to Denison January 1. The destruction caused by the cotton worm this year, was perhaps the most serious on record. In Atacosa county they ate up the third planting of cotton, the grasshoppers having destroyed the first two. The destruction was pretty general throughout the State. The Houston & Texas Central R. R., from Houston to Red River City (343 miles), was chartered in 1848, opened to Hemp- stead, 50 miles, in 1865 ; to Millican, 80 miles, in 1866 ; to Bryan, 99 miles, in 1867 ; to Calvert, 128 miles, in 1868 ; to Bremond, 142 miles, in 1869 ; to Groesbeck, 170 miles, in 1870 ; to Corsi- cana, 211 miles, in 1871, and completed to the Red River, March 11, 1873. The crop this year for the first time reached 500,000 bales. 1874. — The St. Louis, Iron Mt. & Southern R. R., from Texarkana to St. Louis (490 miles), was completed this year. 1875. — The Texas & Pacific R. R. was organized in 1871 and built as follows; from Longview to Dallas, 124 miles, in 1873; to Fort Worth in 1876, to Texarkana in 1876, and to Paris and Sherman in 1875. The New Orleans division was opened October 15, 1882. TEXAS ooo The crop exceeded for the first time 600,000 bales. A planter of Dallas county reported raising 700 bales on 700 acres. 1876. — The caterpillars appeared in force much later this year, but were sufficiently early to do considerable damage. For the first time the crop exceeded 700,000 bales. Before the Civil War white labor produced only 10 per cent, of the cotton crop ; in 1883, 44 per cent. ; in 1884, 48 per cent. ; and in 1885, over 50 per cent. In 1876 it was estimated that in Texas 62 per cent, of the labor engaged in cotton culture was white and 38 per cent, black, and in all the cotton States 40 per cent, was white and 60 per cent, black. The use of double plows and sulky cultivators was reported to be extending on the large plantations ; that cotton planters were coming into use and that wherever white labor predomi- nated. labor-saving machinery was being introduced. 1877. — Immense damage was done this year by the cotton- worm, particularly in the southern part of the State. In Lavaca county the bulk of the crop was destroyed, and in Gonzales county, 75 per cent. The Department of Agriculture estimated the loss in Texas, Louisiana and a few other States at $15,000,000. An unusual amount of rainfall during the early summer. The Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio R. R., now the Southern Pacific, from Harrisburg to San Antonio (214 miles), was opened March 1. A patent was obtained by C. E. Graves, of Galveston, for a cotton picker consisting of horizontal rods with spirally arranged steel wire brushes. 1878. — For the first time the crop exceeded a million bales. The Corpus Christi, San Diego & Rio Grande R. R., now the Southern Pacific, from Corpus Christi to Eagle Pass (200 miles), was chartered in 1875 and completed April 30. 1879. — The Department of Agriculture estimated the loss from cotton-worms, from 1875 to 1878, inclusive, at 525,000 bales. According to the Census, Fayette county produced the largest crop, 24,766 bales, and Bowie returned the highest yield per acre, .69 of a bale. KING COTTON 223 There were 12 cotton oil mills in the State. The first bale of new cotton received at Houston was on July 9, and was ginned by Mrs. Hausman of De Witt county. Thomas Field, the Agricultural Department’s correspondent for Victoria county, said that she also ginned the first new bale in 1866, 1867 and 1868. A line marking the limit of cotton production would at this time pass from Red River, in Wichita county, southwest to Jones and Taylor, and south through Coleman, McCulloch, Mason, Kerr, Bandera and Uvalde to the Nueces river, which it would follow nearly to the Gulf, thence turning northwest to the northwest corner of Calhoun county. This region included an area of about 126,000 square miles, or not one-half the land area of the State, and extending nearly 100 miles farther west and embracing 18,430 square miles more than in 1869. CoMMERCi.vL Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Texas, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 1.224.162 Bales 248 No data No data 1881-82 855,000 317 do do 1882-83 1,326,000 154 do do 1883-84 1,118,000 172 do do 1884-85 995,400 158 do do 1885-86 1,332,027 189 do do 1886-87 1,499,698 180 1 2.108 1887-88 1,584,131 300 1 2,108 1888-89 1 ,594,305 1,935 2 9,456 1889-90 1,471,242 3,.301 1 12,056 1880. — The celebrated Texas Storm Proof cotton was orie- mated about this time by IV. J. Smilie, of Baileyville. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., from Terrell to Herington, Kansas (349 miles), was completed about this time. Houston's first new bale of cotton received on July 12, was raised in De Witt county. There were 3,244 miles of railway in operation this year. The Texas & New Orleans R. R., from Houston to Orange, now the Southern Pacific, was built in 1861 and dismantled in 224 TEXAS 1865, rebuilt and equipped in August, 1880 — connecting Houston and New Orleans. 1881. — The first bale of new cotton received at Houston, July 9, was sent from De Whtt county. The Texas Alexican Ry., from Corpus Christ! to Laredo (165 miles), was chartered in 1875 and opened during this year. The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe R. R., from Galveston to Purcell, I. T. (518 miles), was chartered in 1873 and completed in 1881. The Ft. Worth branch was completed December 8. Boll-worms destroyed 22,472 bales of cotton as estimated by the Department of Agriculture. In a speech delivered in the U. S. Senate (1881), Senator Morrill said; — “The Southern States in the production of cotton, have possibl}- already reached the maximum quantity that can be cultivated with the greatest profit, unless the demand of the world expands. A short crop now often brings producers a larger sum than a full crop. The amount of the surplus sent abroad deter- mines the price of the whole crop. Production appears likely soon to outrun the demand. Texas alone has latent power to overstock the world.” Governor Sayers, in 1901, stated that Texas could produce 10,000,000 bales if all its available cotton lands were brought under cultivation. 1882. — In the midst of otherwise very favorable conditions the cotton-worm appeared in August in all of the Gulf States. The boll-worm appeared somewhat later in northern Texas, where it attracted considerable attention. In the latter part of the season a great abundance of rain, generally distributed over the cotton belt, caused the plants to put on such rank growth that the stripping of the leaves by the cotton-worm became a positive advantage to the plants, consequently, the boll-worm became bv far the most destructive insect of the year. Its damage was practically confined to Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. The New York. Texas & Mexican Ry., now the Southern Pacific, from Rosenburg to Victoria (92 miles), was chartered in 1880 and completed yanuar\ 9. The Austin & Northwestern R. R., from Austin! to Burnet (60 miles), was chartered in 1881 and opened January 1. KING COTTON 225 1883. — The crops in some counties suffered from depreda- tions of the cotton-worm. This insect also made its appearance in 1885, hut the damage to the crops was insignificant. The Fort Worth & Denver City Ry., was completed to Wichita fi'aHs September 24. A machine consisting of a frame, a series of alternating long and short toothed belts, a pair of clearing-brushes, a pair of receiving boxes and a driving mechanism, was patented by J. and J. E. iMyers, of Palestine. Texas, and designed for picking cotton. The Texas & St. Louis R. R., now the St. Louis South- western, wa.s organized in 1879', and opened to Trinity (181 miles), towards the close of 1880, extended to Corsicana in 1881, to Waco in 1881, Gatesville in 1882, and was formally opened for business August 12. The first bale of new cotton received at Houston on July 8, was ginned by iMrs. Hausmann, of De \\’itt county. 1884. — Houston’s first bale of cotton was received from De Witt county on July 22. It was sold for tf;510 and sent to the Cotton Centennial Exposition at New Orleans. The first new bale the year following was received on the same date and was raised in the same county. 1885. — The Kansas & Gulf Short Line R. R., now the St. Louis Southwestern, from Tyler to Lufkin (95 miles), was char- tered in 1880 and completed July 1. The Houston. East & WTst Texas R. R.. from Houston to Shreveport, 232 miles, was chartered in 1875 and completed to Shreveport this year. Drought in August injured the crop. 1886. — The first bale of new cotton received at Houston was on July 19. from A’ictoria countv. The Eort Worth & New Orleans R. R.. now a part of the Southern Pacific System, from Waxahatchie to Et. Worth (42 miles), was organized in 1885 and completed Julv 15. 1887. — De \\’itt county sent the first new bale of cotton to Houston, where it was received on the 6th of July. The crop exceeded a million and a half bales. The crop suff'ered to a greater extent from insect pests than for several years. Comanche, Erath, Parker and IMasoii counties 15 226 TEXAS were most concerned, while from Lamp'asas, Morris, Kaufman, Stephens and Grimes frequent reports of considerable injury were received. The St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., from Ft. Smith, Ark., to Paris (169 miles) was opened for traffic July 1. The company began building its extension from Sapulpa, I. T. in 1900. This season the boll-worm attracted attention in a few coun- ties, notably Ellis, Lamar, Rains, and Van Zandt, where cotton had been planted but a few years and the practice of using poisons had not become established. 1888. — Ten tons of Texas cotton seed were shipped this year to the Germ.an East African Colonization Society, Zanzibar, Africa. The first new bale was received at Houston from De Witt county on July 19th. 1889. — The first new bale at Houston was received July 22, from De Witt county; Census returns show that Ellis county had both the largest acreage and the largest total production, viz : 103,629 acres, and 42,701 bales. Estimates of damage by boll-worm equal to 40 per cent, of the crop, were sent in from a large number of counties in the central and northern portions of the State. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Texas, 1890-1899 Year 1890- 91 . 1891- 92. 1892- 9.3, 189.3-94, 1894-9.5, 189.5-96, 1896- 97. 1897- 98. 1898- 99, 1899- 00. Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1,708,000 7.4.50 3 27,576 2„309,543 9,164 4 29,652 2,016,855 10,943 5 .33,860 1,997,000 10,0.50 5 32,116 3,140,392 12,576 5 40,420 1,905„337 12, .385 5 35,560 2,122,701 12,499 4 35,560 2,822,408 14,312 4. 27,720 3, .363, 109 17,156 5 35,160 2,658,5,55 ' 16,868 6 60,876 1890. — There were 8,710 miles of railway in operation this year. The first new bale at Houston was received July 25, from KING COTTON 227 Gonzales county. It was sold for $110 and then donated to the Bayland Orphan Home. It was afterwards sold in St. Louis for $575 and then shipped and sold in Chicago, and finally netted the Orphan Home about $2,000. 1891. — The first new bale at Houston was received from De ^^’itt county on July 7th. The Fort Worth & Rio Grande R. R., from Fort Worth to Brownwood (143 miles), was chartered in 1885 and completed in July. For the first time in the history of Galveston the receipts of cotton during any one season exceeded 1,000,000 bales. On July 11, of this year its cotton exchange commemorated the event with a bancpiet. 1892. — The Mexican boll-weevil, it is believed, crossed the Rio Grande this year in the vicinity of Brownsville. In 1894 it had spread to half a dozen counties in the extreme southwestern section of the State. A new port, at Velasco, was opened this year and 3,753 bales of cotton were exported thence to Liverpool. Cut-worms in Travis county caused more trouble than was ever known by these insects. In 1893 the damage from the boll-worm seemed to culminate in the valleys of the southern portion of the State. In this region Delta county reported that this insect had completely ruined the crop in some sections, while Panola, Shelby and Van Zandt counties attributed the greatest damage for years to this source. 1893. — The Chicago, Rock Island & Texas R. R., from Terrell to Ft. \Vorth (92 miles), and from Bridgeport to Jackson (28 miles), was chartered in 1892, the main line opened in July, 1893, and the branch line September, 1898. The crop was seriously injured by drought and insects in the central and northern counties. The State Commissioner of Agriculture issued a circular, calling a convention of planters to meet at TVustin (March 10), for the purpose of bringing about a reduction of the cotton acreage. The Austin Convention met and adopted resolutions to this effect. Among other things the resolutions said : — “We feel 228 TEXAS a sense of shame when we learn from our Commissioner of Agriculture that the State consumed in 1891, 22,660,336 pounds of bacon, 2,295,159 pounds of lard, 2,554,699 bushels of corn, and 1,382,518 gallons of syrup more than we produced.” Planters were urged to “blot out this reproach” by raising their own supplies. The Dallas Commercial Club was organized May 2. In answer to one of the questions of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Moritz Maedgen made this statement: “There is a very noticeable difference in the prosperity of those cotton planters who do, and those who do not, raise their own supplies, which difference is all in favor of those who raise as nearly as possible all they need for home consumption. The greater prosperity of those raising home supplies is traceable to two causes. One is the saving of that part of the proceeds of the money crop, that would otherwise have to be spent for sup- plies, and the other is a higher degree of forethought and a better understanding as well as appreciation, though unconsciously, perhaps, of economic facts applied to all operations of the farm.” To the same committee, I. A. Wimbish, of De Witt county, stated that of all causes contributing to the financial depression of the cotton-raiser, the want of reliable labor is, perhaps, the most important and the most difficult to remedy. The lands are mainly cultivated by negro labor on tbe share system, the land- owner furnishing the land, teams, tools and forage for teams, the crop being equally divided. The negro laborer, notwithstanding he gets one-half the crop, and is subjected to no expense, will, upon an average, not work more than four hours per day, nor more than three days per week. 1894. — The Corsicana Commercial Club was organized this year. Of the 31 varieties of cotton planted at the State Experiment Station some of those showing the highest yield of lint per acre were, in the order named : Peterkin, Sure Emit, Welborn’s Pet, Peeler, King’s Improved, Coltharp’s Eureka, etc. The earliest receipt to date of a new bale at Houston was on the 26th of June from Duval county. It was sold for $235 and shipped to New York. KING COTTON 229 This year, the fact that there was no special injury by insects of any description, undoubtedly contributed considerably to the production of the largest crop ever raised up to this time. An agent of the division of Entomology of the Department of Agri- culture made a trip through the important parts of the cotton belt, from Texas to Alabama, and reported that to the middle of August there were no cotton-worms present anywhere except in the bottom lands of extreme southern Texas, and even there the worms were not found in large numbers. But however uneventful this season was, as far as the old and well-known insect enemies of cotton were concerned, it is noticeable because of the fact that at this time the insect that will undoubtedly eventually become more important than any of the others, the Mexican cotton boll-weevil, began its invasion of the cotton fields of Texas. 1895. — The first new bale at Houston was received from Victoria county, July 21. The Mexican boll-weevil attracts great attention in the south- western part of the State. Besides numerous definite statements, many reports of injury by sharpshooters in that region doubtless referred to this insect. In January of this year the Galveston Cotton Exchange called the attention of planters to the “ragged and disgraceful” condi- tion in which cotton was sent to market. The cause of this was attributed to the fact that public ginners were offering to gin cotton for the seed, and furnishing bagging and ties free to the planter patronizing them, and this in turn resulted in the ginner using the cheapest light-weight bagging. The Galveston Exchange passed resolutions that from and after September 1 , 185'5, all bales covered with less than six yards of 14-inch bag- ging, of a lighter weight than 21/4 pounds, the minimum per yard, should be declared unmerchantable, unless recovered properly at the expense of the seller. 1896. — The Department of Agriculture ascertained the average cost of cotton production this year to be 5.38 cents per pound. The drought beginning early in September had the effect of 230 TEXAS preventing- the maturing of the fall broods of the Mexican boll- weevil, which, consequently, did not extend its range to any noticeable extent. The first new bale at Houston was received this year on July 16th, and the year following just one day later, and in 1899 on the same date. The Kansas City Southern Ry., from Kansas City to Port Arthur (786 miles) was completed June 1. There was the usual complaint of cut-worms and lice, but otherwise no special attention was attracted by any insects except the Mexican boll-weevil. This pest was at this time beginning to invade some of the most productive cotton lands in the United States, consequently, though as yet only a local problem, the prospects for its future spread caused considerable alarm. The Texas Midland R. R., from Ennis to Paris (124 miles), was completed October 26. The Texas, Sabine Valley & Northwestern Ry., projected from Sabine Pass to Red nver, was completed from Longview to Boren during this year. A patent for a cotton-harvester was obtained by Charles H. Pickering, of Houston, the pickers being arranged on a rotary cylinder. The following year (1897) a patent was granted to Peter P. Haring, of Goliad, for a cotton-picking machine, the pickers consisting of irippers fixed upon radial arms attached to a revolving drum. 1897. — “The Texas Cotton Ginners Association” effected an organization at Waco January 25, the purpose being to advance the interest of cotton ginning, and to secure the enactment of wholesome laws for the benefit of ginners. At a subsequent meet- ing 24x54 inches was adopted as the standard measurement of a square bale of cotton. The upper branch of the State Legislature passed a joint resolution providing for an international cotton convention to be held at Galveston (August 2, 1897) for the purpose of secur- ing concerted legislation looking to the abolition of cotton exchanges and “bucket shops,” which, it was contended, were depressing the price of cotton by their “adroit management of the markets of the world.” KING COTTON 231 189S. — A Board of Trade was organized in September at Jewett. The Gull, Beaumont & Texas Ry., from Beaumont to Call, Texas ^19: miles), was chartered in 1893 and completed this year. Climatic conditions favored the spread of the Mexican boll- weevil, and the State made provision for devising some means to destroy the pest. The five varieties of cotton, making the largest average yields per acre at the Beeville Experiment Station, during the three years, 1894, 1895 and 1898, were : — Beck’s Big Boll, 1,390 pounds ; Dixon’s Improved, 1,219 ; Peerless, 1,196 ; Sure Fruit, 1,194, and Cochran’s Prolific, 1,174. 1899. — According to the Census there were in operation this year 4,514 cotton gins; in 1900 there were 4,370 and in 1901, 4,232. The average output of each gin during each season was, respectively, 589, and 809, and 613 bales. The average cost of ginning and baling square bales in 1899 was $2.19, and round bales $1.19 per bale. The number of farmers engaged in the cultivation of cotton during this year was 284,037. The area planted was 6,960,367 acres, which produced 1,292,404,967 pounds of lint, or an average of 186 pounds per acre. The counties having the largest acreage, and ranking in the order named were, Ellis. AIcLennan, Fannin, Hill, Navarro, Williamson, Falls, Milan and Bell. According to the Census, 171 counties reported the production of cotton this year. Of this number 74 produced more than 10,000 bales. The returns show that Mdlliamson county planted the largest acreage, 74,658 acres, and produced the largest crop, 152,659 bales. This year broke the record to date in the production of cotton, the commercial movement from the State amounting to 3,526,649 bales. A Board of Trade was organized this year at Ft. Worth, and also a Commercial Club at Tyler. A phenomenally heavy rainfall in the southern and central part of the State in July, greatly injured the growing crops. The greatest damage was in McLennan, Falls, Milan, Robertson, 232 TEXAS Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Waller, Washington, Austin, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties. The number of farms submerged was estimated at 8,100, embracing an area of 1,380,000 acres. At the time of the flood there were of this area, 503,000 acres under cultivation, about 339,000 of which were in cotton. The feature of this year was the increasing damage by the Mexican boll-weevil. Fully one-half of the cotton producing area of the State was concerned at this time. In all this region the most serious consideration was given to the abandonment of cotton and the raising of crops less likely to be injured by insects. There were 9,722i/o miles of I'ailway in operation this year. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Texas, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 3.536.506 Bales 12.349 9 51,076 1901-02 2.594,442 2,587,299 18.741 13 76,982 1902-03 20.948 15 74,816 1903-04 2.562,632 3.140.533 18,002 15 77,096 1904-05 29,026 75.424 1905-06 2,516,315 34,686 17 86.160 1906-07 3,957,619 43,713 16 102,436 1907-08 2,208,021 38,922 16 103,516 1900. — A great flood at Galveston in September wrecked the cotton mill and destroyed much property in that city. Great damage was reported to crops in the southern part of the State. The Galveston, Houston & N^orthern Ry., from Houston to Galveston (53 miles), was chartered in 1899. The first new bale at Houston was received July 18. It was raised near San Diego, in Duval county, and was sold at auction on the Exchange for $205. The boll-worm damaged the crop. Scurry and Bastrop coun- ties were the centers of the greatest injury. A Commercial Club was organized at Texarkana, and also one at Denison. A Board of Trade was organized this year at McGregor. The steamer “Irada” cleared from Galveston for Fiverpool (October 13) carrying a cargo of 26,120 bales of cotton (inclu- \ COTTON READY FOR TIIE COMPRESS AT BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS. Courtesy of Brooke, Smith & Co., Brownsville, Texas. KING COTTON •233 ding 7,800 round bales counted as 3,900) weighing 13,875,000 pounds, which would make 27,750 bales of a uniform weight of 500 pounds. This was the largest cargo of cotton ever shipped from any American port. Up to this time the record cotton cargo was 23,814 bales, carried by the steamer "Milwaukee" from New Orleans to Liverpool in October, 1897. The boll-weevil injured the crop in some counties in the southwestern part of the State. At the close of the season 1900-1901, four new mills had been completed and six projected. There were in operation this year 102 cotton oil mills. These mills consum.ed 692,604 tons of cotton seed at a cost of $7,560,661, and the value of the crude products manufactured was $11,519,656. It is estimated that fifty-three per cent, of the seed produced in the State was consumed by the mills. The Galveston Cotton Exchange advised planters to pack cotton bales the standard size, 24x54 inches, covered with 6 yards of 2)4 pound bagging, and bound with 6 iron or steel ties ; and that larger sized bales, not so covered, would be subject to a fine of 25 cents a bale. James T. Fuller, of Calvert, invented a new process for com- pressing round cotton bales. Aliss Hattie Guyner, of Chatfield, Navarro county, 16 years of age, “handsome and well educated,” picked in one day 603 pounds of cotton. In 1897, Mr. and Mrs. Neice, of the same county, picked 1,563 pounds in six days. The unprecedented yield this year caused an extraordinary demand for cotton pickers. A Fort Worth news item said that the high prices paid caused a panic among servants, and men and women went to the cotton fields by the hundreds. The shortage in help compelled several hotels to close their doors. Some farmers in Hill county paid as high as $1.25 per hundred. The first new bale of the season was received at Corpus Christi July 11. In 1899 the first new bale reached Sinton July 12; in 1898, San Antonio, July 1; and in 189'7, Houston, June 30. State entomologist, Mally, estimated the loss by boll-weevil at 235,969 bales, valued at $8,258,915. 