20, 1839.] [Footnote 33: J.A.Turner, ed., _Cotton Planter's Manual_, p.

98-128.] In the sea-island branch of the cotton industry the methods differed considerably from those in producing the shorter staple.

Seed selection was much more commonly practiced, and extraordinary care was taken in ginning and packing the harvest.

The earliest and favorite lands for this crop were those of exceedingly light soil on the islands fringing the coast of Georgia and South Carolina.

At first the tangle of live-oak and palmetto roots discouraged the use of the plow; and afterward the need of heavy fertilization with swamp mud and seaweed kept the acreage so small in proportion to the laborers that hoes continued to be the prevalent means of tillage.