LETTERS OF TRANSMITTAL. To the SUPERINTENDENT OF CENSUS. BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, September 12, 1882. DEAR SIR: I transmit herewith a report on the cotton production and agricultural features of the state of Alabama, by Dr. Eugene Allen Smith, professor of chemistry and geology at the University of Alabama, and state geologist. In so doing, permit me to say that I consider Dr. Smith's report to be one of the best digested and most complete of the series of which it forms a part. The geology of Alabama is by far the most complex among the cotton-growing states, its formations ranging from the very base of the stratified rocks to the most modern, with a very varied representation of each of the several ages. This variety has in a great measure impressed itself upon the surface features and soils of the state, the consequence being that it is hardly possible to discuss the latter intelligently without frequent reference to the geological features. Hence the prominence necessarily given to the latter in the descriptions of the several regions. The painstaking thoroughness of Dr. Smith's work will need no comment with the readers of this as well as other reports issued from his pen; but the amount of labor involved therein can hardly be appreciated save by Those familiar with such work and with the extreme complexity of the natural features of the state. Very respectfully, E. W. HILGARD, Special Agent in charge of Cotton Production. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, August 1, 1882. Dr. EUGENE W. HILGARD, Special Census Agent in charge of Cotton Production. DEAR SIR: With this I transmit my report on the cotton production of the state of Alabama. In the arrangement of the subject-matter I have followed the plan adopted by yourself in the report already published on the cotton production of the state of Louisiana. The principal sources of information used in the preparation of the present report have been: The geological reports of Professor M. Tuomey, published in the years 1850 and 1858, respectively. The reports of progress of the geological survey, made by myself, for the years 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877-'78, and 1879-'80. Manuscript notes of several excursions made by me, under the auspices of the Census Office, for the purpose of collecting soil specimens and certain data for this report. The answers returned by correspondents from the various counties to whom were sent the schedules of questions relating to cotton culture. From Dr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, a special agent of the Census Office, I have received many valuable notes on the botanical character of the different parts of the state. vii 9 The county officers in many parts of the state have given, upon solicitation, much information regarding their own sections. More than half of the analyses of soils and subsoils given have been made at the expense of the state geological survey, and acknowledgments are due also to Messrs. McCalley, Cory, Durrett, and Langdon, students in the chemical laboratory of the University of Alabama (employed also by the Census Office and by the state survey), for analyses made by them without charge. Finally, free use has been made of the published bulletins of the Census Office. The details of the arrangement of the matter of this report are as follows: The tabulated results of the enumeration relating to area, population, and cotton production, and to the production of the leading crops. Part I. A general account of the physical and geological features of the state. A special description of the agricultural subdivisions or regions, accompanied by analyses of the most characteristic soils and discussions of the analyses. The soils analyzed were collected by myself, except those otherwise specially credited. Next follows a list of the botanical and common names of the characteristic timber trees and other plants of the several regions, including those giving most trouble to farmers, as weeds. Part I concludes with some remarks on cotton culture in the state, in which the statistics are presented in tabular form, to show the relations of the several regions in respect of area, population, and cotton production, and to compare these regions, as regards their product per acre and their respective contributions, to the total production of the state. Under each region are also given the "banner" counties in regard to the product per acre and total production, and a general discussion of the areas of greatest production, of the relations between the population and cotton production, the part borne by the two races (black and white) in cotton production, with some inferences drawn concerning the effect on the soil and on the yield of the prevalent systems of farming. This is followed by a chapter on the use of fertilizers in cotton planting, and an account of the materials naturally occurring in Alabama, which have been, or which may hereafter be, used in the improvement of the soils. Part II is devoted to the agricultural descriptions of the counties of the state, grouped under the several agricultural regions described in Part I. When a county belongs to more than one of these divisions, it is described in connection with that region with which it is thought to have most in common. Each county description is preceded by a heading giving data relating to population, area, lands in cultivation, with the proportion devoted to each of the leading crops, but particularly to cotton, under which head are given the number of bales, the average product per acre, and the percentage of tilled land in cotton. The statements of areas are based upon measurements which have been made as accurately as possible, but they are to be considered only as approximations, since the lines separating the several agricultural regions are themselves to a certain extent conventional. In the county descriptions abstracts are given of the answers to the schedule questions relating to the soil varieties, their yield of seed cotton when fresh, the most troublesome weeds, prevalent practice with regard to protection against injury from washes, etc. The great discrepancy between the estimates of correspondents and the enumeration returns regarding the average yield of the soils is more particularly noticed in the section devoted to remarks on cotton culture. Part III is devoted to the details relating to culture, system of farming, etc., being an abstract (condensed, but containing all the essential material) of the answers to the schedule questions relating to tillage and improvement of land, planting and cultivation of cotton, ginning, baling, and shipping of the same, diseases and insect enemies, etc., and to labor and system of farming. Very respectfully, 10 EUGENE A. SMITH. |