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“Loading Cotton on the
Alabama River”
Ballou’s Pictorial, November
28, 1857
The spirited scene on
this page was sketched expressly for us upon the spot
by Mr. Killburn, and is a correct representation of the
manner of loading cotton on board the steamboats that
ply on the navigable waters of the cotton region of the
South. In the left hand foreground of the picture is
seen the bow of a passenger and freight boat, with
ladies and gentlemen congregated thickly on the
promenade deck, while on
the forward part of the lower deck the bales of cotton
are rolled on board by a gang of hands. The bales are
started from the summit of a high bluff, two negroes
with cotton-hooks attending on each to moderate the
speed of the descent and guide them on their way.
A large quantity is thus laden in a very brief
space of time, when the bell rings and the boat resumes
her way. The Alabama River, on the banks of which our
picture was drawn, is formed by the junction of the
Coosa and Tallapoosa, which united ten miles north of
the city of Montgomery. It then takes a westerly
direction to Selma, below which it pursues a very
winding course towards the southwest, until it unites
with the Tombigbee, about 4 miles north of the city of
Mobile. The river formed by this union is then called
the Mobile. The Alabama is an excellent stream for
steamboats, being navigable for the largest class of
boats through all its extent, and at all seasons of the
year, except in instances of extraordinary drought. The
length of the main stream is about three hundred miles,
and the distance from Mobile to Wetumpka, which is at
the head of navigation for large boats, is about four
hundred and sixty miles. The region through which it
flows is occupied by plantations of cotton, extensive
savannahs, and forests of valuable timber. Of cotton,
as we remarked in a former article, the exuberant soil
of Alabama yields more than any other member of our
prosperous confederacy of States. But this, through the
staple, is by no means the only valuable agricultural
product of a State singularly blessed in fertility.
Towards the north, the low mountains are deep in grass,
affording abundant pasturage to numerous herds of
cattle. The central portion of the State is occupied by
fertile prairies, and the southern, though often sandy
and inferior in productiveness, has many fertile
alluvial bottoms, on which rice is grown. In Marengo
and Greene counties there were formerly extensive
cane-brakes, which are now nearly cleared, disclosing
some of the very best land in the State. Sugar cane
grows in the southwest neck, between Mobile Bay and the
Mississippi. Alabama produces large quantities of
Indian corn, oats, live stock, sweet potatoes and
butter; a considerable amount of wheat, rye, rice,
wool, hay, peas, beans, Irish potatoes, fruit, market
vegetables and sugar; and some tobacco, barley,
buckwheat, wine, cheese, grass-seeds, hops, flax and
silk. Indigo was formerly cultivated, but being
undersold by the foreign article, its culture was given
up, though not from want of adaptability of the soil.
According to the census of 1850, there were in Alabama
41,954 farms, containing, 4,435,614 acres of improved
land, producing 294,064 bushels of wheat; 28,754,048 of
Indian corn; 2,965,597 of oats; 892,701 of beans and
peas; 261,482 of Irish potatoes; 5,475,204 of sweet
potatoes; 225,771,600 pounds of cotton; 8,242,000
pounds of sugar; 83,428 gallons of molasses; 164,990
pounds of tobacco; 657,118 pounds of wool; 4,008,811
pounds of butter; 2,311,252 pounds of rice; 897,021
pounds of beeswax and honey; 32,685 tons of hay; live
stock valued at $21,690,112; orchard fruits worth
$15,408; market goods worth $84,821; and slaughtered
animals worth $4,823,485; value of farming implements
and machinery, $5,125,663. Though comparatively little
attention has hitherto been paid in the State to
manufactures, yet the census of 1850, from which the
above statistics were taken, shows that there were 1022
establishments, each producing annually $500 and
upwards, of which 12 were cotton factories, employing
capital to the amount of $651,000, with 346 male and
390 female hands, consuming raw material worth
$237,081, and producing 3,081,000 yards of stuff, and
790,000 pounds of yarn, valued at $382,200; 14 forges,
furnaces, etc., employing capital to the amount of
$230,125, and 266 male hands, consuming raw material
worth $111,883, and producing 2537 tons of castings,
pig and wrought iron, valued at $280,876. Capital
invested in distilleries, $500; hands employed, 2;
product, 3000 gallons. There were 149 tanneries,
employing $200,570, and consuming raw material worth
$158,247, and producing leather valued at $335,911.
According to DeBow, there were 549,499 bales of cotton
brought to Mobile in 1851-2, besides what was sent to
New Orleans and the ports of Florida. Enough has been
said to display the resources of this flourishing
State, and in former numbers we have given other
details and facts. With such ample resources at her
command Alabama is destined to rise to still greater
influence in the confederacy of States.
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