2. Cultivation.—The plant is a very delicate organism, and requires a peculiar soil and climate for its due development. The method of cultivation is much the same in the various countries where the fiber is grown; but the most perfect system is that which obtains in the United States of America. Although the plant is not, strictly speaking, an annual, it is found more profitable to destroy the shrub, after the crop is gathered, and sow new seed every year. The preparation of the land takes place during the win ter months. After the ground has been thoroughly plowed, and as soon as all symptoms of .frost have disappeared, the soil is laid off into rows varying iu width from 3 to 4 ft., according to the situation and quality of the soil. The seed is then sown along the cen ter of the beds in a straight furrow made with a small plow or opener; but in sonic plantations the seed is sown in holes from 12 to 13 in. apart. The sowing commences in Mar., and generally continues through April; but sometimes, owing to late spring frosts, the planting is prolonged to May. The young shoot appears above-ground in about eight to ten days, and is then and subsequently weeded and thinned. Blooming -takes place about the beginning of June—in early seasons, towards the latter end of May; the average date is about June 5. As a general rule. C. is a dry-weather plant. -For plowing, the planter requires just sufficient rain to give the soil a moist and spongy texture. During the early stages of its growth, the crop flourishes best with a warm steamy sort of weather, with an occasional shower until blooming; too much rain being productive of weeds and wood at the expense of wool, whilst a severe drought produces a stunted plant, forced into too early maturity, and resulting in a small and light-stapled crop. A great deal, however, depends upon the position of the plantation; lauds situ ated in hilly or upland districts obviously requiriring more moisture than those lying in the plains and river-bottoms. From the date of blooming to the close of the picking season, warm dry weather is essential. Picking generally commences in Aug., occa sionally in July, and continues until the occurrence of frost—about the end of Oct. or beginning of Nov.—puts a stop to the further growth of the plant. All the available hands of the plantation, young and old, are called into full employment during the har vest. The C. is gathered into baskets or bags suspended from the shoulders of the pickers, and when the crop has been secured, it is spread out and dried, and then sepa rated from the seeds. The latter process was formerly performed by hand—a tedious operation, by which one hand could clean only a pound or so a day; but since the invention of the saw-gin, by Eli Whitney in 1703, the process of cleaning has been both rapid and effectual. This machine is composed of a hopper, having one side formed of strong parallel wires placed so close together as to exclude the passage of the seeds from within. The wool is dragged through the apertures by means of circular-saws attached to a large roller, and made to revolve between the wires, the seeds sinking to the bottom -of the hopper. This process is adopted only in cleaning the short-stapled varieties of American C., the seeds of which adhere so firmly to the wool as to require a considera ble amount of force to separate them. The Sea island variety is cleaned by being passed through two small rollers, which revolve in opposite directions, and easily throw off the hard smooth seeds. In India, though the saw and other machine-gins have been introduced in some districts, the wool is mostly cleaned by means of the primitive roller. Both descriptions of gins are used in Egypt and Brazil. The C. cleaned by the roller-gin, being uninjured thereby in staple, realizes the better price; but the deteriora tion caused by the saw-gin is compensated for by the greatly increased quantity cleaned; the latter turning out four or five times as much work as the former in an equal space of time, and thereby considerably reducing the expense of cleaning. The introduction of improved gins has very largely increased the production of C. in Egypt and Brazil
during the past 14 years.
3. Production and Distribution.—The oldest C. producing country is India, in which empire the plant has been grown and manufactured from time immemorial. Early mention is also made of it m the annals of Egypt, and it is believed to have a high antiquity in all parts of Africa. In the western world, it was found by Columbus, but was not so extensively cultivated as in the east; though during the past half century the culture there has outstripped, both in quantity and quality, the produce of the old world. Down to the commencement of the present century, the C. consumers of Europe we're dependent•upon the East and West Indies and the Levant for their raw material; but the inventive genius, superior farming, and greater energy of the planters of the southern states of America, had, prior to the civil war, almost secured the monop oly of supplying the manufactures of Great Britain and the European continent with this valuable fiber. The average import of American C. into Great Britain in 1858-60 reached 79 per cent of the entire arrivals; during the war the proportion fell to 3i per cent; but in 1871, it rose to 58 per cent. We will glance briefly at the history of the trade of the chief C. growing countries.
United States.—The introduction of the plant is traced as far back as 1536, but the export trade did not commence until two and a half centuries later, the first shipment of importance being about 2,000 lbs. in 1770. In 1791, the amount reached 189,316 lbs. In 1793, the invention of the saw-gin gave a new stimulus to the trade, and in 1800, the exports reached 17,789,803 lbs.; front which period the shipments have continued to increase, being over 124,000,000 lbs. in 1821; 277,000,000 lbs. in 1831; 530,000,000 lbs. in 1841; 927,000,000 lbs. in 1851; and about 2,160,000,000 lbs. in 1860. Simultaneously with this rapid increase in production, there was, down to 1851, a gradual decline in the price of the wool, in consequence of improved processes of cultivation and cleaning, and the cheapening of carriage, etc.; the average price in Liverpool, in 1793, being ls. 6d. per lb.; in PM, 2s, in 1811, 1s, 2c/4; in 1821, Pfd.; in 1831, 6d.; in 1841, 0V.; in 1851, 52-d. per lb.; from which period, however, the downward course was not only checked, but a movement in the opposite direction. commenced, the average for 1856-61 being Td. per lb.; the low prices current having caused consumption to overtake pro duction. The outbreak of the civil war in 1861, and its continuance until 1865, com pletely revolutionized the industry of the south. The abolition of slavery added mate rially to the cost of producing C. ; and this circumstance, along with the general rise which has taken place in values of all kinds during the past 12 or 15 years, has raised the price at which it will pay to sell American 0. in Liverpool to nearly 8d. per lb., against an average of 7d. per lb. for the five years ended with 1861. During the war, middling Orleans touched 2s. 71d. per lb. In 1867 (Dec.), there was a decline to 7id. — every one expecting a return of old prices; within a few Jnonths, there was a reaction to 13. id. Since then the tendency has been downwards: the average for 1875 being 70., against 8d. in 1874, and 9d. in 1873.
The figures between 1861-65 were disturbed by the war. Down to within a few years before the war, the bulk of the crops grown in the various states were shipped at the several ports of each state—Alabama C. at Mobile, Georgia C. at Savannah, and so on; but the more general introduction of railways has diverted a great deal of C. from the old channels. The increase under the head "N. Carolina and Virginia" is owing almost entirely to this cause. One of the most remarkable features in the last line of the above table, is the large proportionate increase in the consumption of the United States. The particulars for three seasons, from 1872 to 1875, compare as follow.
In 1871-72, there was a reduction to 933,000,000 lbs., owing to a failure of the crop. In 1874-75 the weight exported was about 1,178,700,000 lbs., or still considerably less than in the great crop season 1870-71.