Editorial Department [pp. 332-336]

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.
to manipulate by the farmer will succeed. I
estimate that each pound of your fertilizer
will cause an additional pound of seed cotton
to grow, worth eight cents; that a farmer now
employing ten hands, at $200 each per annum,
may, by the investment of say $800 in fertiliz ers, save $1000 in labor, and add to the amount
of the yield of his land.
I will be more explicit:
The cost of cultivating 100 acres of cot ton is about..... $2560
The present yield is about 25 bales, worth
say...... 750
Profits,... $1250
Now, by using 400 lbs. of your super-phospihate, at a cost, say, of 4 cts. per pound, or $16
per acre, the yield would be 50 bales,
worth... $0
From which deduct $2500 for cultivat ing, and $1600 for fertilizer, in the
aggregate,...... $4100
Giving as the profit,.. $3400
or $2150 more than is at present realized. All
of this may easily be demonstrated practically
by applying the test.
We have shown that by an expenditure of
$2500, under the present system, we gather
cotton valiued at $3T750, which leaves the farmer $1250 clear. Now suppose we plant half
the land and expend $1250 in labor, and $800
in fertilizers, it will be seen that our crop is
the same, but has cost us but $2050, leaving a
margin of $450 in favor of the fertilizer.
The production of cotton will only be contintued on a larger scale where special fertilizers are used. Three hundred pounds of seed
cotton to the acre barely pays expenses, and
that is the mnaximum average yield of the cotton region. Therefore it can be readily seen that
fertilizers must be used, and in large quantities, or. the production of cotton, except in a
few favored localities, ceases. With the fertilizers liber allv applied, there is no farming
which can compare with cotton raising on a
large scale. By the application of 1000 lbs. of
your super-phosphate, I am satisfied that 1500
pounds of seed cotton. per acre, can be produced on oar present 300 pound lands. VTaluing
the seed cotton at 8 cts., and the fertilizer at 4
cts. the pound, and the cultivation at $25, we
have a profit of $55 an acre per annum. which
I challenge farmers elsewhere 1to equal.
You have probably heard that a good many
individuals have come amongst us from the
North, to engage in cotton planting; and you
have also heard that they have universally
failed, and why? They undertook a business
in which there was no profit to be had; they
embarked in a business blindly, and were
wrecked. But, suppose that instead of these
several hundred speculators, there had cornme
several hundred enlightened farmers, possessed of the knowledge requisite to make the
ground produce, the result would have been
very different; success would have attended
them wherever they went; fortunes would
have been made, and our poor oountry would
have gained by their presence and example.
Lands within 12 miles of the city, capable of
producing as I have described, can be purchased at $15 per acre, and I would invite your
farmers to come and settle, but not your speculators. * *
I am, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
GEORGE W. GIFT.
Mr. Albert Stein, of Mobile, will receive our
thanks for his admirable pamphlet upon the
Improvement of the Bay and Harbor of Mobile, which will apl)pear wholly or in part in a
future number.
We are indebted to Governor Campbell,
our efficient representative in the lower house
of Congress, for many valuable public documents which will afford much aid in future
labors.
Attention is called to the card of the American Sehool Apparatus Co., 21 John Street, New
York, which is prepared to supply everything
required in the outfit of schools and academics.
We called attention in our February Xo. to
the admirable woollen fabrics which were being turned out by the Rock Island Mills of N.
Carolina, many specimens of which are on our
table and have been inspected by merchants
and citizens with admiration. The mills are
near Charlotte.
The establishment works about ninety hands
and gives subsistence tonearly three hundred
persons who are dependant upon its operations
for the means of a support. It is under the
superintendence of Mr. James Earnshaw, who
has been connected with it for some years.
The proprietorship rests in this gentleman, in
connection with Messrs. M. L. Wriston, John
Wilkes and Gen. John A. Young, the latter of
whom is the president of the company.
The manufactures of the Rock Island Mills,
their texture and durability, are fully equal, if
not superior, to those of similar grades which
are imported or come to us from the North,
and the local advantages of the Mills enable the
company to put them upon the market at
muchl lower prices. These goods are well
worthy the examination of our merchants, and
we trtust that they will be sufficiently patronized to incite a generous competition throughout the length and breadth of the South in the
manufacture of cotton and wools.
VOLUtmsS FOR 1866.-We have a few sets of
the Volumes of the last year, in neat and substantial binding, 2 Vols., at $3.50 each.
CLUBS.-We will furnish the REVIEW free
one year, and make a present of the volumes
for 1866, free of postage, to any one who will
send us a club of 10 new subscribers and a
cheque for $40.
cFWe are desirous of procuring the services of persons as travelling agents for the
R,vrIw, and with such as are of suitable address and who would be willing to devote their
entire time to its service, would make most
favorable arrangements. The position would
be especially adapted to a disabled soldier of
some education and experience. Applicants
must present satisfactory references.
~The Editor offers for sale, on reasonable ternms, a small Farm and Residence within
a mile of Coluribus, Miss., arid well adapted
to a small family, who could make a very
desirable home; also a place in cultivation of
about 700 acres, fourteen miles from Woodville, Miss.
335