An 1846 article from The Commercial Review (Vol. 1, No. 4) on the history and trade of the cotton plant. It covers early mentions of cotton in India, Greece, Rome and Egypt, including the microscope evidence that Egyptian mummy cloth was linen. It then traces the introduction of cotton into Europe and its history in the Americas, including Sea Island cotton and the cotton gin. The final sections give statistics on world growth, United States exports, and British and French imports, with several pages of tables, and discuss the varieties and future prospects of American cotton.

A short 1846 article from the Commercial Review. A New Orleans correspondent, S. F. Glenn, sends the editor J. D. B. De Bow a sample of dark brown Peruvian cotton brought home by a naval officer. De Bow then prints a letter by Mr. Garnett to a Liverpool house, first published in Peru. The letter urges Peruvian growers to improve their coarse, harsh cotton by importing Sea Island and Egyptian seed, isolating plantings, selecting the best plants, and cross-fertilizing artificially. It compares prices with Sea Island cotton and cites plant breeding in fruits and vegetables.

The first installment of a three-part treatise on silk and silk culture, printed in De Bow's Commercial Review in 1847. It argues for developing silk production in the United States, then traces the origin of silk in China, including the legend of Empress Si-ling-chi, and its introduction to Constantinople in 552. Most of the text describes Chinese methods drawn from Chinese sources and a Chinese informant: mulberry cultivation, egg preservation, feeding rooms and ovens, the worm's likes and dislikes, and cocooneries. Engravings show a round cocoon room (touan-tso) and a cocoon-raising frame (chan-po).

An 1846 article from the Commercial Review arguing that Southern and South-Western cotton planters can relieve their financial distress by cutting expenses and growing their own food, forage and livestock, rather than depending on higher cotton prices, legislation or manufactories. It criticizes planters who overwork enslaved laborers and buy hay, corn, tools and cloth from outside the region. It concludes that reform has to begin on the individual plantation. It deals with agricultural economics and does not cover textile production or weaving techniques.