en
in the habit of selecting the North Carolina guano-grown cotton, in the
New York market, where it has been shipped via Wilmington or Norfolk, on
account of its good staple, good color, and extra strength.

There is nothing in the cultivation of cotton involving harder work than
that of corn. In the early stages of its growth it is more tender than
corn, and requires more care,--which it does not get, since we find
Southern writers deploring that the cut-worm and the louse are charged
with many sins which are caused by careless cultivation and the bruises
inflicted by the clumsy negro hoes. The soil is very light, and most of
the work might be done by the plow and cultivator. Except upon very poor
soil there is only one plant allowed to eight and even ten square feet.
By the admission of Texas planters themselves, in the accounts of their
country which they have written to induce emigration and sell their
surplus land, there is very little work to be done during the hottest
part of the summer; the cultivation taking place in the spring, and the
picking in the fall and winter. Dr. J.S. Wilson, of Columbus, Ga.,
writing upon the diseases of negroes, says there is no article of
clothing so needful to them, and so seldom supplied, as an overcoat.
Should some shrewd Yankee, starting South to go into the business of
raising cotton, lay in a large supply of flannel shirts, thick Guernsey
frocks, and woolen stockings, for his field hands, how many of his
neighbors would remind him of Lord Timothy Dexter's noted shipment to
the West Indies, and ask him why he did not take some warming-pans; and
yet, for his supply of thick, warm clothing he would have the authority
of all Southern physicians.

Examine the directions given for the cultivation of cotton, and see how
much labor could be saved, provided slaves could be induced to use good
tools; planting the seed and covering it requiring one horse or mule and
_four_ hands,--one to smooth the ground, one to open the furrow, one to
plant, and one to cover. All of these operations can be performed by one
man with a planting machine. But the negro can not be trusted with one;
for the moment you begin to teach him the reasons for using it, you
begin to teach him the benefit of using another complicated machine,
which he has not before known much about--his own head and arms, and,
worse than all, his own legs, all of which you have stolen from him; and
then he will misapply his knowle