Texas Almanac, 1859 Page: 84

84 TEXAS ALMANAC.
trying season to health and patience, and care and anxiety are seen to be the in-
dwellers of the planter's household. His feelings tincture the breathing atmo-
sphere of life around him, and if success crowns his labors, every living soul, white
and black, is sure to be the recipient of a bounty unsurpassed by any other agri-
cultural class. From this crop alone the planter is expected to obtain his annual
expenses and to lay up a store for the education and. starting in life of his young
family.
The two past years have been most disastrous to this branch of our pop ultion,
having scarcely, in the most favored regions, saved ,enough to pay the expenses of
rearing a very short crop. This season, however, now promises to make amends
for the deficiencies of the two previous years.
We have omitted to mention the numerous experiments now being made to grow
the Sea-Island or black-seed cotton on our coast lands. So far, success-seems to
have attended the enterprise, and in this month a full picking may be expected.
This cotton matures more rapidly than the green or rough seed, and consequently
the season for gathering is much shorter, usually closing by the first of October.
If the season is favorable, the first sowing of turnips should be made in this
month, and the late planting of sweet potatoes worked over for the last time.
SEPTEMBER.
Nothing can excel the beauty of the cotton-field during the first fall month,,
especially if the weather be dry and cool. We know of no scenic resemblance
which will give our Northern friends any adequate conception of this interesting
sight, except their cedars, all clothed with verdure in mid-winter, upon which has
gently fallen the pure and unsullied snow-flake. Amid these pendent pure white
drops are seen the deep green leaves, among which repose the forms with their blue
and yellow rays, surmounted by the rich red blooms, with a border of cream-color,
all combined in decoration of the plant, and emblematic of the seasons-of the year.
The true economy of the planter is to commence the ginning and baling of his
cotton as rapidly as possible. When it is carried to market, many of the dangers
to which it is subjected under his own sheds, are avoided by him, as he will find no
difficulty in insuring, at moderate rates, when stored in the merchant's warehouse;
or he may sell, as pleases him best. There is a decided saving in this manage-
ment, and thousands of dollars now lost to the State, may be secured from hazard
by this timely precaution.
OCTOBER.
When we look into our cotton fields, we can not shut out from our eyes the fact
so oft proclaimed, "that cotton is king." England has essayed in every clime to
break the galling chains of this dependence upon us for this staple. She has ex-
hibited her hostility in every form, but when cotton speaks, a dread silence reigns
throughout her vast domain. How flattering then to our planting interest to know
that they hold in their hands the sceptre of civilization and the purse of peace
Let them not be forgetful of their high mission.
We are now in the very middle of the picking sason and in no month,-with
favorable weather, can the hands do more successful work. The heaviest gather-
ings are usually !made during this month.
A second sowing of turnips may now be made. This is a most useful crop for
the family, as well as the housed stock of cows and oxen. The rutat-baga is de-
cidedly superior to any other kind. This crop is not sufficiently appreciated in the
South.
This is the month when the gin should be running, if possible, and the cotton-
seed, one of our very best fertilizers, should be kept under cover. If exposed to
the weather, through the entire winter, this valuable seed loses largely of those
properties, which render it valuable as a manure. The exposure to sun, wind, and
snow, deprives it of the gases, which afford food for cotton or corn, and they rapidly