234 TEXAS 1901. — It was estimated that the long continued drought in the central, eastern and northern counties, which lasted nearly two months in some localities, and the destruction of the crop by the boll-weevil in the southwestern counties, resulted in a loss of about 1,000,000 bales. In comparison with the damage by the boll-weevil in Texas this year all other injury attributable to insects was insignificant. The cotton-worms appeared as usual in the Gulf States, but were late and in such small numbers as to render their control an easy matter. The boll-weevil, however, made a considerable northward advance, and reached a point less than one hundred miles of the Louisiana border. Nevertheless, very dry weather, the most important climatic factor in reducing the numbers of the pest, prevented a great deal of damage that would otherwise have occurred. This year broke all records as to the date of new cotton received at Houston or any other market. The first new bale, raised near Alice, in Nueces county, which is in the extreme southwestern part of the State and just below the 28° of latitude, was received about noon at the Houston Cotton Exchange, on June 22nd. A patent was obtained by Frank M. Dannelly, of Dallas, for a suction cotton harvesting and cleaning apparatus. The first new bale was received at Galveston July 24. The Galveston Cotton Exchange passed resolutions appealing to the National Government for an appropriation to exterminate the boll-weevil. There was said to be at this time only a few cotton gins in the State where horses or mules were used as motive power. Cotton pickers in one field at work gathering the fleecy staple, and plows running in an adjoining field preparing the land for the spring seeding, was a familiar scene witnessed this year. W. H. Wentworth, of San Antonio, obtained a patent for an improved roller cotton gin. 1902. — Prof. Mally, State entomologist, estimated a loss of 500,000 bales of cotton this season, as a result of the ravages of the boll-weevils, boll-worms and other insect pests. Based on KING COTTON 235 Galveston prices (8^2 cents) this represented a loss of $21,250,000. The boll-weevil district embraced 68 counties. The first new bale was received at Houston on July 1 from Linton, San Patricio county. Another new bale was received at San Antonio from Divine about the same date. Cotton culture was successfully attempted on the Staked Plains, although it had been cultivated successfully by means of irrigation some years previously in Ward, the most westerly county in the State.- It is claimed that this territory, which is 200 miles wide by 300 miles long, is capable of producing 2,000,000 bales of cotton. 1903. — P'rost, on April 30, caused considerable damage to the young cotton plants in the northern, central and western portions of the State. Owing to the extraordinary demand for cotton, the stocks at interior towns at the close of the season, August 31, were less than 7,000 bales, being the smallest for many years. For the first time in 15 years middling cotton sold at interior towns for 12 cents a pound. The first new' bale was shipped from Zapata county and received at Galveston July 18. A new bale was received at Gainesville on the 15th of July. The State Boll-Weevil Commission examined the claims of 162 contestants for the reward of $50,000, offered by the State for an effective remedy against boll-weevils. It was estimated that the boll-weevil destroyed 300,000 bales of cotton this year, valued at $20,000,000. 1904. — Mr. Burleson, in the House of Representatives, urging the passage of the bill appropriating $250,000 to exterminate the boll-w'eevil, gave some startling information regarding the ravages of this pest in Texas. The first bales (two) of the new crop were received at Browmsville June 11, and were raised by Juan H. Fernandez. The cotton was grown from the planting of the previous season, the stalks having survived the mild winter. The Liverpool Cotton Gazette, November 17th, stated that the largest cargo of cotton received during the season (1904-05) 236 TEXAS was from Galveston, by the Dominion liner ‘‘Xorseman." which carried 30,905 bales. 1905. — The first new bale of cotton was shipped from Austin to Galveston June 24. It was raised by Manuel Guerrero, of the Rio Grande Valley. The Xational Ginners Association (December 7) estimated the crop this season at 9,623,000 bales. Seven counties in the Panhandle showed an increase of about 16,500 bales over the crop of 1904. Some of the southwestern counties where the boll-weevil had hitherto ruined the crops, also show a marked increase in production as compared with former years. The use of commercial fertilizers as a boll-weevil preventive, began to attract attention in the eastern counties. 1906. — A Dallas News correspondent, of Midland county, said cotton was first planted in that county in 1905, when over half a bale to the acre was made on sod land. In 1906 some made a half, some three-quarters and others one bale to the acre. A news item from Georgetown stated that there never was such a demand for cotton pickers as now (September 26), and that there were at least 50,000 bales open in the fields of William- son county. One negro near Taylor picked 817 pounds in one day, and it was common for pickers to gather 600 and 700 pounds a day. The first new bale was received at Brownsville July 5. In the section west of a line drawn from Hardeman county on the north to Dimmit county on the south, the production of cotton in 1899 amounted to about 6,000 bales ; in 1906 this terri- tory produced over 136,000 bales, an increase of nearly 20-fold. 1907. — The winter of 1906-07 was so mild that the Houston Post in one of its head-lines in January, said: “Absence of Winter Brings Most Remarkable Conditions — Last Year’s Cotton Stalks Still Blooming, and Ribbon Cane is Up From Last Year’s Stubbles.” A long protracted drought, beginning about July 1st and continuing through the summer, seriously damaged the crops in 108 counties, cutting off the yield from 25 to 50 per cent. KING COTTON L37 In a statement issued by W. D. Hunter, in charge of the boll- weevil investigations made by the government, is the following; “With a crop of over 4,000,000 bales in Texas last year, and a crop of 2,500,000 bales in 1905, during both of which years the boll-weevil was spread over the bulk of the cotton-growing area, it seems that Texas will be able to maintain her preeminence in cotton production regardless of the boll-weevil.” Prof. S. A. Knapp, in charge of an important branch of the Texas Bureau of Agriculture, advocated the use of high-grade commercial fertilizers as the surest means of combating the boll- weevil. It forces rapid growth, and such early maturity that the bolls are hardened and cannot be easily penetrated by the insect. Hidalgo county marketed the first bale of new cotton on June 17. It was, however, grown from stalks planted the previous year. A Paris news item (July 24) said: J. D. Holder, in the northwest portion of the county, has had picked from 200 acres of cotton 7,000 boll-weevils. He paid 25 cents a hundred for weevils, and 10 cents a hundred for punctured squares and bolls. On July 28 “a terrific heat wave” occurred at McGregor, the thermometer registering 179 in the sun and 117 in the shade. The heat was so intense that many horses, cattle, hogs and poultry were killed. The State Legislature passed one of the most stringent anti- option laws ever enacted, prohibiting in the State all deals in cotton for future delivery. According to the Census there were 3,995 cotton gins in opera- tion, the average output of each gin being- 563 bales. There were 177 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 576,912 tons of seed costing $10,015,192. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $14,288,064. The Farmers’ Cooperative Demonstration Work con- ducted by the Department of Agriculture was inaugurated in Texas under the supervision of Dr. S. A. Knapp, in 1904. The value of this work is commended in the report of a committee of Harrison county farmers dated October 10 (1907), as fol- lows : It taught better culture and introduced better seed. These two items alone were worth $100,000 this year to our 238 ARKANSAS county in actual cash, to say nothing of future benefits. It saved a stampede of tenant farmers and laborers from the farm. It gave confidence to the merchants and bankers that a crop would be made, and thus promoted credit. It demonstrated to the farmers that a crop of cotton would be made under extremely adverse conditions of weather and insect pests, and they entered upon another year with perfect confidence. W. D. Hunter, special agent in charge of cotton boll-weevil investigations of the Department of Agriculture, made an esti- mate which he considered “very conservative,” that during the season 1904 the weevil caused a reduction of at least 450,000 bales of cotton, representing a value, including that of seed, of about $22,000,000, as against about $15,000,000 in 1903, and $10,000,000 in 1902. The total damage since the weevil entered Texas was placed at $50,000,000. CHAPTER XI Arkansas, and its Cotton Crops from 1823 to 1908 — Num- ber OF Cotton Miles and Spindles and Domestic Con- sumption OF CoTTON: — H istorical Data Relating to Cotton Production. In 1722, when M. La Ilarpe visited the settlement a few miles above the Arkansas river, the only one then in the Arkansas territory, he found only forty-seven persons there who had begun to cultivate the land, a part of which was sown in wheat. He took an inventory of their possessions, but no mention is made of cotton.^ There is said to be, however, somewhere among the historical collections of the Southwest, a statement that cotton grown in Arkansas was received in New Orleans in 1746, but where and by whom was unknown. It is very doubtful if cotton was cultivated at any time during the Eighteenth Century. The population in 1779 numbered only 368, hence, the amount of land under cultivation was insignificant. Even while being cultivated, and the crops were being gathered, “each farmer carried a carbine strapped to his shoulder and they worked back and forth abreast of each other, so as to be in sup- porting distance in case of an attack from the Indians.”' Among the first records of cotton growing in Arkansas are those narrated in “A Journal of Travels into the Arkansas Terri- tory during the Year 1819,” by Thomas Nuttall, who made the journey from Philadelphia, and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, for the purpose of “investigating the natural history of a region hitherto unexplored.” One of the first plantations he visited was that of M. Tenass, “an honest and industrious farmer,” who lived on the Arkansas river about 16 miles from the bayou running into White river. The crop of cotton grown here the previous season (1818), ^ Louisiana Historical Collection. 2 History of Arkansas; Hempstead. 2.39 240 ARKANSAS though a very in,dii¥erent one, for want of rain, he said, “sold at $5.00 to $6.00 per cwt. in the seed.” He next visited the French settlement at Arkansas Post, and the cotton produced in this neighborhood was of a cjuality no way inferior to that of Red river, and sold this year for $6.00 to $6.50 per cwt., and there were now two gins established for its preparation. Continuing his trip up the Arkansas some 60 miles he came to Curran’s settlement, which was upon a very superior body of land that yielded from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of cotton per acre, and of a staple equal to that of Red river. From Little Rock Nuttal! writes:' "The privations of an infant settlement are already beginning to disappear, * * * those who have large and growing families can always find lucra- tive employment in a country which produces cotton. The wages of laborers were from $12.00 to $15.00 per month and boarding, which could not then be considered extravagant, while cotton produced from $5.00 to $6.00 per cwt. in the seed, and each acre from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds. Land around Little Rock, of good quality, was held as high as $10.00 per acre. This was when held by individuals.” Higher up the river he visited the Pecannarie settlement (settled in 1815), which contained about 60 families, and next to the one at Arkansas Post, the most important in the territory. The country was “extremely favorable for the growth of cotton, as appeared by the crops of the present year (1819), but the price was fallen to $3.00 per cwt. in the seed, with little or no demand.’' The last white settlement up the river of any importance was the Dardanelle settlement, then came the lands of the Cherokee Indians, allotted to them by Congress in exchange for their lands in Mississippi. Among the advertisements in the Arkansas Gazette, published at Arkansas City, was one that appeared January 20th, 1820, announcing that Frederic Notrebe would give 3)4 cents per pound for cotton in the seed, one-half to be paid in cash, and the remainder in merchandise from his store. On April 1st of the same year, the first steamboat to ascend the Arkansas river, arrived at Arkansas City from New Orleans, having made the trip in eight days. The opening of the river to steam navigation KING COTTON 241 no doubt gave quite an impetus to the cultivation of cotton at this period. The first commercial cotton crop of the State was 285 bales, produced in 1823. Six years later the crop increased to 1,525 bales. During the succeeding decades until the Civil War the production increased as follows: 1830-1840, from 1,769 to 16,607 bales , 1840-1850, from 12,220 to 65,244 bales ; 1850-1860, from 69,956 to 367,393 bales, the latter being the largest crop produced prior to the Civil War. After the war the first crop (1866) raised was 207,000 bales, which increased to 248,000 bales in 1869. In the three succeeding decades the increase in production was: 1870-1880, from 290,000 to 707,000 ; 1880-1890, from 516,000 to 697,000 ; 1890-1900, from 520,000 to 942,000 bales. The largest crop in the history of the State Avas that of 1902-03, when it reached almost a million bales. The area planted in cotton in 1879, as given by the Census was 1,042,000 acres, and in 1906, as estimated by the Department of Agriculture, 2,139,000 acres; showing an increase since 1879 of 1,097,000 acres, or about 105 per cent. The Census places the production in 1879 at 608,000 bales, and in 1906 at 899,000 bales, showing an increase of 291,000 bales, or nearly 48 per cent. According to this showing the area has increased 57 per cent, more than the production, whch would indicate that either the estimated acreage was too large, or else the yield per acre has deteriorated considerably since 1879. Commercial Cotton Crops of Arkansas, 1823-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1823-24 285 1832-33 2 862 1824-25 403 1833-34 2.143 1825-26 1,002 1834-35 3,134 1826-27 1.739 1835-36 5.738 1827-28 1 201 1836-37 7 072 1828-29 1,332 1837-38 9 898 1829-30 1 .525 1838-39 8 528 18.30-31 1.769 1839-40 16.607 1831-32 1,193 1825. — “The cultivation of cotton is greatly extended in this Territory,” said Niles’ Register, “and the crop of the present year (18251 promises an abundant yield.” 16 242 ARKANSAS The Little Rock Gazette stated that one acre, taken indiscrim- inately from a field of 85 acres, had yielded upwards of 1,800 pounds of seed cotton and from 200 to 300 pounds more were expected from the same ground. The average product of Phillips county was put down at from 1,800 to 2,000 pounds of seed per acre ; and Crawford county, which in 1824 did not send a pound to the market, it was expected would make 200 bales. The same increase was reported from other counties in the Territory. 1836. — Arkansas was admitted into the Union June 15tli. 1839. — I.ewis B. Fort, in the Little Rock Gazette, reported that seven of his hands on September 28th, picked 2,563 pounds of cotton, or an average of 366 pounds to the hand. Of the 39 counties reported by the Census all but one (Ben- ton) raised cotton. The counties of largest production were: Lafayette, Chicot, Sevier, Lhiion and Arkansas. At this time most of the cotton made in the State was marketed at New Orleans. Commercial Cotton Crops of Arkansas, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1840-41 12,220 17,863 25,890 1845-46 40,965 30,723 47,962 1841-42 1846-47 1842-43 1847-48 1843-44 27,962 36,868 1848-49 56,654 65,344 1844-45 1849-50 1843. — During the six years, from 1834 to 1840 the govern- ment disposed of 2,377,000 acres of public lands, and from 1833 to 1843, inclusive, 2,606,000 acres. 1844. — A cotton mill was erected at Cave Hill, Washington county. 1846. — A loss of two-thirds of the crop by the ravages of the caterpillar was reported from Miller county. 1849. — The Census returns for Chicot county showed the highest total production, 12,192 bales, of 400 pounds each. D. R. Coulter, of LTnion county, in a letter to the Commis- sioner of Patents stated that upon well-managed plantations, making a support of corn, meat, etc., 4 bales of 500 pounds each per hand is a fair average yield. The expense incurred was : KING COTTON 243 freight, $4.00; commissions (2^2 per cent.), $3.00; bagging and ropes, $7.00; storage, drayage and weightage, 75 cents; insur- ance, fire and river^ $1.50 : total, $16.25 ; expenses per hand, clothing and taxes, $14.50; ten per cent, on mule and horse capital, $10.00 ; wear and tear of farming utensils, $5.00 ; total, $29.50; total expense of making the 4 bales, $45.75. Valuing the crop at $30.00 per bale, or 6 cents per pound for 2,000 pounds, $120.00, this would leave a clear profit per hand of $74.25. J. W. Calvert estimated the yield per acre in St. Francis county at 1,000 pounds of seed, and much more in some instances. Mexican and IMastodon were the varieties preferred. T. A. Heard gave the average yield of Clark county at 1,200 pounds. Some lands yielded 2,500 pounds, or nearly 2 bales to the acre. The varieties planted were “Petit-gulph,” Acclimated Mexi- can, the Prolific, and Bunch, the two latter being preferred by those who had tried them. Cotton seed was highly prized as a fertilizer and the only one used. Frosts abo'ut the middle of April injured the young cotton plants. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Ark.vnsas, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1850-51 Bales 69,956 82,737 Bales 116 1851-52 155 1852-53 90,409 208 1853-54 81,378 80,000 128,617 191 176 179 1856-57 152.391 165,823 204,087 200 1857-58 368 1858-59 407 1859-60 367, .393 408 9 1,000 1850. — The average yield per acre in his neighborhood, as estimated by E. W. Wright of Union county, was 200 pounds of ginned cotton. He stated that cotton seed was highly valued as a fertilizer for both corn and cotton crops. 1853. — The caterpillar caused some damage to the crop this year. 244 ARKANSAS 1855. — The crop for the first time exceeded 100,000 bales. 1857. — The land cultivated in cotton in 1857 amounted to 317,680 acres, and the production to 172,692 bales. By the Auditor’s report the State contained in 1858, 60,249 slaves. 1858. — The crop exceeded 200,000 bales for the first time. 1859. — Chicot county had the highest total production, 40,948 bales of 400 pounds each, which was the greatest number made by any count 3 ^ The crop for the first time exceeded 300,000 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Arkansas, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61 Bales 262,.531 Bales 463 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 186.3-64 do do do do 1864-65 do do do do 186.5-66 do do do do 1866-67 207,017 no do do 1867-68 2.37,059 124 do do 1868-69 272.775 120 do do 1869-70 247,968 151 2 1,125 1860. — There were 38 miles of railway in operation this year. 1866. — The tax on cotton collected by the Federal government was $203,073. The caterpillar was very destructive to the crop in the southern part of the State. The Arkansas Immigration Society made this statement: “In the southern and southwestern sections of the State, especially on the Arkansas, Ouachita and Red river bottom lands, crops will average from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of cotton per acre. One of our committee in 1856, saw the counting of 700 bolls and squares on a single cotton plant on the plantation of R. H. Douglas, in Arkansas county. The cotton was of the Boyd prolific variety.” 1867. — The tax on cotton collected by the Federal Govern- ment was $1,641,342 ; and in 1868, $711,222. 1868. — The crops of the river counties were damaged by the caterpillar. KING COTTON 24*5 1869. — There was one cotton mill in the State with 516 spindles. Jefferson connty made the largest crop this year, 18,390 bales. Co.M.MERCIAL CrOPS AXD CONSUMPTION OF COTTON IN Arkansas, 1S70-1S79 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 474,000 Bales 182 No data No data 1871-72 290,000 240 do do 1872-73 455,000 293 do do 1873-74 420,000 293 9 1,256 1874-75 400.000 260 No data No data 1875-76 . 650,000 536 do do 1876-77 515,000 508 do do 1877-78 590,000 604 do do 1878-79 707,282 744 do do 1879-80 608,256 6S0 2 2,015 1870. — There were 256 miles of railway in operation. 1871. — The Arkansas Central, now the Arkansas Midland R. R., from Helena to Clarendon (50 miles), was chartered in 1853 and opened during this year. 1873. — Cotton-worms were more numerous than ever before. Great damage was done in Hempstead county, and considerable damage in seven other large producing counties. 1874. — The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., from St. Louis to Texarkana (490 miles), was completed during this year. The Memphis & Little Rock R. R., from IMemphis to Little Rock (135 miles), was chartered in 1853 and completed January 5th. 1875. — The crop for the first time exceeded 500,000 bales. 1876. — A. L. Hill and G. W. Payne, of Lincoln county, obtained a patent for a cotton picking machine consisting of gathering combs, with teeth attached to endless gathering chains and cleaner brushes properly adjusted. The damage by the caterpillars was slight as compared with previous years. 1877. — An overflow submerged 60,000 acres, which was replanted mostly in corn and cotton. 246 ARKANSAS 1878. — The caterpillar was destructive in Pope and Crawford counties. 1879. — Jefferson county made the largest crop, viz.: 34,588 bales, and Chicot the highest yield per acre, .9'4 of a bale. There were four cotton oil mills in the State. The Department of Agriculture estimated the loss from cotton-worms, from 1875 to 1878, inclusive, at 347,000 bales, valued at $1,380,000. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Arkansas, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1880-81 Bales 516.095 Bales 810 No data No data 1881-82 525.000 1,033 do do 1882-83 697.000 1,127 do do 188.3-84 518„500 1,224 do do 1884-85 531.400 1.1.38 do . do 1885-86 610.661 1.371 do do 1886-87 660,872 1,415 2 .3,200 1887-88 611,010 1,199 1 2,080 1888-89 597,290 1,155 2 4„500 1889-90 691,494 1,222 2 4,3.31 1880. — A Chamber of Commerce was organized (in October) at Helena. Excessive rains in the fall months injured the crop. There were 859 miles of railway in operation. 1881. — Boll-worms destroyed 15,055 bales of cotton, as esti- mated by the Department of Agriculture. The Little Rock, Mississippi & Texas R. R., now the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., from Little Rock to Arkansas City (113 miles), was completed Lebruary 25th. A cotton picking machine that attracted some attention, com- posed of a series of iron fingers forming a picker, and an endless carrying belt moved by a suitable drum with projecting points, was patented by J. L. Cunningham, Sr., of Pulton county. 1882. — A cotton exchange was organized at Little Rock, which a few years later was consolidated with the Board of Trade. 1883. — A number of patents were granted to G. N. Todd, of Little Rock, for cotton picking devices, but his first patent was KING COTTON 247 obtained in 1883. The principle of his machine was a combina- tion of two series of picker cylinders on horizontal axes, on either side of the passage way of the machine. Improvements upon this principle were made from time to time and his inventions attracted great attention. The Texas & St. Louis R. R., now the St. Louis Southwest- ern R. R., was completed to Texarkana August 12th. There were at this time 8 cotton oil mills in operation. The Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis R. R., now the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis R. R., from Kansas City to Memphis (484 miles), was chartered in 1881, and completed in October 20. 1885. — Drought in August injured the crop. 1887. — On January 31st, Senator Berry of Arkansas, pre- sented to the United States Senate the following joint resolutions of the Arkansas Legislature : — “Resolved, by the General Assem- bly of Arkansas; That we renew the request made in the joint memorial by the General Assembly in 1885 to our members of Congress of the United States, namely, that they use every honorable influence to have the $68,000,000 of cotton tax collected from the several cotton States, refunded to the States from which it was collected, according to the number of bales of cotton produced in each State in the vear the tax was collected.” 