From this account and Fairchild's unpublished manuscripts found in the FTBG archives it appears that the main reason to include The Bahamas in this trip was to collect germplasm of "
sea-island cotton." The history of this crop is complex as it involves introgression between Gossypium barbadense L.
By 1808, sea-island cotton was grown extensively on Edisto Island and the surrounding area.
The fine, silky texture of sea-island cotton found a ready market with European manufacturers of high-quality textiles.
Pierre's Creek, the 2,200-acre cotton plantation's estimated annual production of 70,000 pounds of ginned cotton made it one of the largest producers of sea-island cotton in the United States.
The deprivations of war produced a hero with a soft spot for the finer things in life, from
sea-island cotton shirts to martinis that were shaken, not stirred, to unconditional sex with a succession of anonymous strangers.
Ruffin's description of tidal rice culture and his account of
sea-island cotton planting are perceptive and detailed.
were formerly taken in considerable numbers among our various inlets, into which large trees had fallen to which the barnacles soon became attached; but as the lands have been cleared for the cultivation of
sea-island cotton, the trees have disappeared, and with them the fish; and it has been found necessary to renew their feeding grounds by artificial means.