April — junE; 1857.] Observations on Cotton. 128 



powerful would follow, and could be driven by oxen by means of 

 simple gear; a forty saw gin with a screw-press is used in Virginia 

 to clean the crops of the neighbouring farmers at a per-centage on 

 the quantity ginned. 



The advantage gained in Tropical Africa consists in the much 

 larger return, from the same extent of surface, than the colder 

 climate of the States can average. I have generally found a tree 

 yield upwards of eight ounces of wool at one bearing, on a space 

 of five feet square; which, at two crops per annum, would thus 

 produce 800 lbs. per acre, or double that obtained from the Sou- 

 thern States by slave labour. 



In regard to experienced labourers for Africa, it is a gratifying 

 fact that many of the planters in Maryland and Virginia would 

 emancipate their slaves, provided they could be sent out of the 

 country so as to save them the expense of supporting them, which 

 the laws of these States make imperative on setting them free. In 

 proof of this disposition, the Government of St. Domingo was at 

 the charge, about twenty years ago, of conveying 13,000 Negroes 

 from the Slave States to that Island, where they were located as 

 free men. It is, in all probability, through them that the saw gin 

 has been introduced for Cotton ; the screw-press being still requir- 

 ed on the coast, previous to its shipment. 



Natal, near the Cape of Good Hope, is now obtaining the atten- 

 tion of English colonists, as an extensive field and favorable cli- 

 mate for Cotton. Having furnished some Honduras seeds to a 

 gentleman connected with the Cape, a communication which ac- 

 companied them was printed in the Graham Town Journal, of 10th 

 July 1845 ; embracing, more in practical detail, several of these 

 and other points relative to its cultivation. I am informed that 

 some bales of Cotton have already been sent from Natal, and tro- 

 pical Africa should not be less productive. Among the samples 

 produced is a little brought from the Niger, of a strong useful 

 quality ; also two spindles of native made thread, and a piece of 

 cloth from Dahomi in Ashanti, woven in narrow strips of about 

 three inches broad and sewed together. It is dyed in different 



