In the States we have all these types, and in some districts they lie within easy reach of each other. It should be pointed out that sufficient and uniform heat and humidity are essential to the production of good cotton crops, and as the sandy soils are of an open character, it is plain that moisture will readily pass from these, while the heavy clays act just in the opposite direction, viz., prevent the uniform evaporation of the moisture within them; hence, as a rule, clayey lands are moist and damp, and it has been found from observation that on lands of this class, a good deal of wood and leaf are produced, and but little fruit relatively. A matter therefore which must not be lost sight of, is that a suitable texture should be found, or, in other words, the amount of sand and clay in the soils should be in the right proportion. Of course, however suitable a soil may be, if the climatic conditions are adverse, only failure can result. Given good land, properly drained and a suitable temperature, together with an uniform supply of moisture, heavy crops may be expected. Sudden changes in the temperature, and variations in the amount of moisture, certainly act deleteriously upon the plant, especially during the period in which the young one is growing. There is a great difference between a wet soil and a moist one, and there is perhaps nothing so much dreaded by the planters as a sodden soil. Up to the end of July the soil should be continuously and uniformly moist, and it would appear that, provided this condition is satisfied, there is every likelihood of a heavy crop resulting, if the temperature has been anything like suitable. Looked at from every point of view, therefore, the best and safest soil in which to grow cotton is a deep loam where there is every probability of the necessary conditions being fulfilled. As compared with sixty years ago the present methods of cultivation show very great differences. Most of us are acquainted with the conditions of labour which existed at that time. Mrs. H. Beecher Stowe, in her pathetic and life-like story, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," has given us such a glimpse into slave life that she has placed us all under lasting obligations to her. Happily all that has gone and the slave, as such, is now known no more in America. Three causes are said to have done more to change the methods of American cotton cultivation than anything else, viz.:-- The Civil War. The abolition of slavery. Introduction of artificial fertilisers. There are those who affirm to-day that the last-named has been the most potent factor of the three.