twenty acres of maize, the product of which is about forty bushels the acre, the average price half a dollar the bushel, or 400 dollars from twenty acres. With the same quantity of labour, fifteen acres can be cultivated in cotton, of which the product will amount to about 480 dollars. But the latter is not always the most profitable crop, for it is more liable to be injured by the weather, and is not so easily prepared for market. Rice fields, which can be overflowed by water, yield three barrels to the acre; twelve acres, cultivated by three workmen, will give thirty-six bolls, worth between 600 and 700 dollars, In Orangeburg district, where the land can be watered, the product is from fifty to sixty bushels an acre, which sells in the rough state, in the vicinity, from one dollar to one and a quarter the bushel. Land, manured with a mixture of cotton seed, stable dung, and scamp mud, will yield thirty-four bushels of wheat the acre. The manured pine barren lands yield from eight to twelve bushels of Indian corn. Cotton.-On Edisto island, the average produce of eleven years was 137 pounds per acre. good labourer can cultivate from four to four acres and a half, besides one and a half for maize and other articles of provisions. The general amount of cotton is from 170 to 260 dollars the hand; of yam, or sweet potatoe, on the same island, an acre, well manured, will produce 300 bushels of 80 pounds each, or 24,000 pounds; which, at the rate of five pounds to a man, will nourish thirteen persons. The greatest produce is 500 bushels an acre. Ground nuts are cultivated for food, and as an ingredient for choco A late; the produce is about eighty bushels an acre. In the middle country, cotton, Indian corn, and wheat, are raised for sale, with other kinds of grain, and vegetables for domestic use. In the upper country, the chief articles for the foreign market are, tobacco, wheat, and hemp. Cotton was raised only for domestic use, till about the year 1791, when the quantity exported from all the states was but 189,316 pounds. In the year 1801 it amounted to 8,000,000 of pounds, from South Carolina, and to 20,911,201 from the United States. From this period it was found to be so profitable, that land adapted for its culture was trebled in price. One labourer can raise in one season a quantity sufficient to make 1500 yards of common cloth, affording clothing for 150 persons. In the low country the produce of cotton from black seed is from 100 to 300 pounds weight per acre. The same quantity is obtained from green seed, on good lands, in the middle and upper country; and from 60 to 100 pounds from a soil of an inferior quality: 170 pounds of clean black seed cotton per acre is considered a good crop. When the cotton pod opens, a negro will gather daily from sixty to seventy pounds in the seed. Yellow, or nankeen cotton, country for domestic use. attacked by the caterpillar, Rice. The culture of this plant was introduced in 1693. In 1724 18,000 barrels were exported, and in 1754 the amount increased to 104,682 barrels. On tide lands the general produce of rice is from 1200 to 1500 pounds per acre of clean rice; on in is cultivated in the upper This plant is sometimes which appears in myriads. . land tracts from 600 to 1500 pounds. The average crop of rice in the state is about 100,000 barrels. * Indian corn.-Maize, or Indian corn, has been cultivated on a small scale since the first settlements commenced. In the year 1792, 99,985 bushels were exported; but, since cotton has been cultivated to such an extent, maize has been so much neglected, as to become an article of import for domestic use. On a good soil, well manured, the greatest produce is 100 bushels an acre; but in the middle parts, in strong dry lands, the common produce is from thirty to fifty bushels; and, in the low country, it seldom exceeds thirty. It is a common practice to plant peas or pumpkins among the rows. Tobacco.-This was not an article of export till 1783, and then only to the amount of 643 hogsheads. In the year 1799 it reached 9646 hogsheads; but has been since abandoned for the culture of cotton. On clayey soils, in the rich lands of the back country, this plant thrives as well as in Virginia, and the produce is nearly the same. Wheat. Wheat was cultivated on a small scale before the revolution; but the flour mills being destroyed during the war, the culture of this grain was neglected till about the year 1801, when the quantity of flour manufactured at mills near Camden amounted to 600 bushels; still, however, in consequence of the superior gains derived from the crops of cotton, wheat is raised only for domestic use, in the upper country, where Essay read before the Literary and Philosophical Society of Charleston, in 1815. the produce of a good soil, well manured, is from twenty to twenty-five bushels an acre. Indigo.— The culture of indigo was introduced from Antigua, in 1742, and its growth was so much encouraged, that in 1754 216,924 pounds were exported, and the annual average quantity before the revolution increased to 1,107,660 pounds; but, on account of the large importations from the East Indies into England, its culture has ceased to be profitable. Hemp is cultivated for sale in the upper country; particularly between Broad and Saluda rivers. Flax is raised there for domestic purposes. Barley has been successfully cultivated on the low grounds, which produce from fifty to seventy bushels an acre; and, ripening early in May, a second crop may be raised in the same year. Madder has also been successfully cultivated. Hops are raised in small quantity. The olive tree has been naturalized, and the fruit is equal to that imported. The sugar cane has been successfully cultivated on James's island, situated at the distance of a mile from Charleston. The culture of silk was introduced as early as the year 1757, and great quantities were raised during several years; but it has been lately neglected, owing probably to the high price of labour, compared with that in France and Italy. It appears, that mulberry trees grow everywhere spontaneously, and that the silk-worm abounds in the woods. The plant Benné, or Sesanum orientale, is now cultivated for the excellent oil which the seed yields, in the proportion nearly of nine-tenths of its weight. It is sold at the rate of four dollars a gallon, is a substitute for olive oil, to which it is not inferior, and the substance which remains, after expression, is a profitable food for cattle and poultry. Grasses. The cross, or crab grass, is preferred for hay. It is sweet and nourishing, and in some places has yielded from four to five tons per acre. Lucerne and crowfoot, on a similar soil, yield nearly the same quantity. The joint grass affords good pasture for sheep. The oat grass, which grows in rich tide land, when cut green, is an excellent food for horses. The mildness of the climate affords great agricultural advantages. The cattle range and fatten in the woods throughout the winter. A considerable number of sheep are raised. The average fleece of the common breed is about three pounds; and some have yielded from fourteen to fifteen pounds. Fruit.— The peach, nectarine, plum, and cherry, are excellent, but liable to be attacked by an insect * in its larva state. Melons are very plentiful. times grows to an enormous size, measuring a foot in circumference. Grapes also thrive well, some bunches weighing three pounds. † The sweet orange is now successfully propagated, by ingrafting it on the sour orange. The peach some The plough is much used in the middle and upper country. In the lower the principal instruments are the hoe and the spade. In the two first the pro * Curculio. Essay of Mr Johnson, vice-president of the Literary and Philosophical Society at Charleston. |