1888. — The Department of Agriculture gave Arkansas the highest average yield per acre of all States, 216 pounds of lint cotton. Lice and cut- worms injured the cotton planted early in the season. In St. Francis county it was reported that a great deal of the necessary replanting was delayed on account of these insects, which were more numerous than ever known before. Senator Jones, of Arkansas, introduced in the United States Senate a resolution for an inquiry into the alleged formation of a pool to control the price of bagging. He stated that it required 50,000,000 yards per annum to pack the cotton crop, all of which was made in the United States and, that since the formation of the pool bagging had advanced, within a few days, from 7 to 11% cents a yard. 1889. — The boll-worm was abundant, and an estimate made 248 ARKANSAS in Perry county of a loss of at least 50 per cent, was the highest received from any correspondent. Jefferson county planted the largest area in cotton and also produced the largest crop, viz. : 90,996 acres and 47,341 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Arkansas, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1890-91 Bales 760.000 Bales 700 2 4,408 1891-92 800.000 1,567 2 5,700 1892-93 535,000 1,110 3 9,000 1893-94 679,000 1.210 3 6.146 1894-95 748,206 2,103 2 6.148 1895-96 .520,860 1,975 3 8,948 1896-97 605,643 1,459 2 5,948 1897-98 942,267 1,645 2 11,000 1898-99 919,469 3,288 3 14.000 1899-00 719,453 2,394 4 17,160 1890. — The Department of Agriculture gave Arkansas this year, the highest average yield of lint cotton per acre, 225 pounds. There were 2,203J^ miles of railway in operation. 1891. — -A picker drum, journaled upon the stationary axle of a wagon and provided with revolvable picker spindles, etc., designed for picking cotton, was patented by H. P. Dooly, of Forest City. 1892. — Cotton lice caused some damage to the crop. 1893. — Two hundred delegates representing the planting interests of the State met at Little Rock, March 10th, to discuss the cotton acreage for 1893. Resolutions were adopted advising a further reduction from the acreage of 1892 and also advising a diversification of crops. J. M. Hudson, of Jefferson county, in answer to the question respecting the condition of the cotton planter in his section, stated to the United States Senate Committee on Agri- culture that, only those who depend on cotton to the exclusion of other things are in debt, and their creditors are generally thrifty neighbors who have not depended on raising cotton, but paid attention to raising cereals and stock. The best evidence that this is true lies in the fact that when you find a planter who raises his corn, forage, and stock, and makes cotton MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS PICKING COTTON IN ARKANSAS, Courtesy of Wolft'-Goldman Mercantile Co., Newport, Ark. KING COTTON 249 his surplus crop you invariably find a man in easy circumstances. j\Iany counties, notably Clarke, Pope, and Little River sufifered exceptional damage from the boll-worm. 1896. — The average cost of cotton production this year, as ascertained by the Department of Agriculture, was 5.61 cents per pound. This was the highest average cost reported from any State. 1897. — The second largest crop in the history of the State, 942,267 bales, was produced this year. Great floods in the Mississippi river in April and May. Upwards of a million acres were under water in the State, ' including about a quarter of a million acres of cotton lands. In a bulletin on “Soil Improvement,” R. L. Bennett, Direc- tor of the State Experiment Station, said : — “The cheapest, most durable and available form of nitrogen on worn-out cotton lands, is vegetable nitrogen, in the form of cowpeas, cotton seed and cotton meal. One crop of cowpeas turned in the soil will furnish more nitrogen than is necessary for one crop of corn or cotton. “Whenever,” he says, “after testing the matter, it is found necessary to buy nitrogen, the Arkansas farmer should buy it in cotton meal, or crushed cotton seed, for the reason that it is far the cheapest and most durable form in which he can buy nitrogen. In addition to those advantages, his consumption of cotton seed and meal increases the market for his, or his neighbor’s cotton seed, and, also, the money paid for them remains in his neighborhood instead of going to other distant regions, as it does when nitrogen is bought in other forms.” 1899. — The Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf R. R., now the Kansas City Southern R. R., from Kansas City to Port Arthur, was chartered in 1887 and completed during this year. There were 3,088 miles of railway in operation this year. Jefferson county made the largest crop, 43,392 bales. During this year 118,697 farmers were engaged in the culti- vation of cotton. The area planted was 1,641,855 acres, and the yield 352,963,804 pounds of lint cotton, or an average of 215 pKDunds to the acre. The counties having the largest acreage, ranking in the order named were, Jefferson, Phillips and Lee. 250 ARKANSAS There were 2,630 cotton gins in operation in 1899 ; 2,578 in 1900, and 2,393 in 1901. According to the Census the average output of each gin each season was, respectively, 274, and 321, and 308 bales. The average cost of ginning and baling square bales in 1899 was $1.98. and for round bales, $1.24 per bale. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Arkansas, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 828.820 Bales 1.731 4 14,660 1901-02 73S.080 2,096 4 16,610 1902-03 999,629 2,894 2 12,112 1903-04 741,236 1,947 3 22,520 1904-0.5 901.872 3,210 4 25, .520 1905-06 599,272 2,980 3 17,624 1906-07 894.268 3,906 2 15,312 1907-08 751,851 2,4.50 2 14,324 1900. — A patent was granted to Alfred B. Floyd, of Helena, for a cotton picking machine constructed of vertically placed revolving drums provided with brushes. In 1895, 1896 and 1897 patents for cotton-picking devices were also granted to James Neighbors, of Ft. Smith, Daniel W. Gaskill, of Little Rock, and David S. Deaderick, of Mammoth Springs. This season the boll-worm was more numerous than for several years. The Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf R. R., from Little Rock to Weatherford, Ind. T. (430 miles), was completed in 1899 and 1900. There were in operation this year twenty cotton oil mills that consumed 190,015 tons of seed worth $2,245,710. Of the seed produced in the State, 53.9 per cent, was manufactured into oil products, valued at $3,188,812. The first new bale of the season, made by J. G. Brummett, of Stephens, was sold at Camden to the highest bidder, for $101, or 1914 cents per pound. 1903. — The inland towns were never so bare of cotton as at the close of the crop year, August 31. The stocks were, all told, less than 1,000 bales. 1904. — J. E. Darcy, referring to the efficiency of Italian labor KING COTTON 251 in the cotton fields said : “These people take to cotton planting as readily as if they had been at it all their lives. They outclass the negroes in every way; are easier managed, more industrious, and better behaved, besides they provoke no race antagonism. They have been employed for several years in Arkansas and were satisfied themselves and gave satisfaction to their employers.” 1906. — A terrific storm, September 27^28, damaged the crop in the eastern section of the State. The executive committee of the Southern Cotton Association met at Hot Springs (September 7) and recommended to the planter not to sell any cotton during the season “below the bread and meat line,” 10 cents a pound. About the same date the Farmers’ Union, in session at Texarkana, fixed upon 11 cents as the minimum selling price. 1907. — The Legislature passed an act prohibiting dealings in cotton futures. According to the Census there were 2,115 cotton gins in opera- tion, the average output of each gin being 357 bales. There were 44 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 178,- 858 tons of seed, costing .'f)2,797,339. The value of the products, including linters, was $4,553,690. The Commissioner of Agriculture stated that the boll-weevil was spreading rapidly through - many sections of the State, and predicted the ruin of the crop in some counties in 1908. The management of the Sunny Side plantation in Chicot county, by O. B. Crittenden & Co., is a striking example of what may be accomplished on a cotton plantation by industrious and thrifty laborers. The plantation, comprising about 4,700 acres of tillable land is cultivated by Italians and negroes, about 80 per cent, of the former and 20 per cent, of the latter. Besides corn and hay, about 2,500 bales of cotton are raised, worth this year, approximately, $150,000. There are about 550 Italians who rent their lands for $6.50 to $7.00 per acre. They are said to be industrious, peaceable and thrifty, and have prospered. Within the past three years the Company has paid them for the proceeds of their crops $23,000, $46,000 and $34,000, over and above all expenses. Some of them working no more than 40 acres have saved up in eight or nine years, as much as $15,000. 252 ARKANSAS Tlic receipts of Little Rock for the season were 241,733 liales, as compared with 181,013 hales in 1905-06. The largest mimher of bales ever received was 266,073 in 1902-03, when the crop of the State was nearly a million bales, the largest on record. CHAPTER XII Texxkssee, axi) its Cottox Crops prom 1800 to 1908 — Num- ber OF Cottox !Mills and Spindles and Domestic Con- sumption OF Cottox — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. There are no records going to show at what date cotton culture was first introduced into Tennessee. It was certainly not very long after the country began to be settled, for many of the early pioneers were from the cotton-growing sections of other States. Moreover, the difficulty of separating the lint from the seed had been overcome by the invention of the saw gin, and cotton culture was attracting unusual attention wherever it could be successfully grown. The first colony in Tennessee settled at Watauga (1768) in the eastern portion of the State, but whether cotton culture was undertaken -by the early settlers in this section is unknown. The country was never especially adapted to its culture, and if culti- vated at all it was on a very small scale. But the early settlers of Middle Tennessee must have discovered the adapta- bility of its soil and climate to cotton growing not many years after their arrival in 1779'. There is every reason to believe that cotton was cultivated before the State was admitted into the Union in 1796, as the cotton plant was placed upon the seal of the State as a symbol of one of its industries, and in July of the following year Mr. iMiller, who was associated with Eli Whitney in the manufacture of his saw gins, proposed to his partner that they send an agent to Knoxville, “where we were informed that cotton was valu- able,” and to Nashville and the Cumberland settlements, to gather information concerning the culture of cotton in these parts and the mode of cleaning it. On the return of the agent 2.53 254 TENNESSEE through the “back parts of Virginia,” he was to look for an inland market for the consumption of cotton cleaned by the saw gin. Another interesting fact, in connection with the early history of cotton growing in the State, is that a variety of the plant was originated (somewhere in the Cumberland region) the fame of which spread over all of the cotton regions of the South. It was known as the “Tennessee green seed” variety, was in com- mon use as early as 1800, and was no doubt the best variety of upland cotton planted prior to the introduction of the Mexi- can or Petit Gulf variety. By the beginning of the Nineteenth Century cotton culture had attained such importance that public meetings of the citizens were called at various places, to petition the legislature to pur- chase from Miller and Whitney their patent right to the saw gin within the State limits. At one of these meetings held at Nashville General Andrew Jackson presided. The following year the legislature authorized the purchase of the patent right. In 1800, the cotton crop amounted to 3,526 bales, and by 1808 it increased to 12,600. In the decade, 1810-1820, it increased to 50.000 bales, and the next decade, 1820-1830, to 105,000. In the decade, 1830-1840, the production dropped as low as 59,000 bales, rose to 194,000 in. the decade following, and gradually increased until 1859, when it reached 296,000 bales, the largest crop made prior to the Civil War. The first crop raised after the war (1866) amounted to 168.000 bales, and four years later it increased to 300,000. The largest crop in the history of the State, 436,000 bales, was made in 1878. In the decade, 1880-1890, the production ranged from 190.000 to 368,000 bales, and in the decade, 1890-1900, from 172.000 to 345,000 bales. The area planted in cotton in 1879, according to the Census, was 722,000 acres, and the estimate of the Department of Agri- culture for 1906 was 822,000 acres, showing an increase since 1879 of 100,000 acres, or about 14 per cent. The production in 1879 was 331,000 bales, as reported by the Census, and 293,000 bales in 1906, a decrease during the same period of 38,000 bales, or a little over 11 per cent. KING COTTON 255 Commercial Cotton Crops of Tennessee, 1800-1809 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop lSOO-01 . 3.526 1805-06 9,8-26 1801-0^^ 4.386 1806-07 6.000 1802-03 6 000 1807-08 7.000 1803-04 6.500 1808-09 12,600 1 .Sn4--n.T 7.128 1809-10 11.000 1804. — “On his plantation,” says Parton in his Life of General Jackson, “he had a cotton gin, a rarity in that day, upon which there was a special tax of $20 a year. The tax books of Davidson county show that in 180-1 there were but 24 gins in the county, of which Gen. Andrew Jackson was the owner of one. This gin ser\’ed to clean his own cotton, also the cotton of his neighbors, and that which he took in exchange for his goods. He also kept a store.” 1809. — A cotton mill was built and began operations this year. Commercial Cotton Crops of Tennessee, 1810-1819 Year Total Crop 1810-11 8,000 1811-12 10,101 1812-13 11.000 1813-14 12,000 1814-15 14.000 Year Total Crop 1815-16 15,.S21 1816-17 21.024 1817-18 25,006 1818-19 45,000 1819-20 50,000 1810. — There were said to have been four small cotton mills in operation in the State at this time. Commercial Cotton Crops of Tennessee, 1820-1829 Year Total Crop 1820-21 58.000 1821-22 71,942 1822-23 63,000 1823-24 60,000 1824-25 68,000 Year Total Crop 1825-26 85,086 1826-27 82,402 1827-28 39,193 1828-29 44,822 1829-30 49.563 1821. — The first cotton in West Tennessee was grown in Madison county, and the first gin was brought to Jackson from Nashville in 1821. 1824. — Niles’ Register said that 15,000 bales of cotton were 256 TENNESSEE shipped from Nashville this year, and it was believed that the crop of 1825 would yield 30,000 bales. 1826. — The manufacture of cotton bagging was begun this year at Nashville. At this time the large hempen bagging facto- ries at Lexington, Paris, Danville, Shelbyville and other towns in Kentucky employed almost exclusively negro operatives, the managers and machinists only being white. 1827. — A disastrous drought cut off the crop. A writer in the American Farmer said: — “Last February a year ago I accompanied a most intelligent Tennessee planter from Pittsburg to Nashville, a Mr. Nightingale, formerly of Rhode Island. He was then taking with him a foreman from Providence, R. L, to superintend his cotton factory. This factory is located in Maury county, Tenn., and the machinery is propelled by a never-failing and never-freezing water-power. The entire labor is performed by slaves. Mr. Nightingale now supplies a large portion of Tennessee and North Alabama with coarse cotton goods. His profits are said to be quadruple the profits of the cotton grower.” Cotton was worth in Memphis from 7 to 9 cents per pound, bagging, 25 to 28 cents per yard, bale rope, 8 to 9 cents per yard, whiskey, 26 to 30 cents per gallon, corn, 21 to 37 cents per bushel, and flour $3.50 to $1.00 per 100 weight. The receipts of cotton at Memphis in 1826 were only 300 bales, but in 1836 increased to 50,000 bales and in 1845 to over 100,000 bales. 1828. — The New Orleans Price Current said that 54 bales of cotton from the plantation of the President of the United States (General Jackson) near Nashville, was sold at New Orleans at the extraordinar}^ price of III /2 cents per pound. It was said to be the best cotton ever received from Tennessee. Elijah Boddiej of Gallatin, in a communication to the Ameri- can Farmer gave the following description of a domestic spin- ning machine in use in Tennessee about this time: “We have had in common use in this part of the country for some time past, a small spinning machine. It was invented by one of our citizens a few years ago, and I believe he obtained a patent. Mine is about 4 feet high, 3i/^ feet long and 2 feet wide. At one end there is a gin and six saws, at the other end are as KING COTTON 257 many spindles, with a spool on each, to receive the spun yarn — and in the middle are placed two cylindrical cards, as near each other as may be without touching'. The seed-cotton is placed in the gin — the spinner takes the handle, and turns away until the spools are filled, taking care fo mend the threads if any should break, and in this way a woman can spin five times as much as she can on the common wheel and cards. The number of spindles may be increased or diminished at pleasure ; six is the most common. The machines cost $20 for each spindle. General Jackson has used this valuable little machine for several years, and with one little girl clothed his large family most comfortably.” CoMMERci.vL Cotton Crops of Tennessee, 1830-1839 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1830-31 59,708 183.5-36 61,785 1831-32 60,858 1836-37 58,850 1832-33 60.516 1837-38 78,274 1833-34 75,113 1838-39 61,719 1834-35 85,193 1839-40 76,305 1830. — This year the receipts of cotton at Memphis amounted to only about 1,000 bales. Ten years later there was an increase to 35,000, in 1850 to 150,000 and 1860 to 361,000 bales. From 1870 to 1880 the receipts ranged from 322,000 to 511,000 bales, from 1880 to 1890 from 339,000 to 723,000 bales, and from 1890 to 1900 from 427,000 to 773,000 bales. 1832. — The crop of this year was reported as an unusually good one, particularly in the western part of the State. 1833. — John G. Goodman and W. S. McDonald, of Wilson count}', obtained a patent for a cotlon planter. 1835. — The exports of cotton from Tennessee and North Alabama this year were estimated at 120,000 bales. Frost greatly damaged the crops. 1838. — The Gazette, of Memphis, stated that 200,000 bales of cotton were shipped this year down the Mississippi river. The crop was injured by drought and the boll-worm. 1839. — The cotton mills in the State operated at this time about 16,800 spindles. 17 258 TENNESSEE Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Tennessee, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1840-41 Bales 58,657 .55,625 95,422 94,660 102,204 115.662 Bales 1841-42 1842-43 do 184,3-44 1844-45 1845-46 1846-47 77.108 1847-48. 83,933 7,000 12,000 1848-49 139,2,32 194,.5,32 1849-50 6,411 33 36,000 1844. — A factory was built about this year, at Lebanon, that consumed 600 bales of cotton annually. For the first time the crop exceeded 100,000 bales. 1849. — The Census returns for Fayette county showed the highest total production, 28,302 bales of 400 pounds each. A Memphis correspondent stated that the average yield to the hand would not exceed 1,500 pounds of lint, in the western portion of the State. The same authority said it had been conceded by cotton brokers that Shelby county was unsurpassed for its production of fine staple cotton. Tt was estimated that Memphis had shipped 150,000 bales, the product of 6 or 8 counties around the city. Considerable damage was done to young cotton plants by frosts the middle of April. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Tennessee, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1850-51 Bales 166.732 Bales 8,000 30 .36,000 1851-52 206,312 7,000 No data No data 1852-53 229,153 5,000 do do 185,3-54 196,1.51 7,656 do do 1854-55 204,99.3 7,020 do do 1855-56 288,799 7,146 do do 1856-57 219,635 8,008 do do 1857-58 226,663 7,378 do ‘ do 1858-59 221,172 8,.35.3 do do 18.59-60 296,464 8,854 30 29,850 KING COTTON 259 1850. — The first patent ever granted for a cotton-picking device was to Rembert and Prescott of Memphis. Picking disks and strippers were the chief features of the device. Ramsey, in his Annals of Tennessee, estimated the cotton crop of the State in 1850 at 191,532 bales of 100 pounds each, and in 1852 at 172,625 bales, the number of cotton factories at 28 and value of produce, $151,676. iMemphis and Nashville, as cotton receiving and distributing points, assumed considerable importance about this time. The following from the Memphis Bulletin, will give an idea of the extent of the cotton commerce of that city about this time. Cotton receipts at Memphis, 1850-1, were 163,000 bales; 1851-2, 172,000; 1852-3. 202,000; 1853-1, 188,000; 1851-5, 200,000; 1855-6, 295,000; 1856-7, 231,000; 1857-8, 213,000; 1858-9, 325,180 ; 1859-60, 392,380. 1851. — About this time E. Steadman (of Tennessee) in a pamphlet on the Extension of Cotton and Wool ^Factories at the South, recommended the use of slave labor in the mills, such labor, says De Bow (1851), having been found most advan- tageous wherever adopted. The crop for the first time exceeded 200,000 bales. The following from the proceedings of the Commercial Con- vention held at Richmond shows the interior routes by which cotton about this period reached the markets of the East: “For years past the cotton has gone up the Ohio river from Tennessee, through the Pennsylvania and New York canals to all factories in the interior of these States and often to the cities of Phila- delphia and New York. We recollect last September (1850) of one shipment of 797 bales, shipped from Louisville, via the Ohio and New York canals to New York City. The freights were less than by way of New Orleans and the difference in exchange and insurance was near 2 per cent, in favor of the Northern route. The amount oF cotton that passed up the Ohio river last year (1850) is estimated by one familiar with the trade at 60,000 bales. This season nearly all the boats from Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, bound up the Ohio river, are freighted more or less with cotton. The packets between JMemphis and Louis- ville and Cincinnati, of which there are several lines, take cotton up the river nearly everv trip.” 260 TENNESSEE 1852. — One of the resolutions adopted by the Cotton Planters Convention held this year in INIemphis was: — That the attention of our Senators and Representatives in Congress be called to the propriety of bringing before the administration the impor- tance of making the cotton interest a subject of instruction to our foreign and diplomatic agents : That this Convention regards the establishment of a direct communication between our southern ports and Europe, and the encouragement and protec- tion of this system by the National Government, connecting there- with ample mail facilities, as a necessary feature in the com- mercial independence of the South and West. 1854. — A State Board of Agriculture was organized this 3'ear. 1855. — About this time two cotton-seed-oil mills were built in IMemphis. 1856. — The East Tennessee, Adrginia & Georgia R. R., now the Southern Ry., from Bristol to Chattanooga (242 miles), was chartered in 1849 and completed October 8. 1857. — F. A. Wells obtained a patent for two delinting cotton gins, and also for a cotton seed huller. But the most important machine for hulling cotton seed was invented this year by William R. Fee, of Cincinnati. Patents were obtained by William Badger and Justice & Gal- breath for cotton seed planters. 1858. — The IMemphis & Charleston R. R., now operated by the Southern Ry., from Memphis to Stevenson, Ala. (272 miles), was chartered February, 1846, and opened on July 4, 1858. From Stevenson to Chattanooga the traffic of this line is carried over the tracks of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. 1859. — The Census returns for Lawrence county showed the highest total production. The jMobile & Ohio R. R., from Mobile to Columbus, Ivy. (472 miles), was chartered 1848-50, and opened for traffic during this year. 1860. — The Nashville & Decatur R. R., now the Louisville and Nashville, from Nashville to Decatur, Ala. (122 miles), was completed this year. The Chicago, St. Louis & New Orleans R. R., now the KING COTTON 261 Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Tennessee, 1860-1869' Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1860-61 Bales 211.847 Bales 10,075 No data No data 1861-62 No data No data do do 1862-63 do do do do 1863-64 do do do do 1864-65 do do do do do do do do 1866-67 168,014 4,895 do do 1867-68 181,353 do do 1868-69 206,085 5,340 do do 1869-70 181,842 6,528 28 27,923 Illinois Central, from New Orleans to East Cairo (547 miles), was chartered in 1852, and opened from Canton, Miss., to Jack- son, Tenn., in 1860, and completed to the Ohio river, opposite Cairo, in 1873. There were 1,253 miles of railway in operation in the State this year. 1864. — The tax on cotton collected in the State by the Federal government was $488,326 ; in 1865, $877,901 ; 1866, $2,148,438 ; in 1867, $1,929,302, and in 1868, $2,429,494. The shipments of cotton from Memphis in 1865-66 according to the Argus of that city, amounted to 180,900 bales. 1866. — The second patent for a cotton picking machine with brush attachments was granted to A. Tiensch, of Memphis. 