then followed that, with the utmost diligence, a negro could not, by
hand labor, clean over a few pounds per day. The genius of Whitney,
however, opened a new era to the cotton planters, who were much more
eager to avail themselves of his invention than to remunerate him. It
was soon perceived that the cotton raised on these islands was far
superior to that produced in the interior, which is still called Upland,
only to distinguish it from the 'Sea Island.' It was also noticed that
while the common variety produced a seed nearly green with a rough skin,
the seed of the islands soon became black with a smooth skin; the effect
entirely of location and climate, as it soon resumes its original color
when transported back to the interior. The cultivation of this variety
is limited to a tract of country of about one hundred and fifty miles in
length, and not over twenty-five miles in breadth, mostly on lands
adjacent to the salt water, the finest 'grades' being confined to the
islands within this district. It is true that black-seed cotton is
cultivated to some extent along the coast from Georgetown, S.C., to St.
Augustine, but a great part of it is of an inferior quality and staple,
and brings in the market less than one-half the price of the real 'Sea
Island.' This plant seems to delight in the soft and elastic atmosphere
from the Gulf Stream, and, after it is 'well up,' requires but a few
showers through the long summer to perfect it. It is of feeble growth,
particularly on the worn-out lands, and two hundred pounds is a good
yield from an acre. An active hand can tend four acres, besides an acre
of corn and 'ground provisions;' but with a moderate addition of
fertilizers and rotation of crops no doubt these productions would be
doubled. If the yield seems small, the price, however, makes it one of
the most profitable products known. The usual quotations for choice Sea
Islands in Charleston market has been for many years about four times as
great as for the middling qualities of Uplands,--probably an average of
from thirty-five to forty-five cents per pound; and for particular