An illustrated 1850s magazine article on the history, botany, and cultivation of cotton, written from the viewpoint of a Louisiana planter. It covers cotton's early use in Egypt, Asia, and Europe, its varieties, its introduction into the United States, and Eli Whitney's invention of the saw-gin. It also describes the planting, picking, ginning, and baling cycle on Southern plantations, with engravings of the plant, bloom, and boll. The final sections cover Christmas customs on plantations and the question of England's dependence on American versus Indian cotton.