Produced by Constanze Hofmann and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) COTTON, ITS PROGRESS FROM THE FIELD TO THE NEEDLE: BEING A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE CULTURE OF THE PLANT, ITS PICKING, CLEANING, PACKING, SHIPMENT, AND MANUFACTURE. [Illustration] NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY ROBERT LOGAN & CO., 51 DEY-STREET. 1855. OLIVER & BROTHER, STEAM PRINTERS, No. 32 Beckman-Street, New-York. PREFACE. Among the utilitarian gifts of nature and art we know of none in more general use, or of greater practical value, than sewing-cotton. The taste which turns into graceful shapes the products of the loom, the executive skill which converts them into convenient and elegant apparel, would be powerless without this simple accessory. It is the food of the needle, and might almost be called the thread of life to thousands of the gentler sex. Yet as it passes through the delicate fingers of mothers, wives, and daughters, ministering to so many wants, and creating so many beautiful superfluities, little thought is bestowed upon the labor, the care, the dexterity, and the scientific ability required in producing the article. The cultivation of the raw material, the processes of picking, ginning, packing, shipping, combing, spinning, and twisting, are among the most interesting operations in the whole range of agriculture and manufactures; and we think the ladies, for whose especial convenience such a vast amount of industry, skill, and talent is employed, will not be unwilling to trace with us in a familiar way the progress of this great domestic staple from the field to the needle. We therefore claim their attention to the following short treatise, from which, without being fatigued by dry details, they may derive a tolerably accurate idea of what capital, labor, and science have done to bring to its present perfection the simple article of sewing-cotton. CULTIVATION OF THE COTTON PLANT. The cotton-planting season in all the Southern States commences in April. The seed is sown in drills, a negro girl following the light plough which makes the furrow, and throwing the seed into the shallow trench as she moves along. A harrow follows to cover up the deposits, and the work of "planting" is completed. About two and a half bushels of seed are required for an acre of ground. [Illustration]