1869. — The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis R. R.. from Chattanooga to Hickman, Ky., 322 miles (a consolidation of the Nashville & Chattanooga R. R., chartered in 1845 and opened in 1854, and the Nashville & Northwestern R. R., chartered in 1854), was completed this year. The Census returns for Shelby county showed the highest total production, 32,434 bales. George W. Grader, of iMemphis, obtained a patent for a machine to remove the lint from cotton seed. The first patent for such a machine was granted in Jtme of the same year to William F. Pratt of Bridgewater, Mass. 1870. — The crop for the first time reached 300,000 bales. There were 1,492 miles of railway in operation this year. 262 TENNESSEE Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Tennessee, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 300.000 Bales 7,189 No data No data 1871-72 210,000 9.480 do do 1872-73 260,000 10,221 do do 187.3-74 300,000 13,518 42 47,058 1874-75 160,000 4,443 40 .55,384 1875-76 3.39,000 7,370 No data No data 1876-77 310.000 6,985 do do 1877-78 260.000 8,260 do do 1878-79 436,190 10,230 do do 1879-80 330,621 10,436 16 35.736 1873. — The Cotton Exchange at Memphis was organized in December. The cotton-worm was very destructive this year. Shelby county reported a loss of 50 per cent., caused by the boll-worm and the caterpillar. 187-1. — The Chesapeake, Ohio &■ Southern R. R., now a part of the Illinois Central System, from Memphis to Louisville (392 miles), was completed in September. 1876. — In a speech in the House of Representatives, Mr. Bright (of Tennessee) took the position that to the tax on cotton must be attributed tbe small crops, as compared with those made prior to the war. In 1859-60, he said, the South produced 5,861,291 bales of cotton. In 1872 it produced only 3,930,508 bales, when it should have produced 7,000,000 but for this tax. 1878. — The largest crop in the history of the State, 436,000 bales, was produced this year. 1879. — Shelby county showed the largest production, viz. : 46,388 bales, and Lake county the highest yield per acre, .74 of a bale. There were 11 cotton oil mills in the State. The Department of Agriculture estimated the loss from boll-worms, from 1865 to 1878, inclusive, at 147,000 bales. 1880. — There were 1,843 miles of railway in operation this year. 1881. — Boll-worms destroyed 1,374 bales of cotton, as esti- mated by the Department of Agriculture. At Memphis, as well as at other cotton markets in the South, KING COTTON 263 Commercial Crops Xnd Consumption of Cotton in Tennessee, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 18S0-S1 Bales 368.197 Bales 19.642 No data No data 1881-82 300.000 22.185 do do 1882-83 337.000 24,195 do do 1883-84 310.700 26,282 do 1 SS 4 -S 0 313,800 24,427 do do 1885-86 321.638 29.551 1886-87 298,133 30.727 28 90,793 1887-88 316,646 34.724 27 88,490 1888-89 36,638 28 99.092 1889-90 190,579 33,114 20 97,524 this was a year of unprecedented speculation in cotton futures, on account of the shortness of the crop. Everybody who could raise a hundred or two dollars bought futures, some even mort- gaging their property to get money for this purpose. IMany made money while cotton was advancing in the earlier months of the season (from 11 to 13 cents), but many others lost heavily when later on there was a decline to 9 cents a pound. It was estimated that the South lost from thirty to forty millions speculating in futures during the winter of 1881-82. 1882. — In the latter part of the season the boll-worm dam- aged the crops considerably. In 1881 this insect also seriously injured the crop. 1883. — There were 18 cotton-oil mills in operation in the State at this time. 1881. — The crop was damaged by drought in the Memphis district. 1887. — The Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., from ]\Iemphis to Birmingham (251 miles) was completed on October 1. About 13,000 bales of cotton were destroyed by fire at I\Iem- phis, November 17. It is said that in all 30,000 bales were destroyed this year by fires, which also occurred at Savannah, Ga., Little Rock, Ark., and Greenville, Texas. 1888. — The second largest crop in the history of the State, 357,596 bales, was produced this year. 1889. — The Tennessee Midland R. R., now the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry., from (Memphis to Perryville ( 135 miles), was chartered in 1886 and opened in June. 264 TENNESSEE Shelby county liad the largest area in cotton and the highest total production, viz. : 100,445 acres and 55,874 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Tennessee, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1890-91 Bales 345.000 Bales 32,220 23 100,235 1891-92 310,095 33,759 22 101, .5.34 1892-9.3 207,576 3,3,370 23 110.485 189.3-94 276.000 24,807 22 95.219 1894-95 304,981 30,914 22 95,866 1895-96 172,560 28,732 30 115,743 1896-97 2.36,781 30,746 28 113,119 1897-98 268,6.35 35,773 29 102,834 1898-99 322,820 36,358 29 103,366 1899-00 215,175 34,882 32 155,997 1890. — According to the Census there were twenty cotton mills in operation having 97,524 spindles and consuming 83,114 hales of cotton. There were 2,767 miles of railway in operation this year. 1895. — At a general meeting of the Memphis Cotton Exchang’e, held in December, resolutions were passed urgently recommending to planters that the production of home supplies be made the first consideration and that the acreage in cotton be not increased. The following observations were embodied in the resolutions : — “The commercial value of the total crop of 1894-95 was $297,037,530, and only exceeded the short crop of 1892-93, $12,272,018, although the production was 3,200,886 bales greater. This enormous crop, with its proportionately low price, netted the producer less money than will the present crop with a smaller acreage and a production of nearly one-third less in bales. It having been practically demonstrated liy the results of the present season that a small crop of cotton actually brings to the pro- ducer more money than an extremely large crop, and that the Southern cotton producers having grown their supplies at home, thereby making cotton the surplus, or money crop, are generally in better financial condition than they have been in years, it is unquestionably to the interest of the farmers not to produce a crop greater than the requirements of manufacturers. The growing of a large crop of cotton entails proportionately greater : THE STEAMER NATCHEZ HISCHARGINC. 4.000 RALES OF COTTON AT NEW ORLEANS. KIXG COTTON 265 expense than a small crop. The cultivating, picking, ginning, freight, etc., in marketing the additional bales is an immense item, especially so when prices are depreciated by the fact that the crop is a large one. Experience of the past has demon- strated that in a large crop year, with depreciated prices of cotton, rental and realty values also depreciate, whereas, with a small crop and better prices, rental and realty values improve proportionately. The high range of prices which have prevailed this season as compared to last season has been, we fear, the means of stimulating on the part of planters a desire to increase the acreage of cotton for the coming year, and consumers are now holding off, laying in a supply of the staple under a belief that an increase in the acreage will depreciate present prices and enable themi to get what they need at lower values.” 1896. — The Department of Agriculture ascertained the aver- age cost of cotton production this year to be 5.26 cents per pound. The ^Memphis Cotton Exchange recommended and adopted as the standard size for cotton bales — a bale measuring 28 inches wide by 54 inches long. 1897. — Eloods in the Mississippi river in April and May caused considerable damage to crops in the river counties. At a meeting of the American Cotton Growers' Protective Association held at jNIemphis (December 20), a strong plea for the reduction of cotton acreage was made by President Lane, who pointed out that by destroying the annual surplus the law of supply and demand would prevail ; competition would inter- vene and the cost of production of cotton, which is a fair standard of its value, would be the basis of its market value. 1898. — In an article on “Memphis as a Cotton Center,” Charles E. Morrow said : “Within a radius of 150 miles embraced in her territory is raised every grade and style of cotton kno^vn to the trade, excepting the sea-island. From her ware- houses are shipped each year thousands upon thousands of bales of cotton to the southern mills of Georgia and the Carolinas,. the manufacturers of New England and Canada, to Liverpool, Bremen, Havre and Russia, and to the far eastern mills of Japan. Cotton from one-half to one and a half inches in length, and 266 TENNESSEE from dog-tail to fair are to be found. And this naturally brings to our market the representatives of every cotton consuming countr}', and the largest cotton buying firms of the world have their own houses or their trusted representatives here.” 1899. — Cotton was cultivated this year by 53,405 farmers, the area planted being 623,137 acres and the production in lint cotton 117,504,070 pounds, or an average of 189 pounds to the acre. The counties having the largest acreage were, Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, Haywood, Hardeman, Madison and Lauderdale, ranking in the order named. There were 3,1311/2 miles of railway in operation in the State this year. Shelby county, according to the Census, had the largest total production of any county in the State, viz. : 3^,693 bales. There were in operation this year 834 cotton gins ; in 1900 there were 826 and the year following, 810. According to the Census the average output of each gin for each season was, respectively, 258, 276, and 253 bales. The average cost for gin- ning and baling square bales in 1899 was $2.63, and round bales, $1.41 per bale. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Tennessee, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 227,601 Bales 33,305 33 196,761 1901-02 204,538 328,019 45,240 32 200,976 1902-03 45,385 32 241,078 1903-04 250,437 45,656 31 258,262 1904-05 321.006 51.335 32 2.55,412 1905-06 269,030 55,830 29 252,184 1906-07 293,02.3 266,4.33 68,971 33 266,342 1907-08 ■ 58,631 33 285,222 1900. — There were in operation this year fifteen cotton oil mills that consumed 168,307 tons of seed valued at $1,848,829. The crude products manufactured were valued at $2,737,038. The receipts at Memphis for five years were: 1900-01, 443,105 bales; 1901-02, 378,349 bales; 1902-03, 557,553 bales; 1903-04, 747,289 bales ; 1904-05, 983,604 bales. Memphis received the first new bale of the season from Tunica KING COTTON 267 county, ]Miss.,, on August 15, or three days later than in 1899, and three days earlier than the average date. 1903. — Some of the cotton mills in the State closed down on account of the high price of raw material. The stocks at interior towns at the close of the season, August 31, were the smallest in many years, and amounted to less than 2,000 bales, 1905. — At a meeting of the Madison County Cotton Growers’ Association, held at Jackson in May, reports from all sections of the county showed a reduction of 31 per cent, in the cotton acreage. The Census ginners report in November, caused a sensational advance of “futures” in the JMemphis market. Within a few minutes prices on the Exchange advanced $5.00 a bale. 1906. — The largest sale of spot cotton ever made in Memphis occurred in February, when 5,500 bales were sold to a large exporter. The price paid was 9J4 cents, or a total of more than $275,000. 1907. — According to the Census there were 673 cotton gins in operation, the average output of each gin being 396 bales. There were 18 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 105,961 tons of seed costing $1,612,396. The value of the prod- ucts, including linters, was $2,711,075. CHAPTER XIII Missouri, axd its Cotton Crops frosi 1821 to 1908 — Num- ber OF Cotton Miles and Spindles and Domestic Con- sumption OF Cotton — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. It is uncertain at what time the cultivation of cotton was first undertaken in Missouri, but Stoddard^ says that in 1803 it was produced in the neighborhood of St. Louis, “where some of the farmers raised a sufficient quantity of that article to clothe their families. One of them who emigrated from Georgia, is of the opinion that the cotton raised in that State (Missouri) is longer but not so fine.” The first record of any exports from the State was 26 bales in 1824, and 10 bales the following year. Sixty- seven were shipped out in 1827, and the Census of 1839 showed a production of 333 bales, but there are no available records relating to the crops of other previous years. During the decade, 1840-1850, the production was small, ranging from 271 to 1,627 bales. The next decade, 1850-1860, it increased from 2,000 to 41,000 bales. The first crop after the Civil War (1866) was 6,601 bales. In the next decade, 1870- 1880, the crops ranged from 2,000 to 20,000 bales. Dr. Loughbridge, Special Agent of the Tenth Census (1880), makes the following observations regarding cotton production in Missouri : — “The maximum of production thus far reached was in the years preceding the late Civil War, the crop of 1859, accord- ing to the Eighth Census being 41,188 bales. Various causes have contributed to very greatly reduce this production, and we find that cotton is not so prominent a crop now as then. Among the causes may be mentioned the disturbed condition of the State during the war, the demoralization of the negroes (almost the only cotton-field laborers) consequent upon freedom, the intensity of cotton production in the Southern States, and the ^ History of Louisiana. 26S KING COTTON 269 low market prices which made other products far more profitable. The area over which cotton cultivation is extended embraces a far less territory now than in 1859, for in that year cotton was planted in a few counties as far north as the Iowa State line, while in 1879 the Missouri river formed the northern limit.” In the decade, 1880-1890, the production ranged from 16,000 to 26,000 bales, and in the decade following, from 12,000 to 33,000 bales. The largest crop in the history of the State, 51,763 bales, was produced in 1906. In 1899 cotton was cultivated to a more or less extent in 23 counties, in 15 of which the total production was only 112 bales. At present the production is confined to 12 counties bordering the Arkansas State line. The counties of largest production are located in the extreme southeast corner of the State, the cotton lands of which are highly productive. CoMWERCI.\L CoTTOX CrOPS OF MISSOURI, 1840-1849 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1S40-41 271 1845-46 482 1841-42 301 1846-47 545 1842-43 417 1847-48 966 1843-44 379 1848-49 1,434 1844-45 473 1849-50 1,627 # 1823. — Experiments on an extensive scale were made in cotton culture. 1824. — Among the receipts at New Orleans for the commer- cial crop year, 1824-25, were 26 bales credited to Missouri. As the Arkansas cotton is separately credited to that State this 26 bales was no doubt the growth of the southwestern counties of IMissouri. 1836. — A Chamber of Commerce was organized at St. Louis, which in 1862 was succeeded by the Merchants’ Exchange. 1847. — The annual domestic consumption at this time was about 2,500 bales. The boll-worm made its appearance and damaged the crop. 1849. — Frosts about the middle of April damaged the young plants. 270 MISSOURI No returns of cotton production this year were made bv the Census. Co.MMERCiAL Cotton Crops of Missouri, 1850-1859 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1850-51 2,145 1855—56 10,929 1851-52 3.432 1856-57 12 238 1852-53 4,690 1857—58 16,948 1853-54 5,492 1858—59 25,728 7 030 1859-60 . 41,188 1852. — The domestic consumption was nearly 3,000 bales per annum. 1855. — About this time a cotton-seed-oil mill was built at I St. Louis. 1859'. — There were two cotton mills in the State operating about 5,000 spindles, that consumed from 2,000 to 3,000 bales annually. According to the Census, Stoddard county produced the larg- est crop, 19,100 bales, of 400 pounds each. The largest crop in the history of the State to date, 41,188 bales, was produced this year. Commercial Cotton Crops of*Missouri, 1860-1869 Year Total Crop Year Total Crop 1860-61 20.432 No data do do do 186.5-66 No data 6,601 5,282 2,797 1,246 1861-62 1866-67 1862-63 1867-68 1863-64 1868-69 1864-65 1869-70 1860. — The domestic consumption this year was 2,431 bales. 1866. — The domestic consumption was 3,740 bales, and the two years following 4,216 and 4,080 bales, respectively. The tax on cotton collected by the Federal government was .'{^247, 289. The amount collected the three previous years was .1182,106 ; and in 1867, $96,722 and in 1868, $65,982. 1869. — This year there were three cotton mills in the State, operating 16,715 spindles and consuming nearly 5.000 bales. KING COTTON 271 Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Missouri, 1870-1879 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1870-71 Bales 2.168 Bales 5,460 No data No data 1871-72 ■ 1,960 5,200 do do 1872-73 3,219 10,112 do do 187.3-74 4,234 7,288 4 18,656 1874-75 4,963 7,280 No data No data 187.5-76 7,442 4,556 do do 1876-77 8,874 4,318 do do 1877-78 11,930 5,131 do do 1878-79 15,9.33 6,324 do do 1879-80 20,318 6,399 3 19,312 1872. — C. C. Thomas, of New ^ladrid county, made 1,600 pounds of seed cotton to the acre. 1873. — A Cotton Exchange was organized in October at St. Louis, which was incorporated the following year. 1874. — The St. Louis, Iron IMountain & Southern R. R., from St. Louis to Texarkana (490 miles), M-as opened this year. 1879. — Dunklin county, according to the Census, was the largest producing county, viz. : 7,361 bales, and Pemiscot showed the highest yield per acre, .75 of a bale. There were two cotton oil mills in the State. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Missouri, 1880-1889 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption N umber of Mills Number of Spindles Bales Bales 1880-81 25,995 2,138 No data No data 1881-82 18,000 2,726 do do 1882-83 2,3,004 1,722 do do 188.3-84 18,893 1,870 do do 1884-85 18,736 1,738 do do 1885-86 21,7,34 2,096 do do 1886-87 21,299 2,200 1 7,000 1887-88 23,316 2,100 1 6,500 1888-89 22,984 2,100 1 7,000 1889-90 15,856 1,385 1 5,492 1882. — A new Cotton Exchange building was completed at St. Louis. 1883. — The Texas & St. Louis R. R., now the St. Louis Southwestern R. R., from Bird’s Point to Texarkana (418 miles), was completed August 12th. 272 MISSOURI 1889. — Dunklin county had both the largest area in cotton and the highest total production, viz.: 21,559 acres, and 6,065 bales. Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Missouri, 1890-1899 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1890-91 Bales 12,664 Bales 1.52« No data No data 1891-92 52,521 3,783 1 7,000 1892-93 17,846 1,559 No data No data 1893-94 20,000 846 do do 1894-95 25,476 671 1 3,500 1895-96 11,816 1,629 4 14,004 1896-97 24,119 2,4.35 2 12,116 1897-98 26,848 4,023 3 12,502 1898-99 .33,120 3,017 3 11,868 1899-00 19,377 3,720 4 15,744 1896. — The Department of Agriculture ascertained the aver- age cost of cotton production this year to be 5.06 cents per pound. 1897. — Floods in the Mississippi river in April and May inun- dated the cotton lands in seven counties, causing much injury to growing crops. A patent was granted to Lewis C. McCarty and Charles W. Ford, of Bernie, for a cotton-harvester. The pickers in this machine are made of square steel rods, having upwardly project- ing barbs, and are so placed as to be operated vertically. 1899. — Dunklin county had the highest total production, 12,985 bales. There were in operation this year, according to the Census, 56 cotton gins; in 1900 there were 66, and in the year follow- ing, 68. The average output of each gin for each season was, respectively, 346, 424 and 453 bales. The average cost of ginning and baling in 1899 was $2.66 per bale. Cotton was cultivated this year by 4,691 farmers, the area planted being 45,596 acres and the yield in lint cotton 12,865,944 pounds, or an average of 282 pounds per acre. The counties having the largest acreage w^ere, Dunklin, Pemiscot. Stoddard, New Madrid and Ozark, ranking in the order named. KING COTTON 273 Commercial Crops and Consumption of Cotton in Missouri, 1900-1908 Year Total Crop Domestic Consumption Number of Mills Number of Spindles 1900-01 Bales 27,980 Bales •1,261 3 15,794 1901-02 .30,837 4„322 3 15,612 1902-03 49,552 4,587 2 14,916 1903-04 .39,283 4,635 2 15,018 1904-05 49,498 4,205 3 14,696 1905-06 40,314 4,926 3 14,896 1906-07 51,763 5,865 3 14,896 1907-OS 34,105 9,009 4 38,880 1907. — According to the Census there were 76 cotton gins in operation, the average output of each gin being 449 bales. There were four cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 18,574 tons of seed, costing $278,610. The value of the products, including linters, was $477,337. 18 CHAPTER XIV Oklahoma, and its Cotton Crops p'rom 1879 to 1908 — Historical Data Relating to Cotton Production. The lands of Indian Territory were selected by the United States government as the home of the Indian tribes east of the the Mississippi river in 1832, and the Creek, Choctaw, Chicka- saw and Cherokee Indians were removed thither during the period 1833-1838, and the Seminoles and some frag'ments of other tribes a little later. It is more than probable that some of these tribes began the cultivation of cotton, which they had learned in Mississippi,^ not many years after their arrival in the new territory. It is reason- ably certain, however, that it was introduced in the Choctaw nation as early as 1850. The following historical account of cotton production in the Indian Territory is taken from a report prepared for the Tenth Census by Dr. R. H. Loughridge, Special Agent : “Cotton as a crop, except along the immediate borders of Texas and Arkansas, has been comparatively unknown among the Indians until within the last few years. A few attempts had been made to raise small patches of cotton in the interior of the territory, but these mostly failed because of ignorance as to the proper method of culture. The freeing of the negro slaves of the Indians, the building of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas rail- road, from St. Louis through the heart of the agricultural region of the territory, the greater influx of whites among the several tribes, and a greater tendency towards speaking the English language on the part of the Indians, resulting in more general relations with the whites, have brought about an improved and greatly enlarged system of agriculture, and with this the introduction of cotton as a general crop in a great part 1 See Mississippi Notes, 1806, p. 164. 274 KING COTTON 275 of the territory. It is true that comparatively little cotton is produced by the real or ‘fullblood’ Indians, who are still chiefly dependent upon their small farms of corn and potatoes, and upon the raising of stock, but the more wealthy and intelligent, espe- cially on the south and east, do have their fields of cotton. “The culture of cotton is said to have been introduced among the Indians of the southern part of the Choctaw nation in 1850, and it has been kept up since that time with a gradually increas- ing acreage.. It finds a ready market at the railroad towns in Texas immediately south of Red river. In the Chickasaw nation its culture on any notable scale was begun about 1873, and is now carried on chiefly by white settlers. One farm of corn and cotton on Red river is said to contain 1,600 acres. In the Seminole and Pottawatomie nations cotton was first planted in 1879, and its culture is almost altogether confined to the river and creek bottoms. “In the Creek nation the lands along the Canadian river are the chief cotton lands. Some cotton is planted along the Verdi- gris river, and a very little along the Arkansas as far north as the thirty-sixth parallel, or within ten miles of the northern boundary-line of the nation. Its culture was begun only within the past few years, and is now carried on chiefly by negroes and whites. “The Cherokees began to plant cotton in 1874 or 1875 from seed that was distributed among them. The limit of its culture is on Little river, about 10 miles northeast of Tahlequah. It has been grown at a distance of 40 miles from that town, but the planters became discouraged because of its running to weed and failure to mature. “The amount of cotton raised in the territory in 1879 was estimated at 17,000 bales, from 25,000 acres. This is simply an estimate, as no census was taken among the Indians in 1880. As already stated the greater part of this was produced in the southern part of the territory, comparatively little having come from the interior. The following statement of cotton shipments between July, 1879, and July, 1880, has been furnished by the railroad agents at the several stations named, and will give an 276 OKLAHOMA idea of the distribution of cotton acreage over the territory, except in the eastern part of the Cherokee nation and the southern parts of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations ; Musco- gee, on the Arkansas river, 562 bales ; Eufaula, on the Canadian river, 1,100 bales ; Stringtown, south of the Canadian river, none ; Atoka, 900 bales ; Caddo, 554 bales. These two latter places are in the southern part of the territory. “The planters of the Red river section haul their cotton to the nearest railroad stations in Texas, Caddo receiving only that produced in more contiguous localities. Eufaula receives nearly all of that produced among the Seminoles. Gins have been erected in Muscogee and the chief town southward, and one is in operation in the Seminole nation.” Beginning with 1889, when the Creek and Seminole lands were thrown open to settlement, and which was followed as rapidly as possible by the opening for settlement of other Indian lands, there was the most remarkable rush to the new territory ever witnessed in this or any other country. The population increased with great rapidity, and from the very first cotton culture Avas undertaken, though under discouraging circum- stances. Most of the farmers who first settled the territory were from sections of the country where other crops than cotton were raised, and some of them had never seen it grown. In 1891 the Commercial Club, of Guthrie, purchased several carloads of cotton seed in Texas, which was distributed to the farmers free, on condition that they would agree to plant it and follow certain methods of cultivation. A large acreage was thus planted in Logan county in the spring of 1891, and John Parker this season built the first cotton gin in the territory at Guthrie. The crop, however, was a failure, the farmers became discour- aged, and it is said that interest in cotton culture was not revived until A. B. McCabe, a Kansas negro of education and enterprise, came into the territory about this time, founded the town of Langston, and induced a large emigration of his race from the Southern States. The negroes settled on the poor, cheap black jack lands about Langston, but they succeeded so well with their KING COTTON cotton crops that their white neighbors were encouraged to try it again. By 1893 cotton was restored to confidence and was regarded as the surest crop that could be raised, and this year was the first time the staple was mentioned in the Governor’s annual report. The yield was good and the quality excellent, an exhibition made at the World’s Fair in Chicago receiving the highest commendation as to quality.