300 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



COTTON aB.o'wma tn afeica. 



In the November number of the Soil of the 

 South, the report of the Hon. William Elliott, 

 Commissioner of the State of South Carolina to 

 the late Exhibition of Paris, is published in full. 

 It is an able pi'oduction, and is devoted mainly to 

 the consideration of the question of the probable 

 success of the efforts of France to produce cotton 

 in her African possessions. We have seen occa- 

 sional notices of these efforts, but our impressions 

 were that her success, thus far, had been far less 

 encouraging than it is represented to be in this 

 Report. 



In his introductory remarks, the writer of this re- 

 port expresses his surprise in finding the Algerian 

 departments of the Exhibition so rich in speci- 

 mens of its varied products. He alludes to the 

 huge forest trees of her mountainous regions carv- 

 ed into various forms of ornamental furniture ; her 

 marbles, agates and onyx stones fashioned into 

 beautiful vases, and polished to the smoothness of 

 mirrors ; her metals of gold, silver, copper, lead 

 and iron ; her crystals of salt ; her leguminous 

 plants, similar to ours in kind, but surpassing them 

 in development ; her cereals in such profusion 

 and of such rare excellence, as if France were de- 

 termined to revive on the southern shores of the 

 Mediterranean, in this divided and reputed sterile 

 colony, the triumphs of the ancient Roman and 

 Carthagenian rule ! There were also to be found 

 the cocoas, the product of the Algerian silk-worm, 

 woven in France into superb velvets and brocades, 

 and stained with the dyes of the cochineal, which 

 was seen feeding on its favorite cactus, "and there 

 too," says he, "were to be found — what was far 

 more interesting to us — the sea-island cottons, 

 produced from Carolina seed, presented under 

 every variety of aspect — in stalk, in the pod, in 

 the ginned and unginned state — spun, in France, 

 into threads of exceeding fineness — wrought into 

 laces, and woven into muslins of the costliest 

 kinds." 



With the remark, that if France succeeds to her 

 wishes in cultivating this most valuable kind of 

 cotton, the planters of our country must be seri- 

 ous sufferers, he proceeds to the consideration of 

 the question, to what extent is she likely to pro- 

 duce sea-island cottons in Algeria. 



He treats, first, of the extent of soil in the 

 French African possessions that can be devoted to 

 the culture of this fine material. His conclusions, 

 on this point, are thus expressed : 



"We know from our own experience that it is 

 the sea-line of our territory only, or so much of it 

 as is exposed to the influence of salt atmosphere, 

 that produces the sea-island cottons in perfection. 



By the peculiar formation of the country, the 

 prevalence of salt mountains and salt lakes, the 

 sea-line of Algeria, so far as climate is concerned, 

 is extendnd, so to speak, for several hundred miles 



into the interior ; and those lands which, from ex- 

 cess of salt, are unfitted for gi-ain, are the very 

 same in which the fine cottons delight. Assum- 

 ing, then, that France will require 10,000 bales of 

 sea-island cotton, of 250 lbs. each, for the use of 

 her manufacturers, it seems probable to me, that a 

 portion of arable land can be found adequate to 



the production of the required supply." 



***** 



"The fact must be conceded that the soil and 

 climate of Algeria are favorable to the production 

 of fine sea-island cottons. The numerous speci- 

 mens exhibited in the 'Palais de I'lndustrie,' the 

 high numbers to which the^ were spun, the beau- 

 tiful laces and muslins into which they were 

 wrought — are so many evidences of the fact that 

 cannot be set aside. These specimens were, for the 

 most part, exceedingly high qualities : they were 

 spun up readily to No. 600 — the highest number 

 wanted for laces — and hanked and dyed so as to 

 be undistinguishable by any but professional eyes, 

 from the finest materials of silk. The crop of the 

 last year was 2,500 bales, of 250 lbs. each. Grant, 

 then, that great efforts have been made by the 

 French government to eflect this result — that high 

 bounties have been offered to the Algerian cotton 

 grower, in the form of an assured high price for 

 his product, and that other encouragements, in 

 other forms, have been held out to them — still we 

 must see that the result could not have been at- 

 tained without natural fitness for the production." 

 # * « « * 



"It would appear, from information gathered 

 from gentlemen engaged in cultivating sea-island 

 cottons in Algeria, that their rate of production 

 per acre is much higher than ours. They could 

 not continue to cultivate (they tell me) if they 

 could only reach our average of one hundred and 

 thirty pounds of clean cotton per acre." 



*»***# 



"No one who gives due weight to these consid- 

 erations can be blind to the conviction, that if the 

 present ratio of increase be continued for five 

 years, France will supply herself, from her Alge- 

 rian possessions, with her whole required stock of 

 these fine cottons." 



***** 



"But in admitting that Finance, by pei'sisting in 

 her efforts, may succed in supplying herself, in a 

 few years, with her whole required amount of sea- 

 island cottons, I am far from admitting any such 

 possibility in respect to the short stapled, or New 

 Orleans Cotton. No other nation possesses our 

 climate, our vast extent of unworn soil adapted to 

 the plant, our unequalled power to renew it when 

 exhausted. None other possesses the same re- 

 sources of labor, or the same skill in its applica- 

 tion, or the same energy in action. In the extent 

 of the supply, and the economy of production, we 

 are, and must continue to be unrivalled." 



The next topic is, the character and extent of 

 the labor that France can supply to this produc- 

 tion. Here, in his opinion, the slave States of our 

 country have the advantage so decidedly as to be 

 able to defy competition. "The scarcity of labor, 

 and its consequent high price," he says, "consti- 

 tute, in fact, the chief impediment in the prosecu- 

 tion of this culture by France." He believes that 

 her production of cotton must be limited 1' the 