^ From 1879 to 1889 the cotton crop of Indian Territory increased from 17,000 to 34,000 bales, and five years thereafter (1894) to 105,000 bales. In 1897 it reached 207,000 bales, and 1902, 409,000. The largest crop was that of 1904, when 477,000 bales were produced. The crop of Oklahoma was 425 bales in 1889', and five years later it increased to 13,000 bales. In 1897 it reached 110,000 bales and five years thereafter increased to 218.000 bales. In 1904 it increased to 346,000 and in 1906 to 488.000 bales, which was the largest crop ever made. In 1907 the acreage in cotton, as estimated by the Department of Agricul- ture, increased 20 per cent, over that of the previous year. Commercial Cotton Crops of Indian Territory and Oklahom.v, 1879-1899 Y^ear Indian Territory Oklahoma Total Bales Bales Bales 1S79-80 17,000 0 17,000 18S9-90 34,115 425 34,540 1894-9.5 104,887 ■ 13,001 117,888 189.5-96 68,668 14,103 82,771 1896-97 S7.705 35,251 122,956 1897-98 207,386 110,175 317 561 1898-99 207.838 109.026 316 864 1899-1900 160,324 84.035 244,359 1873. — Cotton culture in the Chickasaw Nation was under- taken on a large scale. The ]\Iissouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. was completed to Denison, Tex., January 1st. 1880. — The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., from Herington, Kansas, to Terral, Texas (349 miles), was completed about this date ; the branch from Chickasha to Mangum was completed in 1901. ^ Texas Farmers Journal, Nov., 1900. 278 OKLAHOMA There were in operation in Indian Territory this year only 289 miles of railway, and none in Oklahoma Territory. 1881. — The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe R. R., from Galves- ton to Purcell, Indian Territory (518 miles), was chartered in 1873 and completed this year. 1887. — The Ft. Scott, Wichita & Western R. R., now ^ part of the Missouri Pacific System, from Ft. Scott, Ark., to Kiowa, Okla. (245 miles), was completed March 27th. The extension of the Southern Kansas R. R., now a part of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe system, from Arkansas City, Kan., to Purcell, Ind. Ty. (154 miles), was completed and opened June 12th, and the Kiowa branch was opened to the west line of the Indian Territory, September 12th. The Pan Handle extension was completed towards the close of 1888. 1889. — The Muscogee or Creek and Seminole lands were opened to settlement April 22d. 1890. — About this time Indian Territory began to assume importance in cotton production. There were in operation this year in Indian Territory, 1,260J4 miles of railway, and none in Oklahoma. 1891. — The “Public Land Strip” was opened to settlement April 2d ; the Sac and Fox and Iowa lands, and the Absentee, Shawnee and Pottawatomie lands, September 22d. 1892. — The Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands were opened to settlement April 19th. 1893. — The Cherokee Outlet, and the Tonkawa and Pawnee lands were opened to settlement September 16th. 1894. — The crop this year in Indian Territory for the first time exceeded 100,000 bales. 1895. — The Kickapoo lands were opened to settlement May 23d. There were in operation in Oklahoma this year 431 and in Indian Territory 1,155 miles of railway. 1896. — The Kansas City Southern R. R. was completed to Sallisaw January 31st, and to Poteau, Ind. Ty., May 3d. The average cost of cotton production in Indian Territory this year, as ascertained by the Department of Agriculture, was KING COTTON 279 5.05 cents per pound. This was the lowest average cost reported from any State or territory. 1897. — The favorite varieties of cotton in use were, Texas Storm Proof, Ounce Boll, and Peterkin. The crop of Oklahoma for the first time exceeded 100,000 bales. The lands in Greer county were opened to entry on June 24. 1898. — The St. Louis & Oklahoma City R. R., now operated by the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., from Sapulpa, Ind. T., to Oklahoma City, Okla. (103 miles), was completed November 14th. The line from Ft. Smith to Paris was opened July 1st. 1899. — There were 25,322 farmers engaged in the cultivation of cotton during this year in Indian Territory. The area planted was 442,065 acres, which produced 77,864,522 pounds of lint, or an average yield of 176 pounds to the acre. The Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee and Creek nations, ranking in the order named, reported 99.4 per cent, of the total acreage. Pottowatomie county had the largest total production, 28,662 bales of cotton. According to the Census there were in operation this year in Oklahoma 133 cotton gins ; in 1900 there were 137 and the year following, 155. The average output of each gin each season was, respectively, 632, 853 and 962 bales. The average cost of ginning and baling square and round bales in 1899 was, respec- tively, $2.09 and $1.52 per bale. The Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf R. R., from Weatherford, Okla., to Memphis, Tenn. (563 miles), was completed from Weatherford to Howe, Ind. Ty. (268 miles), in November, 1898, and extended from Howe to the Arkansas State line during this year. There \vere 16,316 farmers engaged this year in cultivating cotton in Oklahoma. The area planted was 240,678 acres, and the yield, 36,006,020 pounds of lint, or an average of 150 pounds to the acre. The counties having the largest area were Lincoln, Pottawatomie, Cleveland and Greer, ranking in the order named, and reporting a little over 65 per cent, of the total acreage. Only 280 OKLAHOMA three counties, Canadian, Cleveland and Greer, planted cotton in 1889 and the area planted was 1,109 acres. There were in operation this year in Indian Territory 297 cotton gins, in 1900 there were 301, and the year following, 323. According to the Census the average number of bales ginned by each establishment during each season was, respectively, 540 and 957 and 880. The average cost for ginning and baling in 1899' was $2.61 per bale. The Census returns for Chickasaw Nation showed the highest total production among the tribal divisions of Indian Territory, viz. : 79,696 bales. Commercial Cotton Crops of Indian Territory and Oklaho.ma, 1900-1908 Year Indian Territory Oklahoma Total Bales Bales Bales 1900-01 288,114 116,875 404,989 1901-02 284,170 149,064 433,2.34 1902-0.3 409,591 218,390 627,981 190-3-04 312,776 204,957 517,733 1904-05 477,223 345,806 823,029 1905-06 349,668 3.36,514 686,182 1906-07 403,235 4.88 453 891,688 1907-08 848,977 848,977 1900. — There were in operation this year in Oklahoma 912, and in Indian Territory, 1,488 miles of railway. Six cotton oil mills that consumed 26,415 tons of seed, valued at $297,939, were in operation in Indian Territory this year. Of the seed produced, 36.8 per cent, was manufactured into oil products A^alued at $466,078. A patent was granted to Ludwik Bilan, of Lexington, for a cotton picking device provided with one or more suction-fans and hollow rotary spindles, the spindles being perforated and so adapted as to gather the cotton by atmospheric pressure. There were in operation in Oklahoma this year six cotton oil mills that consumed 26,425 tons of seed valued at $247,520. Of the seed produced 73.4 per cent, was manufactured into oil products valued at $410,078. J. L. Eldridge, of Woodville (Ind. T.), and his family of eight children, picked this season 100 bales, or about 1,500,000 TRAIN OF FLAT CARS LOAUFF) VVITN COTTON. Photo by Powen Art Gallery. KING COTTON 281 pounds of seed cotton, for which he received $1,200 cash, the rate per 100 pounds paid ranging from 50 to 80 cents. Two of his boys averaged 1,100 pounds per day, the minimum being 425 pounds per day. 1901.- — Certain lands formerly belonging to the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, and Wichita Indian tribes, were opened for entry and settlement August 6. The territory embracing these lands was also subdivided into counties. J. A. Overstreet, of Norman, obtained a patent for a cotton cleaning machine that was said to make a great improvement in the grade of cotton. 1904. — The State Capital, published at Oklahoma City, stated that cotton growers in the neighborhood of Caddo carried thousands of pounds of cotton bolls to that town “to be threshed.” The buyers paid $1.50 a hundred for it, and $1.00 a bale was charged for threshing and ginning. 1906. — The IMexican boll-weevil crossed the Red river, infect- ing the cotton fields in the southern section of Indian Territory. The Farmers’ Union, of Roger Mills county, passed a resolu- tion that the Union “go on record as opposed to negroes being brought among us to pick cotton, or for any other purpose whatever.” The first cotton mill built in the State began operations this year at Guthrie with 2,856 spindles, and consumed 706 bales of cotton. The pasture and wood reserve lands in the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Indian reservations, situated in Kiowa, Caddo and Comanche counties, and embracing 480,000 acres, were offered for sale to the highest bidder. The bids were opened and announced, beginning with December 17. 1907. — Oklahoma was admitted into the Union November 16. According to the Census there were 971 cotton gins in opera- - tion, the average output of each gin being 897 bales. There were 37 cotton oil mills in the State that consumed 196,653 tons of seed costing $3,413,896. The value of the prod- iicts, including linters, was $4,967,003. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF COTTON The following is a list of publications relating to the cotton industry which have been used in the preparation of this work : History, Biography and Travels. Alabama — Pickett’s History of ; Brewer’s History of ; Hodgson’s History of. Arkansas — Hempstead’s- History of ; Nutall’s, A Journal of Travels in (1819). Florida — Capt. Roman’s History of ; Stork's Description of East Florida (1765) ; Robert’s Account of the Discovery and Natural History of (1763) ; Vignole’s Observations Upon the Floridas. Georgia — A State of the Province of Georgia (1740) ; Mc- Call’s History of ; Records of Historical Society of ; Georgia, Historical and Industrial. Louisiana — Capt. Bossu’s Travels Through the Province of North America Called Louisiana (1762) ; Stoddard’s His- tory of : French’s Historical Collections of Louisiana and Florida ; Gayerre’s History of ; Louisiana Historical Col- lections. Mississippi — Claiborne’s Mississippi As a Province, Territory and State; Flint’s Recollections of (1826) ; Monette’s His- tory of the Valley of ; Waile’s Agriculture and Geology of ; Duval’s Historv of ; Davis’s Mississippi and Mississip- pians ; Biographical and Flistorical Memoirs of (1840); Toulmin’s Digest of. North Carolina — Lawson’s History of; Williams’ History of; Hawk’s Flistory of : Martin’s History of ; Cameron’s Hand Book of. 282 KING COTTON 283 History, Biography and Travels — Continued. South Carolina — Description of the Province of (1731) ; Carroll’s Historical Sketches of ; Rivers’ Sketches of ; Drayton’s A View of (1802) ; Ramsay’s History of; Mill’s Statistics of. Tennessee — Haywood’s History of; Ramsay’s Annals of; Phelan’s Plistory of ; Killebrew’s Geology of. Texas — Thrall’s History of; Morphis’ History of; Ken- nedy’s History of ; DeCordova’s Resources and Public Men of ; Smythe’s History of Parker County ; Granger’s Southern and Western Guide; Olmstead’s, A Texas Journey. Virginia — Capt. John Smith’s Works; Beverly’s History of; Burke’s History of; Jefferson’s Notes on the State of (1781) ; Bruce’s Economic History of. Narrative of Alvaz Nunez Cabaca de Vaca, Translated by Buckingham Smith; Attractions of North America (1600) ; Nova Britannica ( 1609) ; Brief Description of the Province of Carolina (1666) ; Oldmixon’s British Empire in America; Charlevoix’s History and Description of New France (1722) ; Capt Byrd’s Westover Manuscripts (1728- 36) ; Bartram’s Travels in North America (1773) ; John Bartram’s Journal While on a Journey in Florida (1777) ; Universal History, London Edition (1766) ; Belknap Papers, Mass. Historical Collection ; Bancroft’s History of the United States ; McMaster’s History of the People of the United States ; Donnell’s History of Cotton ; Bishop’s History of American iManufactures : White’s History of Cotton Manufacture ; Ure’s Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain ; Holmes’s Annals of the L^nited States ; Meek’s Southwestern History: Barton’s Life of Andrew Jackson; Olmsted’s Journey Through the Seaboard States ; Schwab’s Confederate States of America ; Keating’s History of Memphis. Miscellaneous Books and Pamphlets. Field’s Cultivation and Preparation of Cotton for Market (1823) ; Seabrook’s Origin, Cultivation and Uses of Cot- 284 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF COTTON ^Miscellaneous Books and Pamphlets — Continued. ton (1843) ; Christy’s Cotton is King (1855) ; Steadman’s Cotton and Woolen Factories in the South; Fisher’s Report on Cotton and Woolen Manufactures (1827) ; Turner’s Cotton Planters’ Manual, and Cotton and the Cotton Gin; Peter Force’s National Calendar (1820); Lyman’s Cotton Culture ; Atkinson’s Cheap Cotton by Free Labor, and Cotton Culture in the South ; Records of Arkansas Immigration Aid Society ; Records of War of the Rebellion; U. S. Treasury Department Circular (1845); Introduction and Early Progress of Cotton Manufacture in the United States ; Hammond’s The Cotton Industry ; Cloud’s Cotton Culture in 1866 ; Brook’s Cotton, Its Uses, etc.; Otken’s Ills of the South; Zacharie’s New Orleans Guide; Ellison’s The Trade of Great Britain; Olmstead’s Seaboard Slave States, A Journey in the Black Country, and The Cotton Kingdom ; Dead Towns of Georgia ; Ingle’s Southern Side Lights ; Tompkins’s Cotton and Cotton Oil. Statistical, Commercial and Political. American State Papers (1790-1825) ; Tables and Notes on the Cultivation, Manufacture and Foreign Trade of Cot- ton, Levi Woodbury (1836) ; Hazard’s Commercial and Statistical Register (1840-45) ; Pitkin’s Commerce of the United States (1817) ; De Bow’s Resources of the South and Southwestern States, and Analysis of the Census (1850); Macgregor’s Commercial Statistics; Tucker’s Progress of Population and Wealth of the United States; Dana’s Cotton from Seed to Loom; B. F. Nurse (Com- missioner to Paris Exposition) Report on Cotton by; Cot- ton Movement and Fluctuation, Latham, Alexander & Co. (1868-1907) ; Shepperson’s Cotton Facts (1868-1907) ; Poor’s IManual of Railroads (1867-1907). Reports and Public Proceedings. Reports of Commissioner of Patents (1793-1902) ; U. S. Census (1800-1900) ; Secretary of the Interior; Commis- KING COTTON 285 Reports and Public Proceedings — Continued. sioner of Indian Affairs ; Commissioner of General Land Office ; Commissioner of Internal Revenue ; Senate Com- mittee on Agriculture, 53d Congress; New York Cotton Exchange; New Orleans Cotton Exchange; Savannah Cotton Exchange ; Memphis Cotton Exchange ; Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Texas (1843) : Atlanta Cotton Exposition; North Carolina Bureau of Labor; Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture; Louisiana Commis- sioner of Agriculture; Texas Commissioner of Agriculture; Cotton Manufacturer's Association; Directors of Experi- ment Stations in Alabama, Arkansas, Elorida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas; Proceedings of Cotton Planters’ Convention held at Macon, 1839 ; Montgomery, 1845 ; Macon, 1851; Memphis, 1852; New Orleans, 1855; Savan- nah, 1856 ; Planters’ and Manufacturers’ Association, 1868- 69 ; Augusta, 1892; Little Rock, 1893; New Orleans, 1905- 06 ; Augusta Cotton Exchange, 1896 ; Cotton Exchange Convention, Augusta, 1874; Interior Compress Associa- tion, Augusta, 1898; National Cotton Exchange, 1874; Convention of Cotton Exchanges, New Orleans, 1889; American Cotton Growers’ Protective Association, 1898- 1902 ; Southern Cotton Association ; Department of Agri- culture (1867-1907). Addresses and Memorials. Address by Dr. Daniell of Georgia to Cotton Planters, 1852 ; by Dr. Joseph Jones at Cotton Planters’ Convention (1860) ; by Dr. Phares to Woodville, La., Farmers’ Club (1869); Public Speeches of Howell Cobb; Memorial to Count de Ponchatrain (1697) ; Memorial of New Orleans Merchants to Secretary of the Treasury (1866). Trade Journals, Periodicals and Magazines. New York Shipping and Commercial List (1795-1898) ; New York Commercial and Financial Chronicle (1870- 1907) ; American Annual Register (1825-33) ; Western 2S6 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF COTTON Trade Journals, Periodicals and Magazines — Continued. Monthly Review (1828) ; New York Journal of Commerce (1832-33) ; Whig Almanac and Political Register (1838-68) ; Hunts Merchant’s Magazine (1839-70) ; Mer- chants’ and Planters’ Price Current (1845) ; Circulars of Tolcott & Bro., N. Y. (1852) ; Cotton Circular of W. P. Wright, N. Y. (1855); American Almanac; Textile World ; American Quarterly Review ; Historical Magazine ; Magazine of American History ; Leisure Hours ; Railroad Record (1862) ; Harper’s Magazine (1881) ; Southern Bivouac (1885) ; Century Magazine (1887) ; Chattanooga Tradesman (1894) ; Cotton and Cotton Oil News (1905-08). Agricultural Journals. American Farmer (1820-28) ; Southern Agriculturist (1827- 28) ; American Agriculturist (1828) ; Farmers’ Register (1833) ; Southern Planter (1834-47) ; Southern Cultivator (1849-69) ; Alabama Planter (1847) ; Skinner’s Journal of Agriculture (1846-48) ; Soil of the South (1855). Newspapers. In Alabama — Huntsville Republican (1821) ; Mobile Regis- ter (1822) ; Huntsville Southern Advocate (1828-44) ; Florence Gazette (1835) ; Tuscaloosa Monitor (1838) ; Mobile Chronicle (1840) ; Mobile Journal (1841) ; Ala- bama Times (1844) ; Eutaw Whig (1851) ; Mobile Advertiser and Register (1865). In Arkansas — Arkansas Gazette (1820) ; Little Rock Gazette (1858). In District of Columbia — Washington Gazette (1821) ; National Intelligencer (1834-40) ; Washington Republic (1861). In Florida — Pensacola Gazette (1828-46) ; Apalachicola Gazette (1840). In Georgia — Savannah Republican (1808-45) ; Georgia Journal (1825-28) ; Georgia Courier (1828)j Savannah KING COTTON 287 Newspapers — Continued. Georgian (1828-46) ; Augusta Chronicle (1831) ; Macon Messenger (1843). In Louisiana — Louisiana Gazette, N. O. (1806) ; Louisiana Advertiser, N. O. (1821-35) ; New Orleans Bulletin (1827-40) ; New Orleans Price Current (1836-70) ; New Orleans Standard (1836) ; Alexandria Gazette (1839) ; New Orleans True American (1840) ; New Orleans Bee (1844) ; Concordia Intelligencer (1844) ; New Orleans Picayune (1845) ; New Orleans Topic (1845) ; New Orleans Republic (1845) ; New Orleans Crescent (1851) ; New Orleans Delta (1854). In Maryland — Niles’ Register (1811-46) ; Baltimore Ameri- can (1840). In Mississippi — Natchez Ariel (1827) ; Natchez Journal (1833) ; Vicksburg Register (1836) ; Natchez Courier (1837) ; Raymond Times (1838) ; Natchez Free Trader (1839). In New York — Buffalo Journal (1840) ; New York Courier (1843) ; New York American (1843) ; New York Express (1844). In North Carolina — ^Catawba Journal (1825) ; Fayetteville Observer (1839-43) ; Salem Chronicle (1837) ; North Carolinian (1840). In South Carolina — Charleston Courier (1803-53) ; Charles- ton Patriot (1819-27) ; Columbia Telescope (1829) ; Charleston Mercury (1845) ; Columbia Telegraph (1848) ; Charleston News and Courier (1882-84). In Tennessee — Nashville Banner (1833) ; Memphis Gazette (1838) ; Memphis Bulletin (1860) ; Memphis Argus (1864). In Texas — Galveston News (1896-1901) ; Houston Post (1888-1902). In Virginia — Norfolk Beacon (1815) ; Richmond Compiler (1824) ; Petersburg Intelligencer (1826-35) ; Southern Banner (1840). Tables of Statistics o 288 KING COTTON 289 TABLE 3 MONTHLY CONDITION REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (Official Figures) *5 > N. Carolina S. Carolina 1 'Sr (- c o O Florida Alabama 'a .Sr s Louisiana Texas Arkansas Tennessee Missouri Oklahoma Indian Ter. Ayerage 1866 June July Aug. 120 82 51 "57 55 50 "53 71 93 80 9.5 97 Sept. Oct. 90 83 38 40 65 41 40 60 64 60 84 91 52 1867 June July "to "86 fro 115 '87 152 111 102 90 70 100 90 Aug. 70 85 117 145 97 150 1.30 80 80 90 no 104 Sept. 86 101 150 153 100 142 124 74 65 118 109 101 Oct. 50 95 142 150 84 120 105 53 70 100 102 105 109 1868 June July 95 104 "94 ”94 1^ 97 127 133 102 121 93 100 Aug. 91 105 96 92 82 103 120 1.39 140 135 104 90 Sept. 50 102 95 80 40 78 91 77 120 no 98 97 Oct. 73 91 SO 75 50 82 90 9.8 107 100 82 88 87 1869 June July 87 72 103 106 90 "89 90 94 "89 'si 95 '90 Aug. 90 93 73 101 105 98 107 111 108 105 95 92 101 Sept. 88 77 80 80 94 110 120 114 98 79 96 98 Oct. 82 /o 71 78 79 90 94 85 86 87 72 87 84 1870 June July 94 96 101 98 102 95 101 97 loi 85 90 9.8 Aug. 104 104 101 100 110 102 95 100 97 no 90 84 100 Sept. 95 105 105 105 115 100 100 108 109 no 100 95 106 Oct. 75 107 104 99 102 96 99 92 105 105 97 105 90 1871 June 100 90 92 82 103 83 84 90 9.3 .8.3 90 87 Julv 95 99 100 82 88 81 80 75 93 90 98 95 86 Aug. 98 94 96 80 83 81 80 83 84 98 100 102 85 Sept. 97 S2 80 78 75 80 80 / / 80 95 96 93 82.3 Oct. 80 (O 72 73 75 76 73 70 82 94 94 76.7 1872 June 95 96 92 96 95 105 100 104 100 98 101 97 100 July 96 94 97 101 102 106 109 103 105 95 104 95 103 Aug. 101 99 98 104 96 107 112 101 103 96 104 102 104 Sept. 97 101 95 96 92 88 90 86 94 78 92 105 91.2 Oct. 85 90 86 88 75 82 78 72 85 75 90 93 81.8 1873 June 93 85 88 94 102 93 92 94 86 92 90 96 91 .July 108 91 82 94 99 85 83 80 78 106 96 102 87 Aug. 108 95 87 95 103 91 88 86 83 93 95 86 90 Sept. 98 95 86 ■ 90 85 85 82 80 92 93 92 96 88 Oct. 90 88 80 82 76 78 75 65 80 83 90 90 79.3 19 290 TABLES OF STATISTICS Monthly Condition Reports of the Department of Agriculture — Cont. (Official Figures) Virginia N. Carolina 1 S. Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana ^ Texas Arkansas Tennessee Missouri Oklahoma Indian Ter. Average 1874 June 90 89 81 80 90 82 78 70 90 90 85 82 July 100 102 88 91 96 92 87 73 102 94 97 100 91 Aug. 98 95 97 94 102 90 89 83 105 87 83 80 92 Sept. 99 87 86 77 77 81 74 62 65 47 52 76 70.4 Oct. 90 83 80 80 81 75 74 62 70 55 56 76 71.7 1875 June 94 92 97 91 94 101 100 95 96 90 99 95 96 July 96 95 99 97 101 102 103 105 93 104 109 108 100 Aug. 97 99 84 86 85 93 104 99 93 108 107 103 96 Sept. 100 90 80 76 75 87 98 88 94 99 96 103 88.3 Oct. 100 85 / / 71 70 94 96 90 88 103 90 99 88 1876 June 99 101 98 103 82 94 92 89 90 95 93 88 94.4 jLily 101 105 90 103 98 100 94 89 99 97 103 97 Aug. 99 96 97 104 89 103 92 89 106 98 120 86 99 Sept. 106 93 91 90 83 83 87 90 87 97 119 84 92.3 Oct. 97 84 80 88 80 69 83 82 91 86 71 93 S2.7 1877 June 88 80 91 101 92 90 91 98 91 94 94 92 93 July 96 88 87 90 95 94 93 102 94 94 96 92 93 Aug. 96 88 8.8 85 93 94 90 106 96 93 90 92 93 Sept. 86 83 84 i 94 91 88 92 70 99 100 97 86 Oct. 85 79 V 88 88 80 ' ' 64 98 100 82 1878 99 June 88 87 99 101 98 100 98 98 104 98 97 93 July 78 81 104 105 100 102 98 95 106 91 98 90 99 Aug. 84 82 97 92 99 98 92 90 108 98 92 95 Sept. 83 86 80 81 91 92 89 83 101 98 91 99 90 Oct. 84 83 87 84 91 86 83 103 90 102 90 1879 96 June 98 94 93 95 96 99 95 94 100 94 July 101 104 81 86 91 96 92 93 90 103 101 104 93 Aug. 97 86 82 87 87 100 98 89 79 96 105 91 Sept. 84 83 81 82 85 84 89 87 66 99 107 85 Oct. 77 82 77 80 79 85 80 65 96 106 81 1880 99 June 87 92 ■ 104 98 90 96 96 97 106 100 99 July 85 101 99 97 92 93 99 96 111 104 103 100 Aug. 104 106 98 98 96 99 99 99 110 106 107 102 Sept. 102 100 93 95 91 86 88 88 97 95 90 91 Oct. 93 87 88 88 85 75 70 88 85 87 84 1881 93 June 96 88 92 100 100 94 90 89 90 93 July 82 94 93 98 99 102 94 96 89 92 105 95 Aug. 93 89 81 92 100 05 89 87 79 85 98 88 Sept. 72 72 68 71 87 80 74 76 65 55 - 62 72 Oct. 69 63 73 82 / o 68 75 60 50 58 66 KING COTTON 291 Monthly Condition Reports of the Department of Agriculture — Cont. (Official Figures) Virginia N. Carolina S. Carolina 0 0 Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas Arkansas Tennessee Missouri Oklahoma Indian Ter. Average 1882 June 70 82 92 89 97 95 88 90 93 85 80 89 July 60 90 98 92 92 93 87 96 97 90 78 92 Aug. 84 84 98 93 S7 99 91 93 100 96 86 78 94 SeDt. 90 88 95 89 83 90 86 89 101 100 89 92 Oct. 87 85 S9 86 82 88 82 82 100 96 84 76 88 1883 June 81 81 85 86 94 87 86 91 89 87 78 86 julv 83 91 91 93 95 87 89 91 93 84 88 77 90 Aug. 87 87 80 78 93 83 85 85 89 S3 90 77 84 Sept. 79 78 70 70 93 76 t 0 7 1 67 80 89 74 Oct. 67 69 67 66 82 67 67 68 65 71 /o 76 68 1884 June 90 95 97 96 99 93 87 72 77 85 92 90 87 Julv 87 87 93 90 101 93 83 74 80 86 89 92 86 Aug. 88 87 91 90 97 90 89 85 79 87 92 90 87 Sept. 89 90 87 86 88 84 83 84 72 S3 90 84 82.5 Oct. 81 79 80 79 84 74 76 " 62 76 85 74.7 1885 June 98 93 96 95 93 92 92 95 90 91 85 92 Julv 98 93 96 97 95 92 99 100 92 96 97 90 96 Aug. 95 92 96 100 99 95 101 100 91 97 96 97 96.5 Sept. 88 86 88 91 90 88 89 90 82 83 87 87 Oct. 78 / / 79 87 88 81 80 77 78 70 74 78 1886 June 95 97 83 82 97 87 88 So 96 83 99 98 88.7 Julv 92 91 76 81 99 80 79 84 97 92 98 90 86.1 Aug. 75 74 67 80 86 77 79 75 88 96 95 85 81.3 Sept. 77 82 81 81 83 80 82 81 76 93 95 80 82.1 Oct. 72 iO 74 81 85 80 79 79 74 86 96 SO 79.3 1887 Tune 99 99 98 99 98 99 99 97 91 98 97 97 96.9 Julv 98 99 97 96 98 98 99 98 93 99 98 96.9 Aug. 94 96 95 94 96 93 96 94 87 97 95 95 93.3 Sept. 88 89 89 84 88 81 84 86 / / 83 78 87 82.8 Oct. 79 78 79 / / 79 76 i i 78 To /o 74 76.5 1888 June 84 86 88 92 94 92 90 88 80 94 92 90 88.2 July 81 85 86 90 90 92 92 91 76 90 90 86.7 Aug. 84 82 84 90 92 90 92 90 79 93 93 92 87.3 Sept. 84 84 83 85 90 87 86 79 78 87 95 83.8 Oct. 80 81 iO 79 88 82 81 70 1 0 82 91 91 78.9 1889 June 85 84 78 80 88 83 85 90 95 92 79 86.4 July 83 8.5 84 86 90 87 91 92 90 83 82 87.6 Aug. 63 80 90 91 95 90 88 92 91 93 78 89.3 Sept. 62 79 87 90 94 91 88 91 81 90 84 86.6 Oct. 58 72 81 87 88 87 80 83 78 83 82 80 81.5 292 TABLES OF STATISTICS Monthly Condition Reports of the Department of Agriculture — Cont. (Official Figures) Virginia 1 N. Carolina S. Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas Arkansas Tennessee Missouri Oklahoma Indian Ter. Average 1890 June 90 98 97 94 92 93 85 84 84 85 87 88.8 July 92 95 95 95 91 95 89 86 89 89 93 91.4 Aug. 93 96 95 94 90 93 90 89 82 85 93 89.5 Sept. 93 95 87 86 90 84 87 93 77 89 94 85.5 Oct. 92 91 83 82 81 80 75 83 i / 80 83 80.0 1891 Tune 78 75 80 80 90 89 88 88 91 89 73 85.7 July 82 77 80 85 94 87 91 90 95 93 82 92 88.6 Auff. 81 75 83 86 94 89 93 90 92 95 82 94 88.9 Sept. 78 79 81 82 88 83 83 85 82 86 84 82.7 Oct. 72 70 72 78 74 76 74 79 78 76 70 75.7 1892 June 79 88 91 87 89 91 91 82 81 To 90 85.9 July 85 91 94 88 86 90 85 84 87 77 87 86.9 Au.?. 83 82 83 84 81 83 80 83 * 86 75 79 78 82.3 Sept. 75 76 77 79 66 72 72 76 81 79 79 76 76.8 Oct. 71 69 73 75 63 69 72 71 77 74 75 73.3 1893 Tune 95 83 88 87 98 82 86 87 82 89 92 85.6 July 93 81 83 86 96 80 80 84 84 80 85 82.7 Aug-. 88 84 75 83 92 79 81 89 72 89 83 86 80.4 Sept. 93 76 63 77 85 78 78 81 63 80 66 72 73.4 Oct. 93 76 62 76 84 76 73 71 65 71 59 75 70.7 1894 June 97 84 83 76 92 88 91 95 94 97 78 96 100 88.3 Julv 87 91 88 78 93 87 88 94 99 97 73 81 96 89.6 Aug. 96 95 95 85 93 94 97 96 85 96 94 96 93 91.8 Sept. 100 88 86 84 82 86 83 91 84 89 84 93 85.9 Oct. 93 76 62 76 84 76 73 71 65 71 59 iO 70.7 1895 June 67 61 72 82 92 85 88 85 79 89 87 89 81.0 July 100 74 84 88 93 83 86 77 76 93 92 82.3 Aug. 81 74 81 87 92 81 83 71 71 80 89 86 77.9 Sept. 84 78 82 76 89 71 75 70 56 78 75 70.8 Oct. 78 68 64 72 84 70 67 64 58 72 70 85 65.1 1896 97.2 June 91 99 97 95 85 103 104 94 92 102 118 92 87 85 July 87 100 98 94 90 98 100 100 80 100 107 90 92 92.5 Aug. 86 93 88 92 84 93 78 70 69 65 89 99 95 87 80.1 Sept. 80 70 70 71 72 66 61 60 62 60 61 81 65 60 64.2 Oct. 58 64 67 67 66 61 60 61 57 53 69 79 59 64 60.7 1897 June 87 84 87 84 90 81 76 84 87 83 77 90 . 72 83.5 July 87 90 86 85 80 85 81 89 88 88 80 95 82 93 86.0 Aug. 99 97 92 95 88 88 85 90 78 90 84 85 86 94 86.9 Sept. 90 95 84 80 86 80 81 78 70 77 77 81 95 93 78.3 Oct. 70 7.8 74 70 76 73 74 72 64 67 65 74 90 85 70.0 KING COTTON 293 Monthly Condition Reports of the Department of Agriculture — Cont. (Official Figures) Virginia N. Carolina S. Carolina Georgia d 'O Alabama Mississippi j Louisiana Texas y) d C d <; 1 Tennessee 1 Missouri Oklahoma Indian Ter. Average 1898 June 86 86 85 89 76 89 91 89 89 96 90 96 82 so 89.0 July 93 87 90 90 83 91 94 90 92 93 92 87 92 89 91.2 Aug. 94 90 89 91 87 95 88 90 91 93 97 90 98 94 91.2 Sept. 91 84 81 80 73 80 78 76 75 89 95 94 90 98 79. S Oct. 84 76 79 75 66 76 72 67 73 84 93 93 75 76 75.4 1899 June 79 87 86 88 88 86 78 81 90 80 85 83 81 84 85.7 July 86 88 88 85 90 88 83 85 93 82 88 88 78 91 87.8 Aug. 88 83 78 79 93 82 86 86 87 86 84 86 80 93 84.0 Sept. 87 73 66 69 V i 76 78 74 61 62 76 85 60 53 68.5 Oct. 76 66 62 64 79 70 69 68 56 53 66 74 60 46 62,4 1900 Jime 94 86 85 89 88 87 85 88 71 91 86 94 75 84 82.5 July 90 89 79 74 78 70 64 81 78 78 76 74 82 96 75.8 Aug. 77 80 74 77 74 67 60 77 83 83 77 84 80 91 76.0 Sept. 73 64 60 69 71 64 60 70 77 65 64 64 78 72 68 2 Oct. 71 64 57 67 63 62 56 66 78 65 64 68 79 77 67.0 1901 June 92 87 80 80 88 76 82 80 84 81 78 83 88 85 81.5 July 78 77 70 72 78 SO 86 84 86 84 85 90 91 88 81.1 Aug. 86 73 75 78 79 82 88 82 74 69 70 71 78 75 77.2 Sept. 82 72 80 81 78 75 88 80 56 61 73 75 68 76 71.4 Oct. 73 63 67 73 65 65 66 72 51 51 60 61 57 61 61.4 1902 June 92 91 97 94 100 92 94 96 95 100 100 100 96 99 95.1 July 92 93 95 91 96 84 85 85 73 94 98 06 90 89 84.7 Aug. 91 86 88 83 84 77 80 81 77 92 92 96 94 95 81.9 Sept. 80 80 74 68 75 54 68 70 53 75 82 73 76 68 64.0 Oct. 73 68 68 62 68 52 63 64 47 68 76 73 61 65 58.3 1903 June 72 74 76 75 81 73 78 76 70 76 83 83 72 76 74.1 July 76 75 74 75 85 76 81 80 79 73 80 74 67 73 77.1 Aug. 76 78 76 77 85 79 83 84 82 76 82 78 69 75 79.7 Sept. 86 83 80 81 83 84 87 86 76 81 91 81 75 81 81.2 Oct. 77 74 70 68 70 68 69 71 54 69 71 74 72 71 65.1 1904 June 82 84 81 78 88 80 85 86 84 84 85 82 93 90 83.0 July 87 90 88 85 92 85 89 90 89 90 89 89 92 87 88.0 Aug. 90 93 91 91 94 90 92 95 91 93 92 90 95 91 91 .6 Sept. 88 88 87 86 88 84 87 87 { i 88 88 87 96 89 84.1 Oct. 82 82 81 78 82 76 77 78 69 77 76 82 85 83 75.8 1905 June 87 83 78 84 88 87 73 73 69 73 86 84 88 81 77.2 July 88 82 78 82 87 83 72 73 72 75 86 86 83 79 77.0 Aug. 78 80 79 82 85 79 69 66 71 68 80 85 83 82 74.9 Sept. 76 76 /o Y i / / 70 69 62 70 72 81 86 82 80 72.1 Oct. 77 77 74 76 76 70 68 59 69 72 79 81 80 78 71.2 Nov.^ 77 76 73 73 73 69 64 55 68 67 76 77 74 73 68.8 iThe first and only time a condition report was ever issued in November. 294 TABLES OF STATISTICS Monthly Condition Reports of the Department of Agriculture — Cont. (Officiai, Figures) Virginia N. Carolina S. Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Mississippi j Louisiana Texas Arkansas Tennessee Missotxri Oklahoma Indian Ter. j Average 1906 June 84 79 82 86 S3 81 85 86 87 85 82 86 92 79 84.6 July 88 80 77 82 77 84 88 87 82 86 84 91 90 84 83.3 Aug. 83 To 72 74 72 83 88 88 86 89 88 95 92 85 82.9 Sept. 71 71 71 72 70 76 82 76 78 84 88 94 88 80 77.3 Oct. 66 66 66 86 84 68 75 73 74 76 / 0 82 75 74 71.6 1907 Tune 80 80 77 74 80 65 65 64 70 65 63 65 80 78 70.5 Tulv 6.5 72 79 78 83 68 67 66 72 67 69 64 74 73 72.0 Aug. 65 75 81 81 84 72 71 71 75 68 75 66 74 74 75.0 Sept. 77 78 83 81 80 73 72 69 67 65 78 75 72 70 72.7 Oct. 76 76 77 76 69 68 69 65 60 65 76 72 64 67 67.7 190S Tune 88 87 81 80 82 78 80 80 77 85 84 86 80 79.7 Tuly 92 89 84 83 84 82 84 80 80 85 89 87 64 81 .2 Aug. 90 89 84 85 85 85 86 83 82 86 88 88 66 83.0 Sept. 87 80 76 / 80 77 79 63 /o 83 88 90 70 76.1 Oct. 78 69 68 71 72 70 70 55 71 70 78 70 70 69.7 KING COTTOX 295 TABLE 4 AVERAGE AIOXTHIA' RAINEALL IN THE COTTON GRO^YING STATES (At Stations of the United States Weather Bureau) Rainfall (in inches) for April 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 North Carolina.. . . 2.44 4.81 1.47 4.07 1.63 4.21 South Carolina.. . . 2.18 2.95 1.34 3.83 1.39 4.40 Georgia 1.85 3.06 1.63 3.33 1.15 5.64 Florida 1.45 0.45 1.71 2 52 1.20 3.73 Alabama 2.34 2 72 2 22 3.69 1.03 6.26 Mississippi 2.85 1.20 2.75 7.38 1.80 6.. 36 Louisiana 3.50 1.11 3.05 8.95 2.91 6.26 Texas 2.08 1 .03 2.98 6.32 2.67 2 42 2.87 1.82 3.88 6.29 0.44 Tennessee 2.63 4.61 3.26 3.47 2.51 4.. 50 Oklahoma 3.15 1.32 2.82 4.35 4.17 3.62 Rainfall (in inches) for May 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 North Carolina.. . . 2.59 1.99 3.43 6.69 3.01 4.53 South Carolina.. . . 2.09 2.69 2.04 5.72 3.00 4.51 Georgia 2.34 5.47 2.23 5.02 4.32 4.26 Florida 2.45 5.36 2.51 5.56 6.96 4.86 Alabama 2.34 6.05 2.98 5.51 4.63 7.94 ^Mississippi 2.81 3.90 2.80 5.27 4.92 10.85 Louisiana 3.54 2.62 3.20 5.48 2.10 15.19 Texas 3.93 2.29 4.56 4.82 2.98 6.73 Arkansas 4.. 34 7.47 3.39 9.57 4.71 9.48 Tennessee 2.90 4.76 3.81 5.98 3.27 6.33 Oklahoma 10.13 7.33 4.94 7.51 3.22 5.02 Rainfall (in inches) for June 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 North Carolina . . . 4.50 6.10 4.60 3.15 7.32 7.02 South Carolina.. . . 4.48 8.09 4.06 1.92 8.88 5.92 Georgia 3.54 6.00 2.95 3.69 6.31 4.29 Florida . 5.95 6.69 6.17 4.96 7.65 5. 76 Alabama 1.28 4.88 2.94 4.56 3.45 2.85 Mississippi 1.51 3.09 4.37 4.95 3.20 2.41 Louisiana 1.84 4.18 3.89 7.22 3.40 1.77 Texas 1.96 4.10 4.28 4.64 2.71 1.71 Arkansas 5.27 2.53 7.11 5.90 4.60 4.48 Tennessee 4.52 3.95 3.70 5.94 3.38 4.06 Oklahoma 2.42 2.10 8.23 1.88 4.18 5.34 296 TABLES OF STATISTICS Average Monthly Rainfall in the Cotton Growing States — Cont. Rainfall (in inches) for July 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 North Carolina. . . 2.74 3.79 5.51 7.90 10.28 4.73 South Carolina.. . . 3.79 3.59 5.96 6.16 8.40 5.06 Georgia 4.55 4.00 3.81 4.57 8.41 5.04 Florida 5.20 6.46 6.35 7.55 9.50 7.75 Alabama 2.50 3.98 4.80 4.56 8.. 50 5.00 Mississippi 3.68 4.69 6.72 4.57 5.99 4.64 Louisiana 4.56 6.14 7.17 8 52 7.97 4.07 Texas 5.84 5.81 2.70 4.06 4.71 2.85 Arkansas 4.49 3.90 4.43 7.60 5.96 1.96 Tennessee 1.97 3.80 3.78 4.32 6.90 4.05 Oklahoma 2.22 2.55 3.86 5.. 50 5.26 2.13 Rainfall (in inches) for August 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 North Carolina.. . . 3.93 5.26 6.24 6.48 9.26 4.39 South Carolina. . . . 5.07 7.15 8.47 5.69 6.62 5.41 Georgia 3.92 5.56 7.33 4.96 5.82 4.10 Florida 4.60 6.84 7.40 11.24 7.20 5.97 Alabama 3.48 3.57 5.55 5.30 3.78 3.50 Mississippi 3.77 4.50 4.07 5.52 3.00 3.63 Louisiana 3.47 4.71 5.19 4.92 2.92 4.66 Texas 0..30 2.18 2.25 1.20 3.54 1.81 Arkansas 2.55 4.56 2,77 3.73 4.92 2 92 Tennessee 3.81 3.27 3.00 4.99 4.28 3.15 Oklahoma 2.19 2.72 3.01 3.38 6.57 2.68 Rainfall (in inches') for September 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 North C.arolina.. . 4.56 2.72 3.26 2.51 4.38 5.05 South Carolina. . . . 3.74 3.62 2.46 1.91 4.85 5.91 Georgia 4.64 4.40 1.48 2.82 5.29 6.24 Florida 9.44 7.28 4.36 7.62 5.50 8.58 Alabama 4.28 1.42 1.36 2.51 8.44 5.50 Mississippi 5.12 0.67 1-51 3.39 9.17 3.66 Louisiana 6.24 1.72 3.59 5.50 5.10 3.71 Texas 5.02 2.52 3.99 2.31 3.47 1.66 Arkansas 5.06 2,44 2,46 3.90 6.24 2.22 Tennessee 4.61 0.53 2.09 2.25 6.46 4.46 Oklahoma 5.94 2.08 2.55 3.12 4.06 1.96 Average Monthly Rainfall, Acreage and Production (1,000’s Omitted in Acrfage and Crop Figures) 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 2,49 2.28 2.. 16 4.93 2.09 4.80 May 3.64 4.. 54 3.26 6.10 3.92 7.24 June 3.39 4.54 4.75 4.44 5.01 4.15 Julv 3.74 4.43 5.01 5.94 7.35 4.. 30 August 3.. 37 4.57 5.03 5.22 5.26 3.84 September 5.33 2.67 2.65 3.44 5.72 4.45 ' ’ Total 21.96 23.19 23.16 .30.07 29. 35 28.78 Acreage 27,114 28,017 30,054 31 ,000 .32,049 32,060 Crop. .... .. 10,784. 10,016 13,697 10,725 13,305 11,261 Yield per acre (lbs. ) 186 167 212 162 198 176 KING COTTON TABLE 5 297 TONS OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS CONSUMED IN THE COTTON STATES, 1891-1908 Year Virginia 1891.. . 1892.. . 1893.. . 1894. . . 1895. . . 1896.. . 1897 . . 114,119 142,826 152,082 156,582 156,700 171,704 189S. . . 1899 . . 1900. . . 1901. . . 1902. . . 1903. . . 1904. . . 1905. . . 1906. . . 1907... 240,000 North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida(l) Alabama Missis- sippi Louisiana Texas 150 000 212,393 306 734 36,367 115,785 104 1 TS 1 44 .*^85 2Qfi 342 84 009 7,945 145;466 20o!372 307!519 40,342 104,256 25,994 12,047 131 243 173,996 315,612 44,065 23,895 8,496 111 208 1*^0 311 226 532 16,342 17,863 4,783 187,429 199,497 335,618 26,389 100,000 31,869 10,051 278,185 237,409 401,979 23,513 96.154 40,912 12,542 307,558 261,977 424.081 22,078 47,906 14.404 244 808 248 496 342 869 21,242 39,887 23,866 276,238 3o6;857 412,756 33,218 135,852 66,667 31,813 339,941 336,294 478,818 45,574 184,260 66,174 47,943 330,714 326,980 493,808 58,286 199,080 77,858 53,874 376,587 395,639 628,484 76,895 247,203 81,892 76,198 432,720 475,897 689,917 101,9.50 248,094 137,942 95,964 7,000 433,945 521,758 713,582 91,9.59 298,422 114,260 94,729 10,000 478,564 668,634 838,560 101,964 306,863 138,468 85,626 13,000 459,166 603,939 786,736 107,227 312,407 138,670 102,4,54 19,200 (1) Does not include cotton seed meal. Tennessee consumes about 28,000 tons annually. TABLE (i EXPORTS OF COTTON FROM THE UNITED STATES TO PRINCIPAL FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 1900-1908 (For the Year Ending August 31) (Commercial Bales) Countries 190S 1907 1906 1905 1 1904 1 1903 1902 1901 Europe. United Kingdom. 2,925,089 3,734,082 2,872,564 4,038,313 2,493,061 2,715,037 2,977,320 3,030,348 Belgium. . . 118,075 140,616 107,685 150,654 106,218 145,646 127,370 148,562 France 898,147 916, 5o6 775,688 854,496 704,102 781,291 753,424 740,127 Germany. . 2,375,882 2,206,386 1,758,731 2,074,812 1,792,218 1,816,456 1,640,533 1,673,930 Italy 418,199 537,412 476,066 536,428 37.3,580 411,877 437,229 384,876 Russia 100,408 112,024 108,431 12.5,463 155,229 173,304 74,775 44,974 Spain 252,896 260,631 253,847 289,667 186,776 249,347 274,621 255,533 Other European Countries . 175.760 200,456 119,044 166,974 106,040 157,821 123,711 140,708 British N. America. . 108.130 123,802 123,045 123,934 88,151 119,468 119,908 102,660 Mexico .... 3,617 639 23,879 73,266 54,871 59,074 31,711 .31,919 Japan 189,913 248,145 129,714 324,668 47,295 133,828 148,501 85,590 All other Countries. 4,199 7,039 4,840 9,4,50 2,214 2,809 6,690 704 Total 7,569,315 8,487,788' 6,753,534 8,768,125 6.109.755 6,765,953 6,715,793 6,639,931 Value.. . 1443,163,331 1471,174,869 |S3£4,600,195 $402,852,657 5375,076,775 $310,627,540 $284,279,190 $317,816,429 Export price per lb. Cts. 11.4 10.7 i 11.0 1 8.9 I 12.0 9.0 8.3 9.3 298 TABLES OF STATISTICS TABLE 7 EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC COTTON FROM THE UNITED STATES IN 1905, 1906, 1907 AND 1908 During the Year Ending August 31 Customs District 1905 (Running Bales) 1906 (Running Bales) 1907 (Running Bales) 1908 (Running Bales 1 Bangor, Me S04 1,982 240 982 Passamaquoddy, Me 4,499 5,763 4,591 7,950 1 880 7,399 1 Boston (2). Mass 228,346 147,030 156,788 156,780 New York, N. Y 666.763 520,624 480,476 619,453 Philadelphia, Pa 71,263 39,886 41.091 56,138 Baltimore, Md 194,299 1.56,178 165.221 117,932 Newport News, Va 24,873 7,183 6,140 1,636 Norfolk (3), Va 24,756 27,239 9,514 40,985 Wilmington, N. C .36.5,099 320,083 317.507 492,830 Charleston. S. C 78.013 9,900 21,429 44,518 Savannah, Ga 1,290.989 970,002 923,679 892.080 Brunswick, Ga 169,738 148.551 141,940 176,015 433 674 100 9 205,418 176,277 1.55,691 173,213 184,069 140,301 163,203 259,590 2,463,421 1.570,844 2,072,387 1,870.709 (4) 13,711 108,500 Galveston, Tex 2,.388,318 2,269,029 3,448,006 2,301.168 13 921 3,529 462 4 451 150 329 Corpus Christi, Tex 17!6i6 5.831 575 677 168 564 748 16 2,377 458 3 San Francisco, Cal 153,070 38,392 83,123 48.672 14,591 4,849 1.001 1,050 Puget Sound, Wash 144,249 65.022 146.645 101,800 North and South Dakota. . 2,756 5,839 4.232 115 3 25 53 65,553 73,902 88.804 54,868 Huron, Mich 40,595 29,474 19,574 23.542 100 226 338 225 773 15 18 18 Champlain, N. Y 1,517 ">3Q 6,011 952 10,509 3,667 8,597 4,717 2,8.54 6,851 Memphremagog, Vt 3,931 9,077 11,967 10,469 Chicago. Ill Total 8,834,929 6,763,041 8,.503,265 7,.569.315 (1) Includes Falmouth. Me. (2) Includes Charlestown, Mass. (3) Includes Portsmouth, Va. (4) Included with Galveston prior to March 1, 1907. KING COTTON 299 TABLE 8 CONSUIVIPTION AND PRODUCTION OF COTTON IN THE SOUTHERN STATES, 1850-1908 Number of Mills Number of Spindles Number of Bales Consumed Number of Bales Produced (2) Per Cent, of Croo Used' 1849-50 168 245,810 80,300 2,469,093 3 . 3 1859— 60 166 304,551 101,688 5,387,052 1.9 1869-70 154 344,046 83.068 3,011,994 2.8 1874-75 181 481,821 1 4.5,078 3,832,991 3.8 1879-80 163 56'8.458 188,398 5,755,359 3.3 1884-85 (1) 232 1,100,132 315.842 5.706,165 5 -5 1889-90 240 ‘ 1,554,000 526,856 7,472,511 7.1 1890-91 284 1,761,547 605,916 8,652,597 7.0 1891-92 293 1,9.38,524 681,471 9,035,379 7.5 1892-93 315 . 2,088,697 733,701 6,700,365 11 .0 1893-94 322 2,171,342 723,329 7.549.817 9.6 1894-95 323 2,-382,781 8.5,3,352 9,901,251 8.6 1895-96 354 2,867,3.33 857,8.35 7,157,346 12,0 1896-97 402 3.344.327 981,991 8.757.964 11 3 1897-98 425 3,574,754 1,227,674 11,199,994 10 .9 1898-99 444 3,8.32,401 1,413,894 11,274,840 12.5 1899-00 499 4,999,587 1,570,812 9,436,416 10.7 1900-01 . 581 5,-590,783 1.576,786 10.383,422 15.2 1901-02 624 6,522,622 1,881,1.32 10,680,680 17.6 1902-03 640 7,100.292 1,925,954 10,727,559 18.0 1903-04 628 7,963,866 2,007,509 10,011,374 20.0 1904-05 659 8.747,810 2,203,406 13.565,885 16 2 1905-06 667 9,181,207 2,398,404 11,345,988 21.1 1906-07 694 9,924.245 2,487,088 13,510,982 18.3 1907-08 717 10,451,919 2,234,395 11,581,829 19.3 (1) The niimbers of spindles and mills are for the year 1886. (2) Commercial crop. TABLE 9 NUMBER OF BALES AND POUNDS, AND VALUE OF COTTON PRODUCED SINCE 1790 Period Number of Bales Average Weight of Bales Number of Potmds Average Price per Pound Value 1790-1800 520,000 225 117,000,000 Cents 33.80 -S 39.546,000 1800-1810 2,837.000 247 700,739,000 21 95 153,812,210 1810-1820 4,096,000 269 1,101,824.000 20.50 225,873,920 1820-1830 8,311,000 .308 2,559,788,000 12.50 319.973,500 1830-1840 13,681.000 368 5,034,608.000 12. .39 623,787,931 1840-1850 21,642,000 415 8,981,4,30,000 8.50 76.3.421,550 1850-1860 33,761,000 436 14,719,978,000 11 .31 1.664.829,512 1860-1870 23,075,000 460 10,614,500,000 44.00 4.765.910,500 1870-1880 43,976.000 445 19,569,413,000 14.64 2,864.062,063 1880-1890 64,808,000 465 30.135.720,000 10 .75 .3,239,589,900 1890-1900 89,666,000 478 42,860,348,000 7 59 3,253.100,413 1900-1907 80,226,000 486 38,989,836,000 10.32 4,02.3,751,075 Total 386,599,000 175,-385,184.000 321,9.38,-558,574 300 TABLES OF STATISTICS TABLE 10 THE WORLD'S CONSUMPTION OF COTTON, 1890-91 TO 1907-08 (Bales of 500 Pounds) Date Great Britain Continent of Europe I'nited States East Indies Japan Canada, •Mexico, etc. Total Year ended Sept. 30 — 1890-91 3,384,000 3,631,000 2,367,000 924,000 100,000 107,000 10,51.3,000 1891-92 3,181,000 3,619,000 2,576,000 914,000 203,000 110,000 10,603.000 1892-93 2,866,000 3,661,000 2.551,000 918,000 191,000 110,000 10,297,000 1893-94 3,233,000 3,827,000 2,264,000 959,000 284,000 110,000 10,677,000 1894-95 3,250,000 4,030,000 2.743,000 1,052,000 360,000 130,000 11, .565,000 1895-96 3,276.000 4,160,000 2,572,000 1,105,000 412,000 120,000 11.645,000 1896-97 3,224,000 4,.368,000 2,738,000 1,019,000 495,000 120.000 11,964,000 1897-98 3,432,000 4,628,000 2,962,000 1,161,000 645,000 140,000 12.968,000 1898-99 3,519,000 4,784,000 3,553,000 1,314,000 747,000 140,000 14,0.57,000 1899-1900 3,334,000 4,576,000 3,856,000 1,139,000 706,000 130,000 13,741,000 1900-01 3,269,000 4,576,000 3,727,000 1,059,000 536,000 130,000 13,297,000 1901-02 3,253,000 4,784,000 4,037,000 1,383,000 743.000 149,000 14,349,000 1902-03 3,185,000 5.148,000 4,015,000 1,3.50,000 439,000 202,000 14,339,000 1903-04 3,017,000 .5,148,000 3,909,000 1,270,000 360,000 176,000 13,880,000 1904-05 3,620,000 5,148,000 4,310,000 1,473,000 755,000 236,000 1.5, .542,000 1905-06 3,774,000 5,2,52,000 4,726,000 1,586,000 873,000 174,000 16,384,000 1906-07 3,892,000 5,460,000 4,9.50,000 1,, 552, 000 906,000 171,000 17,006,000 1907-08 3,840,000 5,440,000 4,227,000 1,.500,000 850,000 142,000 15,999,000 Note — The above estimates of the world’s consumption of cotton, compiled from the tables of the Com- mercial and Financial Chronicle, are based only upon the commercial movement and the imports of cotton into each country. China, Brazil, and Korea are not included, and only the imports into Mexico. Each of these countries produce and consume large quantities of cotton, but no statistics are available for China and Korea. According to the latest official reports the production in ^lexico in 1906 amounted to 276,000 bales (compared with 130.000 bales six years ago) and the consumption to about 200,000 bales. The latest reliable statistics for Brazil show a consumption in 1905 of about 140,000 bales of 500 pounds each. The production in 1906 was about 350,000 bales, of which 140,000 were exported. KING COTTON 301 TABLE 11 THE WORLD’S VISIBLE SUPPLY OF COTTON, 1903-1908 (Commercial Bales) 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 Stock at Liverpool 362,000 780,000 380,000 723,000 190,000 2.34,000 “ “ London 10,000 24,000 16,000 22,000 30,000 20,000 “ “ Manchester 45,000 58,000 44,000 51,000 18,000 24,000 Total Stock in Grt. Britain. 417,000 862,000 440,000 796,000 238,000 278,000 Stock at Hamburg 24,000 18,000 19,000 14,000 43,000 25,000 “ “ Bremen 171,000 140,000 84,000 199,000 61,000 59,000 4 non R non " " Ha\Te 89,000 126,000 62.000 80,000 71,000 59^000 “ “ Marseilles 4,000 3,000 4,000 3.000 3,000 3,000 “ “ Barcelona 22,000 18,000 7,000 18,000 23,000 10,000 Genoa 13,000 22,000 21,000 9,000 19.000 15,000 '■ “ Trieste 18,000 38,000 5,000 3,000 18,000 12,000 Total Continental Stocks.. 341,000 365.000 202,000 326,000 242,000 186,000 Total European Stocks. . . 778,000 1,227,000 '642,000 1,122,000 480,000 464,000 Indian. Afloat for Europe. 54,000 110.000 50,000 109,000 23,000 64,000 American, Afloat for Europe 96,171 31,679 121,073 184,000 54,000 17,000 Egvptian, Brazilian, etc., Afloat for Europe Ib.UUU 19,000 12,000 18,000 18,000 13.000 Stock at Alexandria 61,000 20,000 28,000 46,000 55,000 9.000 “ “ Bombav 407,000 560,000 627,000 607,000 330,000 382,000 “ “ United States ports 179,525 275.636 193,879 327,430 103.444 151,220 “ “ United States In- ^ terior towns. . . 117,335 79,654 96,276 132,040 60,443 13,106 United States Exports 4,510 875 9,298 109 Total Visible Supply. 1,713,541 2,.323,844 1,779,526 2,545,570 1,123,887 1,113,435 Of the above — 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 American Liverpool Stock 277,000 659,000 287,000 660,000 118,000 155,000 Manchester Stock . 34,000 47.000 39,000 45,000 13,000 22,000 Continental Stock 261,000 262,000 147,000 290,000 128,000 110,000 American, Afloat for Europe 96,171 31,679 121,073 184,000 54.000 17,000 United States Port Stocks 1 i 9,525 275,636 193,879 327,430 103,444 151,220 United States Interior Stocks 117,335 79,654 96,276 1.32,040 60,443 13,106 Lnited States Exports To-day 4,510 9,298 109 Total American 969,541 1,355,844 893,526 1,638,470 176,887 468,435 East Indian, Brazilian, etc. Liverpool .Stock 105,000 121,000 93,000 63.000 72,000 79,000 London vStock 10,000 24,000 16,000 22,000 30,000 20,000 Manchester Stock 11,000 11,000 5,000 6,000 5,000 2.000 Continental Stock 80,000 103,000 55,000 36,000 114,000 76,000 Indian. Afloat for Europe. 54,000 110,000 50.000 109,000 23,000 64,000 Egyptian, Brazilian, etc.. Afloat for Europe 16,000 19,000 12,000 18,000 18,000 13,000 Stock in Alexandria 61,000 20,000 28,000 46,000 55,000 9,000 “ " Bombav 407,000 560,000 627,000 607,000 330,000 382,000 Total East Indian, etc. 744,000 968,000 886,000 907,000 647,000 645,000 Total American 969,541 1.355,000 893,526 1,638,470 476,887 468,435 Total A'isible Supply . 1,713,541 2,323,844 1.779.526 2.,545,470 1,123,887 1,113,435 Price, Midland Upland, Liverpool 5.25 d. 7.49 d. 5.41 d. 5.83 d. 6.64 d. 6.52 d. Price, Midland Upland, New York 9.50 cts. 13 .55 cts. 9 .80 cts. 10 .95 cts. 11 .10 cts. 12 .50 cts. TABLE 12 AMOUNT OF COTTON GINNED TO THE SEASON, BY Growth I year United States. Alabama . Arkan sas. Florida. Georgia. Kansas. Kentucky, etc.. Louisiana. jMississippi . Missouri . North Carolina. Oklahoma. South Carolina. Tennessee. Texas. Virginia. 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 1907 1906 1905 1904 Sept. 1 200.278 407.551 476.655 374.821 8.132 24.312 50,636 25.678 75 446 58 76 942 1.898 4.615 1,9.56 34,822 25,298 116.205 61,706 756 14,0.33 3,550 5,433 194 9.690 4,413 2,652 43 32 3,028 134 16 13 102 1,098 3,041 3,240 38,719 4,215 152,257 328, .586 255,327 271,871 RUNNING B.^LES, COUNTING Sept. 25 I Oct. IS 1,532,602 2,057,283 2.355.716 137.658 221,851 331,807 10,133 35,837 7,298 7,868 10,479 20,649 342,704 281,585 596,711 30 45,7.50 139,511 46,503 71,043 1.56,573 96,789 82 1 .0.50 245 40,388 44,877 119,237 31.422 17,. 570 22,619 185,6,56 131,262 324,083 2,474 7, .394 3,306 657,423 1,008,8.56 786,176 1 408 293 4,420,258 4,931,621 4,990,566 6,417,894 416.912 469,647 644,165 685,244 163,371 163,102 119,899 237,711 19,863 24,321 37, .509 40.642 878,643 720.316 1,066,998 1.0.52,570 342 218 177 284 180,720 321,123 134,718 383,600 410,065 365,058 319,408 561,572 5,934 7,375 8,599 10,621 216,104 223,437 334,649 309,097 240.210 198,709 179,108 280,144 5.37,273 396,551 642,9.32 629,857 60,644 38,858 67.134 79,552 1.289,324 1,998,807 1,4,31,093 2,141,855 853 4,099 4,177 5,145 Nov. 1 6, 128, .562 6,906,395 6,457,595 609,297 676,747 816, .566 291,143 306,762 210,528 28,626 34,707 48,718 1,202,485 1.003,718 1,304,041 524 571 305 280,144 441.757 22.5,288 634,605 .591,254 513,.504 1 1 ,639 1.3.878 14.224 326,979 311.448 439,027 .373, .568 341,808 281,960 7.35,994 549,857 822,2.32 108,068 92,916 108,907 1.523,147 2,535,551 1,664,266 2, .34.3 5,421 8,029 302 SPECIFIED DATES AND TO THE END OF STATES: 1904 TO 1907 CENSUS bureau) ROUND AS HALF BALES AND EXCLUDING LINTERS Nov. 14 Dec. 1 Dec. 13 Jan. 1 Jan. 16 Total crop 7,300,665 8,343.396 9,284,070 9.951, .505 10,339,551 11,057,822 8,562,242 10.027,868 11,112,789 11,741,039 12,176.199 12,983,201 7,501,180 8,689,663 9,297,819 9,725,426 9,989,634 10,495,105 9,786.646 11.971.477 12,767,600 13.451,337 744.627 856.596 961,739 1,032.177 1,070,090 1,113,093 834,910 1,018,955 1,136,844 1,190,062 1,216.606 1,241,133 944,391 1,067,424 1,133,318 1,176,608 1.202,145 1,228,000 1,065,438 1,319.711 1,411.834 1,451.362 385.528 484,181 572,418 626.551 666,810 751,851 453,658 570,924 673,030 731,547 764,100 894,268 309.280 423,738 475.574 510,599 534,687 598,915 769,388 825,919 901.223 35,454 40,681 45,685 50,085 53,486 56,668 42,278 50,028 55,916 59,011 60,432 61,473 56.628 65,250 69,752 72,889 75,229 78,838 60.291 75,713 81,855 1,388,694 1,518,199 1,632,463 1,725,965 1,771,832 1,860,323 1,193,147 1,391,224 1,514,6.37 1,. 571, 582 1,601,922 1,632,703 1.439,392 1,559,279 1,620,741 1,670,466 1.695,4.34 1,725,272 1.540.749 1,790,792 1,898.397 1,982,890 790 1,051 1,158 1.422 1,644 2,310 835 983 1,204 1.362 1,409 1,921 471 628 1,053 1,218 1,325 1,3.50 850 1.252 1.882 1,936 351,241 424,433 501.612 560.780 598.439 662,0.32 552,919 672,873 764,850 836,459 888,577 955,473 282,936 363,318 416,237 456,339 484,328 511,738 663.423 872,403 982.598 1.083.683 794.992 955,414 1,120,908 1,2.30,127 1,287,389 1,442,881 792,778 1,007,879 1,184,914 1,289,294 1,361,838 1,483,408 666,642 841,775 951 ,656 1,033.794 1,084,409 1,168,0.59 1.031 644 1 415,376 1.576,533 1.774.464 15,102 20,298 23,674 26,644 29,493 34,105 21,960 28,604 34,141 38,441 40,179 51,763 22.221 30,394 33,538 35,427 37,187 40,314 28.217 39.653 44.203 49,498 399,050 468,447 523,257 565,207 591,851 637 961 384,275 490,540 546,524 571,628 587,759 611.258 510.202 573,560 608,183 629,344 637,701 652,815 519.427 659,135 704.801 749,712 484.657 598,723 685.595 742.042 782,790 848,977 484,996 574,043 643,667 701,814 741,633 871,961 .363,241 476,997 532,362 576,076 595,330 660,027 529,277 702,980 761,739 796.382 851,361 943.868 1,014.356 1,065,876 1,093,416 1.163,565 654.458 769.785 8.38,828 868,977 887,087 912,602 912,603 993,315 1,042,877 1,075,936 1,092,932 1,112,.363 930,713 1.085.725 1,144.514 1,192,926 139.-959 177,048 204,450 225.292 238.404 266,433 142,661 184,242 220,5.52 241,8.38 2.52,533 293,023 156,152 203,384 225.447 240,565 248,683 269,0.30 195.873 271.181 297.443 320,317 1,705,529 1,849.262 1,989,968 2,091 ,667 2,145,695 2,208,021 2,99.5.791 3,257.001 3.485.565 .3.626,117 3,7,58,493 3,957,619 1,826.125 2,077,026 2,172,881 2,231,689 2,284.954 2,432,718 2,653,203 2,953,067 3 019.944 3,062,203 3,681 5.195 6,787 7,670 8,212 9,602 7,576 10,787 12,117 12,907 13,631 14,596 10,896 13,575 14,200 14.476 15,290 15.666 11,518 15,101 15,938 17,216 303 304 TABLES OF STATISTICS TABLE 13 WEEKLY VISIBLE SUPPLY OF AMERICAN COTTON EACH WEEK, 1902-1907 (Commercial Bales) Week ending 1907-08 1906-07 1905-06 1904-05 1903-04 1902-03 September 1 1,355,844 893,526 1,638,470 476,887 468,435 800,648 7 1,285,205 86.3,689 1,676,642 541,956 418,415 800,831 14 1,298,050 916,032 1.801.253 653,131 457,407 909,926 “ 21 1,365,505 1,001,365 1 ,946„823 872,357 622,462 1,083,365 “ 28 1,510,2.54 1,197,746 2,134,939 1,295,211 872,231 1,306,737 October 5 ?1,626,934 1,387,380 2,350,^54 1.650,466 1,125..302 1 ,516,144 “ 12 1,812,913 1,606,419 2,575,408 1.937,481 1,344,662 1,684,380 “ 19 2,025,584 1,885,089 2,790,957 2,235,665 1,642,367 1,883,776 “ 26 2,257,127 2,264,679 2,942,175 2,464,383 1,895,498 2,060,061 November 9 . 2,425,877 2,.555,.308 3,100.096 2,705,675 2,149.831 2,289,585 9 . .. 2,585,299 2,861,053 3,294,345 2,932„399 2,460.521 2,.397,201 “ 16 2,785,153 3,066,886 3,497,257 3,163,985 2,744,032 2,569,237 “ 23. . . ■ ■ 2,990,031 3,.301,721 3,712,561 3,360.765 2,866.589 2,741,482 “ 30 3,040,546 3,516,031 3,794.474 3,537,916 3.049,400 2,780,077 December 7. . . • ■ 3,205,512 3,7.54,386 3,933,696 3,734,113 3,135,251 2,926,425 “ 14. . . ■ ■ 3,370;324 3,910,534 4,002,684 3,827,192 3,217,271 2,985,070 “ 21 3,5.39,558 3,989,913 4,0.32,236 3,890,550 3,359„533 3,706,136 28 3,738,720 1908 4,152,931 1907 4,162,437 1906 3,952,751 1905 3,386.678 1904 3,105,315 1903 January 4 3,830,468 4,167,577 4,141,660 3,!- 83,011 3,343,890 3,209,843 11 3,878,522 4,281,564 4,103,988 3,840,660 3,287.622 3,238,868 “ 18 3,842,488 4.352,427 4,056,131 3,722,715 3,206,043 3,244,393 “ 25 3,819,486 4,410,270 3,917,809 3,700,617 3,110,654 3,223.028 February 1 3,863,342 4.365,483 3,886,0.38 3,547,715 3,042,751 3,236,228 8 3,835,689 4,344,121 3,821,958 3,471,092 2,941,498 3,137,316 “ 15 3,752,197 4.325,652 ,3,760,640 3.301,269 2,837,4 2 3,077,726 “ 27 3,667,686 4,284,580 3,714,798 3,204,432 2,688,985 3,007,781 March 1 3,556,945 4.254,510 3,605,160 3,186,271 2,579,769 2,931,562 “ 8 3,454,947 4,144.987 3,509,861 3,090,391 2,409,579 2,766,863 “ 15 3,399,641 4,091.298 3,4,32,677 3,063,590 2.320,458 2,622,317 “ 22 3,298,783 4,040,296 3,306,644 3,055,4.35 2,242,839 2,495.007 “ 29 3,195,497 4,001,102 3,127,871 3,028,411 2,176,120 2,432.540 April 5 3,087,160 3,882,459 2,991.658 3,002,877 2,070,516 2,375,481 12 3,017,727 3,791,332 2,933,779 2,964,801 1.985,746 2,281,108 “ 19 2,9.39,028 3,619,498 2,8.39,012 2,936,273 1,921,646 2,178,131 “ 26 2,819,198 3,484,085 2,766,886 2,907,316 1,852,625 2,136,640 May 3 2,694,177 3,376,972 2,642,925 2,828,559 1,742,262 2,051,056 10 2,559,109 3,176..351 2.531.022 2,762,056 1,664.593 1,904,053 “ 17 2,413,626 3,045,184 2,426,784 2,652,008 1,580,603 1,791,095 “ 24 2,296,284 2,929, .347 2,334,532 2,615,760 1,520.295 1,702,289 “ 31 2,154,986 2,804,8.33 2.236,862 2,525,917 1,424,341 1 .623,367 June 7 2,036,976 2,653,708 2,145,269 2,441,279 1,325,318 1,542.878 14 1,929,137 2,5.32,829 1,990,471 2,362,304 1,244,108 1,415,704 “ 21 1,841,285 2,421,595 1,839,535 2,248,314 1,180.234 1,319,190 “ 28 1,736,702 2,267,793 1,74.3.081 2,151,233 1,099,931 1,2.38.196 July 5 1,611,622 2,125,626 1,602,268 2,0,50,376 1,014,399 1 ,168,653 12 1,499,970 2,011,435 1,488,428 1,978,793 910,209 1,084,775 19 1,413,427 1,860,242 1,382.642 1,942,763 825,981 1.606,942 26 1,318,543 1,7.84,546 1,274.631 1,881,351 747,667 936,839 August 2 1,243,264 1,698,607 1,187,9.59 1,806.862 664,458 864,119 9 1,120,923 1,601,168 1,083,179 1,713,379 578,133 775.425 16 1,056,296 1,508,208 993,024 1,676,859 511,779 702,216 23 1,000,933 1,425,921 1 942,932 1,613,826 471,569 608,583 30 969,541 1,355,844 j 898,156 1,638,470 476,887 525,270 KING COTTON 305 TABLE 14 STOCKS OF COTTON AT UNITED STATES PORTS AT THE CLOSE OF AUGUST Port 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902 Galveston New Orleans Mobile Savannah Charleston TTilmington Brunswick Norfolk Baltimore New York Philadelphia Boston 30,820 31,964 2,877 8,593 3,318 553 39 9,562 2,312 169,975 650 4,016 52,318 15,273 4,355 17,164 3,464 475 70,186 43,444 3,381 30,036 4,223 2,490 1,391 15,543 4.000 132,102 952 3,294 537 7,808 18 43,225 22,000 1,156 13,185 331 306 1,131 13,493 421 2,745 128 205 31,449 36,562 2,583 20,742 4,220 6,701 19 1,856 1,000 56,266 1,713 1,662 9,928 2,000 83,971 1 ,250 2,266 1,141 100 26,844 135 3,254 750 38 100 139,449 650 3,680 3,909 4,104 229 Total 268,678 196,797 319,405 112,427 162,040 164,773 TABLE 15 PRODUCTION OF SEA-ISLAND COTTON, 1890-91—1907-08 The following table gives the production of each State, the total crop, and the number of bales exported and the number retained for domestic consumption from 1890-91 to 1907-08, inclusive. The total crop for 1894-95 includes 34 bales of Texas growth marketed at Galveston; that for 1895-96, 991 ; and that for 1896-97, 2,500. The total crop for 1897-98 includes 7 bales grown in Alabama and 10 in Texas, and that for 1898-99, 6 bales grown in Louisiana. The crop estimates from 1896 to 1903, in- clusive, are those of the Department of Agriculture. All other figures in the table are taken from commercial authorities. Sea-Island Cotton Crops, 1890-91 to 1907-08 (In Commercial Bales) Year Florida Georgia South Carolina Total Exports American consump- tion 1890-91 25,320 26,531 16,267 68,118 39,116 26,651 1891-92 20,628 27,100 1 1 ,44.3 59,171 27.568 32,093 1892-93 9,685 28,324 7,413 45,422 22.548 22,911 1893-94 19,107 .39,367 2,578 61 0.52 .37,333 24..345 1894-95 15.176 53,716 5,913 74,839 40,741 34,981 1895-96 21.664 60,522 10,010 93,187 50,063 40,530 1896-97 26,431 64,668 10,769 104,368 58,481 40,670 1897-98 24,656 41,364 10,242 76,279 42,130 .34,140 1898-99 21,319 40,787 5,679 67,791 .35,466 38.654 1899-1900 29,607 60,888 7,843 98,3.38 46,286 49,543 1900-01 25,374 54,974 8,377 88.725 31.988 55,422 1901-02 21.323 48.538 8,774 78,635 31,873 43.650 1902-03 27.686 62,451 12.497 102,6.34 54,082 S0..524 190.3-04 28,005 .39,1,55 9,.549 76,709 .31,320 43,578 1904-05 37,873 49,696 12,094 99,663 38,402 62, DO 6 1905-06 .30,378 72,872 1.3,712 116,962 39,262 78,923 1906-07 23,411 24,653 8,044 56,108 20,489 .36,101 1907-08 28,935 44,71.3 1.3,247 86,895 32,383 46,718 306 TABLES OF STATISTICS TABLE 16 NUMBER OF COTTON IVIILLS, SPINDLES, BALES CONSUMED AND STOCKS IN EACH STATE, 1906-1907 (U. S. Censhs Bureau) State Year Num- ber of Mills Number of Active Spindles Spindles Vsing Cot- ton wth other fibre>^ Cotton taken for Consump- tion Cotton Consumed MiU Stocks August 31 Average Gross Weight of bales Alabama 1907 74 876.944. 247.476 239,149 29.946 500 7 1906 68 851,986 235,163 244,058 21,619 498.3 1907 7 12 972 4 762 4 411 825 498 9 1906 11 13.180 4,207 3,946 474 495.9 1907 15 12,284 18 219 15,997 3 590 512,9 1906 1 368 Connecticut 1907 86 1,215,435 52,630 15.8,403 147,450 49,060 513.9 1906 86 1.174,527 150,844 148,692 38,107 500.7 Georgia 1907 149 1,610,004 14,060 545.385 521.777 62,400 484.5 1906 138 1,.546,998 510,329 513,814 38,792 483.7 Illinois 1907 37 31,488 4,646 14,264 13,412 1,575 511.1 1906 34 31,488 11,766 12,154 723 497.5 Indiana 1907 21 122,568 11,904 29,675 27,7.54 4,445 512.2 1906 19 126,688 27,202 28,.389 2,524 512.9 Kentucky 1907 16 82,764 14,164 27,001 25,785 5,220 516.2 1906 14 82,692 27,264 27,970 4,004 510.0 Louisiana 1907 14 68 724 17 404 17.050 799 501.1 1906 12 92,700 17,609 17,578 445 495.4 Maino . . 1907 35 966,864 40,853 166,456 157,152 37,616 519.9 1906 34 912,593 160,598 163,297 28,312 517.7 Maryland 1907 16 142,384 9,000 65,960 64,998 4,445 493.9 1906 14 134,112 59,763 60,223 3.483 498.0 Massachusetts 1907 204 9,097,236 70,462 1,365,628 1,253.856 367,098 513.4 1906 210 8,790,793 1,235,689 1,234,182 255,326 508.1 Mississippi 1907 26 162,696 8,404 38,854 37,929 3,491 494.0 1906 26 147,474 38,184 40.197 2,566 497.0 Missouri 1907 39 14,416 312 10,125 9,491 1,168 512.1 1906 26 14,016 6,746 7,146 534 480.4 New Hamn.«5birp 1907 44 1,307,357 50,520 306,783 277,941 82,696 515.3 1906 46 1,296,445 267,292 283,853 54,124 513.2 New Jersey 1907 2S 425,791 14.463 46,845 48,294 9,217 513.5 1906 27 417,679 55,316 54,597 10,666 473.8 New l ork 1907 128 900,506 110,862 206,843 191,884 37.797 .508.5 1906 112 802,254 170,258 176.739 22,838 506.5 North Carolina. 1907 276 2,6ai.444 6,556 7.50,400 710,275 84,542 482.1 1906 251 2,341,792 669,633 675.332 44,417 477.4 Ohio 1907 31 19,427 23.744 24,533 8,564 .517.1 1906 29 21,772 21,682 9.353 506.8 PenIls^■Ivania . 1907 132 263.205 137,190 89,476 86,825 12,933 511.2 1906 124 288,143 80,814 86,564 10.282 505.4 Rhode Island . . . 1907 74 2.218,905 12,556 245,266 223.0a5 76,250 521.5 1906 76 2.1.30,958 213,342 217,118 54,019 510.4 1907 145 3 502 036 709,728 668.883 96.487 485.2 1906 141 3 345 075 . . 645.546 674.588 55.642 481.9 Tennessee 1907 35 ■230;358 23,482 65,185 62.522 10,508 480.6 1906 37 212.062 56,944 58,244 7.845 502.1 Texas 1907 52 103 992 41 923 38,602 5.443 509.8 1906 52 93;687 39,848 40,023 2,122 515.7 1 ermont 1907 15 106,720 24,032 17,049 13,921 4,470 509.4 1906 15 102,264 12,788 12,758 1,342 512.9 1 irginia 1907 29 2,50,7.58 4,738 72,470 68,668 9.085 493.6 1906 33 253,206 65,868 68,919 5.283 500.6 All other States 1907 92 44,340 20,890 35,879 33,342 6,798 504.9 1906 97 47 284 36.205 37,416 4,261 505.7 United States 1907 1.830 26,375,191 651,251 5.321,203 4,984,936 1,016,738 500.3 1906 1.732 25,250,096 4,820,990 4,909,479 680.471 496.6 1 Not shorni separately for 1906. KING COTTON 307 TABLE 17 COST OF PICKING COTTON The following table shows the average price paid for PICKING COTTON PER 100 POUNDS IN EACH STATE AND TER- RITORY, AND THE TOTAL COST OF PICKING THE UPLAND AND SEA-ISLAND COTTON CROPS FROM 1899-1900 TO 1903-04, INCLUSIVE, AS ASCERTAINED BY THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. State Price per 100 pounds Total Cost 1899- 1900 1900- 1901 1901- 1902 1902- 1903 1903- 1904 1899-1900 1900-1901 1901-1902 1902-1903 1903-1904 Cents Cents Cents Cents Cents Alabama 36 43 41 42 48 85,189.828 •86,432.718 $6,566,679 $5,889,975 •S6,799„358 Arkansas 43 56 50 53 58 4,101,658 6,870,231 5.804,417 7,822.629 ^6,446,329 Florida 46 51 45 50 59 78,569 179,387 183,171 239,507 160,515 Geora:ia 38 42 40 41 46 6,810,782 7.250,687 8,535,494 7,651,867 i 8,163,552 Indian Ty 51 71 66 63 75 908,356 2,351,350 2,596,789 3,305,687 3,106,845 71 66 63 1.242 1.332 487 3o2 50 53 1 081 550 8,127 7 376 Louisiana 40 53 53 54 63 4,062.556 5,557,856 6,750,259 7,054,354 i 7,547,728 Mississippi 39 45 45 47 56 6,816,533 7,167,100 9,068,678 9,987,759 11,628,977 Missouri 50 58 59 58 68 123,085 224,176 211,727 291,533 415,405 North Carolina. . . 36 43 41 42 49 2,5.30,210 3,230,448 3,245,403 3,689,721 T 3,832,952 Oklahoma 58 /D 60 73 88 573,237 1,382,618 1,258,483 1,917‘,936 2,141,920 South Carolina . . . 38 40 39 40 45 4.380,800 4,056,740 4,415,285 5,112,312 5,120,199 Tennessee 46 51 50 53 55 1,260,285 1,506,673 1,400,614 2,473,501 2,050,983 Texas 44 66 55 54 65 15,933,518 35,332,790 21,821,089 19,632,708 124,329,695 Virginia 37 37 38 37 49 42,128 64,125 73,508 73,986 88,063 Total Upland 40.5 54 47.4 48 .56.9 852.811,572 881,609,222 $71,933,578 $75,151,089 $81,840,249 Total Sea-island. . (d) 925,611 917,413 1,212,364 1,715,556 United States ] 852,811.572 $82,534,833 $72,850,991 $76,363,453 $83,555,805 (a) Included in value of upland. 308 TABLES OF STATISTICS TABLE 18 • DATES OF EARLIEST KILLING FROSTS IN THE COTTON STATES (U. S. Weather Bureau Reports) State Locality 1906-07 1905-06 190-1-05 1903-04 1903-02 North Carolina Charlotte Oct. 12 Nov. 11 Nov. 15 Nov. 27 Nov. 28 ** “ ^ Oct. 11 Nov. 12 Nov. 28 Nov. 28 Nov. 28 <4 44 Oct. 12 Nov. 28 4 4 4 4 Oct. 12 Nov. 12 Oct. 27 Nov. 16 Dec. 13 Nov. 28 Nov 28 Nov. 15 Oct. 11 Oct. 22 Nov. 28 Oct. 29 Nov. 12 " Nov. 28 Dec. 27 Nov. 23 Nov. 27 Nov. 28 “ Oct. 11 Oct. 22 Oct. 28 Nov. 28 Nov. 28 Florida Dec. 27 Dec. 23 Dec. 18 Nov. 27 Nov. 28 Dec. 27 Oct. 29 Nov. 23 Nov. 14 Nov. 28 “ Nov. 13 Nov. 30 Nov. 27 Mississippi Oct. 11 Nov. 19 Nov. 28 Louisiana Dec. 27 Texas Jan. 26 Nov. 19 None Dec. 3 Nov. 11 Nov. 12 Nov. 11 Nov. 13 Nov. 20 Nov 29 Arkansas Nov. 22 Dec. 5 “ Oct. 31 Nov. 29 Nov. 30 Oct. 22 Nov. 27 Tennessee. . . Nov. 27 “ Oct. 11 Oct. 25 Dec. 6 Chattanooga Oct. 11 Nov. 12 . ov. 15 Oct. 28 Nov. 27 TABLE 19 THE NUMBER OF COTTON SPINDLES IN THE WORLD Country 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 Great Britain 54,600,000 52.000,000 50,000,000 48,500,000 47,500,000 47,200,000 Continent 36,800,000 35,800,000 35,500,000 35,000,000 34,600.000 .34,300,000 Total Europe United States. 91,400,000 87,800,000 85,500,000 83,500,000 82,100,000 81,500,000 United States, North.. 16,300,000 16,000,000 15,600.000 15,325,000 15,250,000 15,200,000 United States South. . 10,451,919 9,924,245 9,181.207 8,747,810 7,963,866 7,039,633 Total United States.. 26,751,919 25,924.245 24,781,207 24.072,810 23,213,866 22,239,633 East Indies 5,400,000 5,333,275 5,293,834 5,163,486 5,118,121 5,043,297 Japan 1,500,000 1,483,497 1,450,949 1,387,846 1,349,074 1,379,966 China 670,000 650,000 625,000 619,648 610,000 600,000 Total India, etc 7,570,000 7,466,772 7,275,949 7,170,980 7,077,195 7,023,263 Canada 820,000 800,000 775,000 750,000 716,000 700,000 Mexico 740,000 700,000 675,000 675,000 6.50,000 610,000 Total other 1,560,000 1,500,000 1,4,50,000 1,425,000 1,366,000 1,310,000 Total World 127.281,919 122,691,017 119.007,156 116,168,790 113,7.57,061 112,072,896 World’s Consumption.. . World’s Weeklv Con- 15,999,000 16,931,898 16,.385,228 15,541,667 14,310,158 14,477,694 sumption 307,673 .325,613 315,101 298,878 298,878 278,416 INDEX. PAGE Aberdeen, Miss., Cotton shipped from, by steamboats 175 Acreage, Planted in cotton in each State ’....288 Protest against Agricultural Department’s estimate 93, 122, 159 Planters’ Convention to reduce 118, 119, 183, 184, 227, 264 Africa, Texas cotton seed shipped to 226 Alabama, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 135 Commercial cotton crops of, 1807-1908 (see tables) 138 to 158 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 144 to 158 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 144 to 158 First cotton mills in 142, 143 First railroad built in 142 Acreage planted in cotton 137, 288 Production of cotton in Tennessee Valley 140, 143 Cotton area and production compared 137, 138 Cotton oil mills in 142, 158, 159 Yield of cotton in 144, 147, 148, 149, 157 Cost of cotton production in 157 Number of cotton planters in 157 Anson Creams, Superiority of 64, 65 Anthracnose, Destruction of cotton by 121 Apalachicola, Cotton receipts and exports from 127 Arkansas, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 239 Commercial cotton crops of, 1823-1908 (see tables) 241 to 250 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 243 to 250 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 243 to 250 Counties producing cotton 242 Acreage planted in cotton 241, 288 Cotton area and production compared 241 .Highest yield in the United States 248 Cost of cotton production 249 Number of planters in 249 Atlanta, Cotton Exposition held at 116 Augusta, Cotton shipments from, in 1827 102 Cotton consumed by mills at 120, 121 Austin’s Colony in Texas 212 Bagging, Use of cotton 77, 101, 141, 186, 256 Use of Kentucky 98, 141 Pool to control the price of 247 309 310 INDEX PAGE Bahama Islands, Planters from, settle in Florida 125 Bales, First new, in various States, 105, 121, 122, 159, 186, 197, 223, 225, 226, 228, 233, 234, 235, 236 Extraordinary age of cotton 88, 184 Standard defined 91, 121, 233 Bad condition of 207, 229 High price paid for 179, 181, 221 Blooms, Early cotton 215, 217 Boyd’s prolific cotton. Origin of 173 Bucket-Shops, Legislation to suppress 230 Burleson, A. S., Estimate of damage by boll-weevils 235 Burton, R. P., Extraordinary cotton plant grown by 105 Canals in cotton States 73, 142, 143 Capital invested in cotton mills 68, 92 Cargo, Steamships and steamboats carrying largest cotton, 205, 207, 209, 232, 235- Caterpillar, Damage to cotton by ..N. C., 60, 62; S. C., 70, 76, 80, 85, 86; Ga., 101, 106, 113 ; Fla., 126, 127, 128, 131 ; Ala., 140, 146, 151, 152 ; Miss., 175, 178, 179; La., 191, 192, 196, 197, 202, 203; Tex., 216, 220; Ark., 242, 243, 244, 246. Centennial Cotton Exposition at New Orleans 205 Charleston, First cotton exports from 72 Price of cotton at 73, 75, 76 Circular, Famous cotton and origin of 103, 104 Classification of cotton grades 115, 203 Cloth, Cost of making in South Carolina in 1850 82 Clothes, Proportion of people wearing 10, 36 Colbert, George, Indian planter in Mississippi 164 Condition of crops, monthly report of Department of Agriculture. .289, 294 Compresses, cotton. Early use of 106, 148, 194 Confederate Government, Cotton exports prohibited by 50, 51, 111 Convention of cotton planters, 62, 103, 108, 109, 118, 145, 183, 199, 210, 211 Convention of Cotton Exchanges 206 Corn, imported into cotton States 79, 168 Cost of cotton production . .Va., 53; N. C., 65, 67; S. C., 80, 91; Ga., 115, 119; Fla., 129, 133; Ala., 156, 157; Miss., 184; La., 207; Tex., 229; Ark., 242, 249; Tenn., 265; Mo., 272; Okla., 278. Ginning and baling cotton, 66, 91, 120, 133, 157, 185, 208, 231, 250, 266, 272, 280 Of marketing 143, 147, 174, 197 Cotton, first introduced in United States 10, 43 Found growing wild in Florida 10 Production of in United States 29, 30, 31 INDEX 311 PAGE Cotton, Consumption of in world 300 Production and value of since 1790 299 Exports from U. S. to foreign countries 297 Early manufacture of 74 Destruction of required by Confederate Government 50 Federal tax on, 51, 61, 85, 112, 113, 130, 151, 177, 201, 220, 244, 261, 270 Federal tax. Bill to refund 115, 156, 203, 262 Acreage, Plans to reduce 118, 119, 183, 184, 264 Effects of planting in Mississippi 179 Cultivation, Methods of 79, 156, 174, 178 Ginned to specified dates 302, 303 World’s visible supply (1903-1908) 301 Visible supph" each week of American 304 Is king. Origin of phrase 84 Blankets made by Indians 10 Exchanges organized, 51, 62, 63, 89, 92, 114, 116, 152, 155, 182, 183, 203, 228, 231, 246, 262 Scarcity of in 1903 67, 93, 122, 159, 186, 209, 235, 250, 267 ]\Iills, Number of, in United States 306 Consumption in the United States 29, 30, 31, 299, 306 Proportion of crop consumed in Southern States 299 Consumption in world (1890-1908) 300 Creole cotton planters in Louisiana 193 Cultivators, Cotton (machines) 109, 175 Darcy, J. E., on efficiency of Italian labor 251 Darien, Ga., Exports of cotton from, 1827 101 Decadence of Sea-Island cotton industry 90 Delinting cotton machines 260, 261 Dickson, W. C., Variety originated by, and yield of 109, 111, 113 Donald, John T., Account of cotton picking in Georgia 99 Drought, Cotton crops injured by . .N. C., 59, 64; S. C., 80. 82; Ga., 108; Ala., 141, 14.3, 145; Miss., 168, 171, 180; La., 192; Tex., 227, 236; Ark., 247 ; Tenn., 256, 257. Du Bignon, Remarkable sale of cotton by 112 Earle, J. W., on effects of phosphate discoveries 91 Early cotton crop in South Carolina and Georgia 80 Eg>'ptian cotton. Experiments with 93, 156 Ellerbee, Congressman, Resolution on cotton acreage 93 Elliott, William, on cultivation of Sea-Island cotton 76, 84 English spinners investigating cotton lands 187 Eve's cotton gin introduced 76, 96 312 INDEX PAGE Exports of cotton to foreign countries 297 Exports of cotton from each port (U. S.) 298 Eailure of cotton merchants 102, 196 Eertilizer, Eirst use of commercial, in Georgia 107, 113 Consumption of, in cotton States 297 Cotton seed valuable for 80, 147 Effects of use of 71, 72, 89, 91, 114, 144, 202 Formula recommended 132, 249 As a preventative of boll-weevil 236 Fire, Cotton destroyed by 206, 263 Floods, Destruction of crops by ..S C., 93; Miss., 172, 176, 180, 181, 183, 184; La., 192, 197, 207; Tex., 216, 218, 232; Ark., 245, 249; Tenn., 265 Florida, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 124 Commercial cotton crops of, 1820-1908 (see tables) 125 to 133 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 129 to 131 Counties producing cotton 127 Phosphate deposits opened 132 Acreage and yield per acre 133, 288 Cost of cotton production 133 Cotton shipped from. towns in 134 Sea-Island cotton crops 133, 305 Freight, Railway rates on cotton 79, 146, 173 Steamship rates from New Orleans 195 French Government, Scheme to buy cotton 150 Frost, Damage to crops by . . .Va., 49; N. C., 60; S. C., 81; Ga., 107, 109; Fla., 129; Ala., 147; Miss., 173; La., 197; Tenn., 257, 258; Mo., 269 Dates of first killing 308 Futures, Legislation against dealing in cotton.. N. C., 67; S. C., 93; Ga., 123; Ala., 159; Miss., 187; La., 206; Tex., 237; Ark., 251. Georgia, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 94, 95 Commercial cotton crops of, 1800-1908 (see tables) 98 to 121 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 105 to 121 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 105 to 121 First varieties of cotton planted 95, 96, 98 First cotton mills in 98, 99, 101, 103 First railroad in 103 Acreage planted in cotton 97, 288 Counties producing cotton in 1839 104 Average yield of cotton 115 Cotton area and production compared 97 Cost of cotton production 119 Number of planters in 120 Sea-Island cotton crops 120, 305 INDEX 313 PAGE Germans, Excellence of cotton grown b 3 % in Texas 219 Gin house on plantation, importance of Ill Ginners in Texas organized 230 Gins, Style of, first used 11, 46, 83, 96, 135, 160, 166, 174, 189, 190 Invention of Whitne}'’s 12, 96, 103 In various States . .Va., 53; N. C., 66, 68; S. C., 91, 93; Ga., 120, 123; Fla., 133, 134; Ala., 140, 157, 159; Miss., 185, 187; La., 208, 211; Tex., 231, 237; Ark., 250, 251; Tenn., 266, 267; Mo., 272, 273; Okla., 280, 281. For cleaning Sea-Island cotton 76, 78, 83, 102, 128 Few in Texas run by horse-power 234 Ginning and baling. Cost of, in different States, 66, 91, 120, 133, 157, 185, 208, 231, 250, 266, 272, 280 Toll charge for 77, 139, 166 Changes in character of 185 Grades, Convention to establish cotton 115 Groce, Col. Jared E., first planter in Texas 212 Gregg, William, promoter of cotton manufacturing 80, 81 Guyner, l\Iiss Hattie, remarkable as a cotton picker 233 Habersham, James, one of first Georgia planters 95 Hamilton, Gen’l, on cost of cotton production 80 Hammond, Senator, originator of “Cotton Is King” 84 Hammond, M. C., on cotton yield in South Carolina 85 Hammond, Harrj', on intensive system in planting 89 Hampton, Gen’l Wade, Large plantation of 191 Hardaway, R. H., on cost of cotton production 114, 115 Hawkins, Hiram, on cost of cotton production 156 Hinson, W. G., seed improved b\' selection 92 Hogan variety. Yield of, in Texas 218 Holrnes, Ogden, first to use saws in gins 97 Hudson, J. M., on condition of planters in Arkansas 248 Hulling cotton seed, Alachines for 74, 78, 102 Illuminating oil. First, from cotton seed 57 Indians as cotton planters 136, 167, 168 Intensive system in cotton culture 72, 89 Irby, Dr. W. C., Long staple cotton grown by 93 Iron ties. First use of 146, 172 Italians, Value of, in cotton fields 250, 251 Jackson, Gen’l Andrew, as a cotton planter 137, 139 Kentucky, acreage planted in cotton 288 Bagging, Early use of 98, 141 King Cotton, Origin of phrase 84 314 INDEX PAGE Labor, Production of each held hand 78, 122, 174, 217 Wages of, on farms in Louisiana 197 Negro, Value of, in 1836 78 Foreign labor in cotton fields 186, 250, 251 Proportion of cotton made by white 207 White and negro labor 202, 206, 207, 222 Negro, before and since the Civil War 183 Land sales in cotton States 128, 139, 142, 144, 162, 169, 196 Renovating worn out 112, 167 Lawton, William M., first to use improved gin 83 Leake, Richard, one of first Georgia planters 96 Lee, Gen’l Stephen D., on condition of planters 183 Lien on cotton crops 115 Lice, Injury to cotton by 65, 90, 117, 131, 155, 248 Liverpool, prices of cotton, 1790-1908 (see table) 29, 30, 31 Receipt of cotton, 1863 85 Long staple variety of cotton 93, 119, 120, 186 Louisiana, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 188 Commercial cotton crops, 1800-1908 (see tables) 190 to 209 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 198 to 209 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 198 to 209 Acreage planted in cotton 189, 288 Spanish and Creole planters in 191, 193 Cotton yield per acre 190, 198, 199, 202, 204 First railroad in 194 Varieties of cotton in 191, 193, 208 Parishes producing cotton, 1839 195 Area and production of cotton compared 189 Condition of cotton planters in 207 Cost of cotton production 207 Number of planters in 208 First appearance of boll-weevil 209 McCarthy’s Sea-Island cotton gin 83, 128 McDonald on varieties of cotton in South Carolina 74 Madison County, Alabama, cotton crop of 1821 140 Manufactures, Household, in cotton States 44, 256 Marketing cotton. Cost of 143, 147, 174, 197 Inland routes for cotton, 1851 259 Mastodon variety. Origin of 195, 196 Matthews, John R., first to use cotton planter 76 Memphis, Receipts and prices of cotton at 256, 257, 259, 266, 267 Mexican cotton seed. Origin and use of, 75, 78, 126, 162, 164, 170, 172, 191, 193, 196, 243 INDEX 315 PAGE ]\Iills, cotton, First in various States . . . .Va., 47; N. C, 56; S. C., 71, 73, 74, 77 ; Ga., 98, 99, 101 ; Fla., 128 ; Ala., 142 ; Miss., 169, 172 ; Tex., 219 ; Ark., 242 ; Tenn., 255 ; Okla., 281. Advantage of, to planters 90 Capital invested in N. C., 68; S. C., 92 Operated bj" negro labor 67, 81, 82, 11)6, 128, 169, 172, 256, 259 Number of, in the United States 306 Stocks at, in United States 306 Mississippi, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 160 Commercial cotton crops of, 1800-1908 (see tables) 163 to 185 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 174 to 185 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 174 to 185 Early cotton exports from 164, 170 Varieties of cotton planted in 164, 165, 170, 173, 174 First steamboats on Mississippi river 166, 168 Acreage planted in cotton 163, 288 Counties producing cotton in 1839 171 Method of cotton culture, 1850 174 Production and yield of cotton 168, 173, 184 Government’s method of renting land in 177 Acreage and production compared 163 Cost of cotton production 184 Number of planters in 184 First appearance of boll-weevil 186 Missouri, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 268 Commercial cotton crops of, 1824-1908 (see tables) 269 to 273 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 271 to 273 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 271 to 273 Acreage planted in cotton 288 Cost of cotton production 272 Cotton area and production 269 Number of planters in 272 Mobile, Receipts and prices of cotton at ..139, 140, 142, 143, 145, 146, 151 Montgomery, Receipts of cotton at 159 Moravian cotton planters in North Carolina 55 Mordecai, Abram, first ginner in Alabama 136 Morrow, Charles E., on Memphis as a cotton market 265 Nankeen variety of cotton .- 75, 100, 172 Nashville, Shipments of cotton from ....255, 256 Negro labor, in cotton mills 67, 81, 82, 106, 128, 169, 172, 256, 259 Value of, since the Civil War 183 Opposition to it in Oklahoma 281 New Orleans, Prices of cotton at ....190, 192, 196, 197, 198, 201, 203, 210 New York, Prices of cotton at, 1790 to 1908 (see tables) 29, 30, 31 316 INDEX PAGE North Carolina, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 54 First cotton exports from 55, 57, 59 First cotton mills in 56, 57, 58 Early planting in 56 Commercial cotton crops of, 1800-1908 (see tables) 56 to 66 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 59 to 66 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 59 to 66 Counties producing cotton 58, 59 Acreage planted in cotton 55, 288 Cost of cotton production 65 Cotton area and production compared 55 Consumption of cotton in counties 66 Capital invested in cotton mills 68 Number of planters in 66 Nutt, Dr. Rush, first to use steam in ginning 169 Oil, First discovery of cotton 140, 163, 194, 199 Cotton (oil) mills and machines Va., 47; N. C., 58, 65, 67, 68; S. C., 77, 92, 93; Ga., 117, 120, 123; Ala., 142, 153, 159; Miss., 170, 180, 181, 185, 187; La., 199, 204, 205, 209, 211; Tex., 233, 237; Ark., 250, 251; Tenn., 260, 262, 267; Mo., 270, 271, 273; Okla., 281. Oklahoma, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 274 Cotton area and production of, 1879-1880 277, 280, 288 Lands opened to settlement in 278, 281 Hauling cotton to market 276 Cost of cotton production in 278, 279 First cotton mill in 281 Number of planters in 279 Opelousas district. Cotton planting in 190 Ouachita district. Cotton planting in 190 Overseers, wages on plantations, 1848 107 Peeler cotton. Origin of variety 177 Pensacola, Importance of, in cotton exports 134 Peterkin cotton, origin of variety 86 Petit-gulf variety 75, 81, 146, 165, 170, 192, 218, 243 Phosphasets, Discovert' and value of 71, 85, 91, 132 Pickers of cotton. Great demand for 233 Pounds' gathered per day by, 13, 72, 99, 145, 163, 178, 194, 233, 242, 280 Picking cotton. Machines for, 63, 65, 90, 149, 154, 155, 175, 180, 182, 185 204, 209, 221, 225, 230, 234, 245, 246, 250, 259, 272. Cost of (1899-1904) 307 Plan to encourage picking 147 Planters, Condition of. in various States 183, 207, 228, 248 INDEX 317 PAGE Planters, number of, in various States, 53, 66, 91, 120, 157, 184, 208, 231, 249, 266, 272, 279 Large cotton crops made by 176, 186, 191, 199 Employed by East Indian Government 171 Planting cotton. Machines for 76, 257, 260 Plows, Use of, in cotton culture 79, 172 Presses for making bales of cotton 45, 163 Ports, Exports of cotton from United States 298 Stocks of cotton at United States 305 Pratt, Daniel, Gins made by, in Alabama 142 Prices of cotton in various States, 56, 57, 101, 102, 112, 120, 139, 144, 214, 256 At New York and Liverpool (see tables) 29, 30, 31 Effort to control 67, 103, 104, 108, 251 Pool in New Orleans to advance 210 Production of cotton in the L'nited States 29, 30, 31 In the world 300 Per hand 78, 91, 122, 179, 242 Cost of, in various States ..Va., 53; N. C., 65, 66; S. C., 91; Ga., 119; Fla., 129, 133; Ala., 156, 157; Miss., 184; La., 207; Tex., 229; Ark., 243, 249 ; Tenn., 265 ; Mo., 272 ; Okla., 279. Public gins, first introduced in Mississippi 165 Railroads, First, in cotton States 48, 58, 78, 102, 142, 170, 194 Freight rates on cotton 79, 146, 173 Importance of, in cotton production 4, 16, 32 iVIileage in various States, 53, 66, 91, 118, 133, 157, 185, 208, 232, 249, 266, 280 Rainfall, Damage to crops by excessive ..60, 80, 106, 144, 146, 152, 159, 169, 172, 179, 180, 181, 186, 192, 203, 204, 210, 231, 251 Average in each cotton State 295, 296 Redding, R. J., report on cotton varieties in Georgia 119 River landing in old times. Description of 109, 110 Roper, R. W., Report on cotton in South Carolina 79 Rot disease, injury to cotton crops 141, 166, 193 Rust in cotton. First appearance of, in Georgia 102 Sale of cotton, in Memphis, Unusual 267 Savannah, Early exports of cotton from 100, 101, 112 Sea-Island cotton. Origin of 95 Cultivation of 51, 84, 102 Varieties cultivated in South Carolina 76, 77 First separate grading of 74 Yield of, in several States 305 318 INDEX PAGE Sea-Island Cotton, Decadence ci Industry in South Carolina 90 Land cultivated in, per hand 78, 80 Gins used for cleaning 76, 78, 83, 102, 128 High prices paid for 73, 75, 76, 77 Effect of sewing machine in production of 123 Seabrook, William, first to use improved gin 83 Share-system in cotton planting 85 Sheffield, Capt., first to carry cargo of export cotton 72, 127 Sheeting, Cost of making, in 1850 82 Shedding cotton, excessive in 1847 106 Sherman, Gen’l, ordered to confiscate cotton 85 Slave labor. Food allowance for 107 Value of 78 Sore shin. Cotton effected with 106 Spindles and mills. Number of, in the United States 306 South Carolina, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 69 First exports of cotton from 72, 73 First cotton mills in 71, 73, 74, 77, 80 Commercial cotton crops of, 1800-1908 (see tables) 72 to 92 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 79 to 92 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 79 to 92 First railroad in cotton States 78 First cotton oil mill 77 Acreage planted in cotton 72, 288 Corn imported into, in 1843 79 Counties producing cotton 78 Cotton consumed in several counties 92 Cost of cotton production 91 Yield of cotton per acre 82, 91 Area and production compared 72 Number of planters in 91 Southern Cotton Growers’ Association organized 121, 122 Spalding, Thomas, on origin of Sea-Island cotton and saw gin . .. .95, 103 Speculation in cotton and results of 192, 198, 262, 263 Spindles, Number of cotton, in the world 308 Statistics of cotton. Value of, recognized 148 Improvements made in collecting 33 Stalk of cotton. Extraordinary growth of 105 Steamboats introduced on the Mississippi River 166, 168 On the Tennessee River 143 Number of, on Mississippi River 169, 192 Steamship “Savannah,” first to cross Atlantic 99 Steam ginning, first introduced in Mississippi 169 INDEX 319 PAGE Stocks of cotton in United States, Unprecedentedly small in 1903, 67, 93, 122, 134, 159, 186, 209, 235, 250, 267 Storm, Great damage to crops by 159, 186, 210, 231, 251 Tariff, Curious views respecting 101 Tax on cotton by Federal government . .51, 61, 85, 112, 113, 115, 130, 151, 156, 177, 201, 203, 220, 244, 261, 262, 270 Tax on land to reduce cotton acreage 90 Tennessee, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 253 Commercial cotton crops of. 1800-1908 (see tables) 255 to 266 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 258 to 266 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 258 to 266 First cotton mills 255 Acreage planted in cotton 254, 288 Exports of cotton from, in 1835 257 Yield of cotton per acre and per hand 258, 266 Cost of cotton production 249 Area and production compared 241 Number of planters 266 Tennessee green seed variety 74, 99, 146, 164, 193 Texas, Cotton culture first introduced 11, 212 Commercial cotton crops of, 1833-1908 (see tables) 214 to 232 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 219 to 232 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 219 to 232 Acreage planted in cotton 214, 288 First steamboat at Houston 216 First cotton mill 219 Cotton bonds issued 219 Yield per acre 216, 217, 218, 222, 231, 236 Extent of cotton area in 220, 223, 231, 236 Condition of planters in 228 Cotton grown by Germans 219 Imports of food supplies 227, 228 Appearance and spread of boll-weevil, 213, 227, 229, 232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238 Proportion of white and negro labor 222 Acreage and production compared 214 Cost of producing cotton 229 Number of planters 231 Possibilities of cotton production 213, 214, 224 Texas storm proof cotton. Origin of 223 Ties, iron, Eirst use of 146, 172 Todd, G. N., patents cotton picking machine 246 Toll charged for ginning 77, 139, 166 Trumble, Nicholas, one of first Georgia planters 101 320 INDEX PAGE Value of cotton crops from 1790 to 1908 .'299 Varieties of Upland cotton in various States . .Va., 43; S. C., 74, 75, 76, 78; Ga., 95, 98, 99, 109, 121 ; Fla., 126, 127 ; Ala., 143, 146, 151 ; Miss., 164, 170, 173, 174, 177; La., 189, 191, 193, 196, 208; Tex., 223; Ark., 243; Okla., 279. Mexican cotton. Origin of 164, 165, 196 Tennessee green seed 74, 99, 146, 164, 193 Xankeen, Value of 75, 100, 172 Yield of, in various States, 77, 85, 91, 99, 102, 113, 182, 184, 208, 218, 231 Sea-Island, Origin of 95 Advice as to selection of 158 Virginia, Cotton culture first introduced 10, 43 Commercial cotton crops of, 1800-1908 (see tables) 45 to 53 Number of cotton mills and spindles (see tables) 49 to 53 Domestic consumption of cotton (see tables) 49 to 53 First cotton mills 47 Counties producing cotton 48, 53 Acreage planted in cotton 288 First cotton oil mill in L^nited States 47 Cost of cotton production 53 Number of planters 53 Visible world’s cotton supply each week (1902-1908) 304 Wages of farm labor in Louisiana 197 Watkins, Joseph, real inventor of cotton saw gin 96, 103 Warehouses for cotton in Mobile, 1851 148 Warehousing cotton to control prices 108 Weather Bureau, First crop reports by 203 Report on rainfall in cotton States 295, 296 Weevil, Mexican boll, Introduction and spread of, 186, 209, 213, 251, 281 Weights of cotton bales 29, 30, 31, 306 Whitney’s saw gin 12, 76, 96, 98, 103, 161, 253 Whittemore’s Sea-Island cotton gin 78 Wilmington, Early exports of cotton from 55, 57, 59 World’s production and consumption of cotton 300 World’s visible supply of 301 Worms, Damage to cotton crops by ....Va., 51; N. C., 65; S. C., 73, 85, 87, 88; Ga., 98, 103, 106, 113, 114, 116; Fla., 127, 128, 131, 132; Ala., 142, 143, 144, 152, 153, 154; Miss., 171, 172, 173, 180, 181, 182; La., 190, 195, 203, 204, 205, 209 ; Tex., 215, 216, 221, 222, 224, 225, 226, 227, 229, 234; Ark., 245, 246, 247, 250; Tenn., 257, 262, 263; Mo., 269. INDEX 321 PAGE Yield of cotton in various States, 52, 60, 63, 65, 77, 82, 85, 91, 99, 102, 113, 140, 149, 174, 175, 182, 184, 208, 218, 231, 243. Per hand 78, 91, 122, 179, 242 Extraordinary, per acre . .62, 64, 65, 87, 113, 114, 115, 130, 144, 216, 222 More Cotton on Less Acreage BROWN’S NO. 1 COTTON A DISTINCT VARIETY IN A CLASS BY ITSELF. CHARACTERISTICS : — EARLY — LONG LIMBED — LARGE BOLLS-FIVE LOCKS TO THE BOLL-EASY TO PICK- PROLIFIC YIELD. LINTS 40 TO 44%. WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT IT “ I have the best of other cottons, but Brown’s No. 1 made more lint than any. It is easy to pick and continues to bear until frost. L. Brockton Park, Commerce, Ga. (In 1907 Mr. Park made on one acre, 3987 pounds of seed cotton, which ginned out 1 590 pounds of lint). “ It will make a third more; it is the earliest and easiest to pick I ever saw.” J. H. Jones, Bremen, Ga. “ It is the best cotton to boll that I everVaised.” Jeff Dean, Bowersville, Ga. “ I consider your cotton the best I have ever raised. It opens well, the large fine bolls are easily picked, while they hold the cotton and it does not drop out like other big boll botton.” Mrs. Lula T. Lyon, Cartersville, Ga. “It is a healthy grower, fruits fastest and earliest, and none equals it in picking qualities.” George B. Dominick, Laco, S. C. “I would give $10.00 per bushel for your seed before 1 would plant common cotton.” J. Z. Crowley, Harvey, Ark. “ It has made for me 50 per cent, more than any other good cotton. It is the healthiest cotton known to this part of Alabama. It is all-round the greatest money maker in the shape of cotton known. ” G. F. Love, Lineville, Ala. The seed are put up in bushel sacks of 30 pounds each, and are sold for $3.00. In ordering, always have money to accompany your order. You may send money by Express, or Post-office money order, registered, or through your bank, whichever may be the most convenient. Order early before the seed are all sold. MARCUS L. BROWN Post-Office Box 48 DECATUR, GEORGIA Leon G. Glbert Cable Address Geo. W. Clay “ Glbclay ” ESTABLISHED 1893 GIBERT & CLAY Bankers, Cotton Merchants 822 Gravier Street New Orleans, La. A General Banking Business Transacted Advances Made on Approved Collaterals Members : New Orleans Cotton Exchange New Orleans Stock Exchange New York Cotton Exchange Liverpool Cotton Association Orders for future delivery of Cotton executed on New Orleans, New York and Liverpool Cotton Exchanges Charles D. Freeman Elwood P. McEnany Ernest E. Calloway Charles D. Freemcin & Co. Cotton Commission Merchants 21 South William Street New York Members of New York Cotton Exchange New Orleans Cotton Exchange Liverpool Cotton Association HAGEDORN & CO. D. SCHNAKENBERG, President 6 HANOVER ST., NEW YORK General Insurance Brokers Especial attention paid to the execution of orders for Insurance on Cotton against Fire and Marine Perils Annual Contracts Arranged Claims promptly adjusted and collected without charge ESTABLISHED 1869 CABLE ADDRESS. “HAGEDORN, NEW YORK" ABC, 5th Edition; A I and Premier Codes Jno. C. Latham Chas. Fraser Latham, Alexander & Co. BANKERS AND COTTON COMMISSION MERCHANTS 16 and 18 Wall Street, New York Conduct a General Banking Business ^ Members of the NewYork Stock and Cotton Exchanges ^ Accounts of Banks, Bankers, Merchants and Individuals received on favorable terms and Interest allowed on Daily Balances, subject to check at sight ^ Contracts for Cotton for future delivery bought and sold on commission Gwathmey & Co. Cotton 49 Cotton Exchange New York HUBBARD BROS. & CO. COTTON MERCHANTS COFFEE EXCHANGE BUILDING HANOVER SQUARE, NEW YORK ADVANCES MADE ON CONSIGNMENTS Members : New. York Cotton Exchange New York Coffee Exchange New York Produce Exchange New Orleans Cotton Exchange Chicago Board of Trade Associate Members Liverpool Cotton Association STEPHEN M. WELD & CO. Cotton Commission Merchants New York City 82-92 BEAVER STREET Members of New York, New Orleans and Liverpool Exchanges Orders for Future Deliveries Executed on all Exchanges Special Attention to Spinners’ Orders. Correspondence Solicited CORRESPONDENTS : Stephen M. Weld & Co., 89 State Street, Boston Stephen M. Weld & Co., Provident Building, Philadelphia Weld & Co., Liverpool, England Albrecht, Weld & Co., Bremen, Germany DICK BROS. & CO. STOCKS, BONDS, COTTON, GRAIN Bankers and Brokers 30 Broad Street New York Members : New York Stock Exchange New Orleans Cotton Exchange New York Cotton Exchange Philadelphia Stock Exchange New York Coffee Exchange Chicago Board of Trade Liverpool Cotton Association PRIVATE WIRES TO ALL PRINCIPAL CITIES Established in 1856 Henry Hentz & Co. COMMISSION MERCHANTS 16 to 22 William Street New York Execute Orders for Future Delivery COTTON at the New York, Liverpool and New Orleans Cotton Exchanges. Also orders for COFFEE at the New York Coffee Exchange GRAIN AND PROVISIONS at the Chicago Board of Trade and GRAIN AND COTTON-SEED OIL at the New York Produce Exchange Members of New York Cotton Exchange New York Coffee Exchange New Orleans Cotton Exchange Liverpool Cotton Ass’n, Ltd. SELLAR, WILSON & CO. Cotton Commission Merchants 82 Beaver Street, New York Bush & Witherspoon Co. Cotton WACO, TEXAS Cable Address “ Wibus” Branch Offices: Dallas, Hillsboro, Waxahachie, Taylor, Cisco, Brownwood All shipments concentrated at Galveston for reclassing, stapling and reweighing B. B. FORD & CO. Macon, Ga., and Columbia, S. C. COTTON MERC HANTS Dealers in Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama Cottons CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED DIXIE COTTON COMPANY SANDERSVILLE, GA. Cotton Buyers and Exporters Buying Offices at all the Principal Points in Middle Georgia REIS & CO. (Established 1856) COTTON, LINTERS, PICKINGS AND “WASTES” Contractors for ALL KINDS OF COTTON-MILL WASTES Importers of GUNNY BAGGING FOR BALING PURPOSES 620 Atlantic Avenue Boston, Mass. Friedrichsfeld-Heidelberg, Germany Salford-Manchester, England W. A. Arthur Cotton Co. TEXARKANA, TEX.-ARK. Buyers of Texas and Arkansas Cotton Special attention given to Selections made for Extra Staple orders Spinners’ needs W. J. DAVIS & CO. COTTON MERCHANTS JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI Mississippi Black Land Growth A SPECIALTY Cable Address p , I Myers Atlantic, 39th Edition “Davisco” o es . ^ Sheppersons Editions, 1878 and 1881 S. A. SHAW COTTON BUYER OF TWENTY YEARS’ EXPERIENCE At Weatherford, Cleburne and other Central Texas Points, now of CHILDRESS, TEXAS Correspondence Solicited BESTETTI & CERETTI Cotton Agents Milan, Italy BASHINSKY & CO. Troy, Alabama Cotton Merchants for Export and American Mills Ejtablished in 1878 J. H. BERRY Cotton Tulsa, Okla. DEADWYLER & SMITH Cotton Athens, Ga. EURE, HARRIS & CO. Cotton Factors and General Commission Merchants Norfolk, Va. KNOKE & EIBAND Cotton Buyers and Exporters, Owners and Dealers in Farm Lands Foreign Exchange Sold on All Parts of the World New Braunfels, Texas W. J. TOWNSEND Cotton Lufkin, Texas ALBERT WALL Cotton Ellaville, Ga. NUSSBAUM & SCHARFF Groesbeeck,Texas Cotton Merchants. Correspondence solicited from all buyers of Black Land Cotton. Inch to Inch and Three-Sixteenth Staple BUSINESS DIRECTORY OF FIRMS IN THE SOUTH INTERESTED IN THE COTTON TRADE ALABAMA The First National Bank of Tuskaloosa, at Tuskaloosa. ARKANSAS S. C. Alexander Cotton Co., Pine Bluff. L. P. Barkdull & Co., Cotton Buyers, Fort Smith. Dr. J. T. Cheairs, Winchester. S. C. Dowell, Real Estate Broker, Walnut Ridge. N. Straub Sons Mercantile Co., Cotton Fac- tors, Helena. W. B. Waller, General Merchandise, Prescott. FLORIDA Citizens State Bank, Marianna. J. D. Smith, Pres., E. B. Erwin, Cash. GEORGIA Bashinski Brothers, Exporters, Dublin. The A. P. Brantley Company, Sea-Island Cotton, Blackshear. Elberton Cotton & Compress Co., Elberton. LOUISIANA E. B. Coco & Co., Ltd. Merchants & Planters, Longbridge. W. T. Heiu'y,1General Merchandise & Cotton, Rayville. Mouton Bros. King Cotton always receives our best attention, Lafayette. R. C. Sparks & Co., Cotton Commission. Eist. 1892, Monroe. MISSISSIPPI J. T. Atterbury, Estill. S. B. Dean & Co., Merchants,'_Planters & Cotton Buyers Eudora. Dean & Company, Merchants, Planters & Cotton Buyers, Nesbit. Durant Commercial Co., Cotton Buyers, Durant. First National BankJAberdeen. U. S. De- pository. Ira Jones, Tchula. W. A. McDonald, Attorney &^Counsellor a} Law, Ashland. NORTH CAROLINA Baker & Edwards,T General Merchandise, Lewiston. Parker Bros. & Co., Cotton Brokers & Mer- chants, Raleigh. OKLAHOMA E. E. Andrews, Cotton, Bagging, Cotton Ties & Mill products, Hobart. J. A. Andrews, Cotton Buyer, Mountain View. Harriss-Irby Cotton Company, Cotton Mer- chants, Head Office, Oklahoma City. J. E. Terrell & Co., Hardware Implements & General Merchandise, Texola. SOUTH CAROLINA J. S. Craft, Cotton Buyer, North. Perry C. Dukes, General Merchandise & Cotton Branchville. Springs & Shannon, Bankers, Merchants, Cotton Buyers, Camden. BUSINESS DIRECTORY - Cont. TEXAS Baugh & Read, Cotton Merchants, Cisco. Branches: Stamford, Weatherford, Houston. S. L. Crawford, Selected Spinners Cotton, Austin. E. J. Byrne, Texas Blackland Cottons, Austin. Jno. W. Furrh, Dealer in Merchandise, R. R. Cross Ties, etc., Waskom. S. A. Harwell, Cotton Buyer, Naples. The Home National Bank of Baird, Callahan County. D. T. Iglehart & Co., Cotton Merchants, Austin. Lemburgs, Buy Cotton, Wool, Hides, Furs & all Country Produce, Mason. Hugh G. Maclean, General Merchandise, Eden. E. H. Powell, Clarendon. J. E. Terrell & Co., Hdw. Implements & Gen’l Merchandise, Shamrock. G. Tips, Groceries, Implements, Wagons & Cotton, Runge. The Traders National Bank, Fort Worth. Established 1 882. THE ONLY UNCERTAIN FACTOR IN THE MAKING of the American Cotton Crop IS THE WEATHER THE ONLY CERTAIN METHOD OF OBTAINING an accurate knowledge of THE CONDITIONS SURROUNDING THE GROWING CROP is by subscribing for HABERSHAM KING’S COTTON CROP RECORD which presents in condensed and attractive form, four times a month during the growing season, a correct record of the actual rainfall and temperature over the entire cotton belt 8 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION of the correctness of this theory. WRITE FOR SPECIMEN COPY TO HABERSHAM KING, NEWNAN, GA. Recently moved to 682 No. Boulevard, Atlanta, Ga. VV. FORM 335 40M 9-42 MiOaV^ Duke University Libraries D00417033I 677,2 Catkins fiof.tnn, DATE 43439^ I ¥335K SUPPl- the seven b STMI0M0.B0X22, Out-of'Pr