g& HISTORY OF THE [book v. 
From this display, the rapid progress which the 
Dutch and French planters have made in the cul- 
ture of this commodity, cannot be thought extraor¬ 
dinary, but there remain some circumstances of a less 
favourable nature to be taken into the account. Of 
all the productions to which labour is applied, the 
cotton-plant is perhaps the most precarious. In its 
first stage, it is attacked by the grub ; it is devour¬ 
ed by caterpillars in the second ; it is sometimes 
withered by the blast; and rains frequently de¬ 
stroy it both in the blossom and the pod. The 
Bahama islands afforded a melancholy instance of 
the uncertainty of this production in 1788 ; no less 
than 280 tons on a moderate estimate, having been 
devoured by the worm, between September and 
March, in that year. After this the reader will 
hardly suspect me of having rated the average pro¬ 
duce of this plant, for a series of years, too low.* 
With every disadvantage, however, the demand 
for cotton-wool, for the British manufactories, in¬ 
creases with such rapidity, that it cannot be doubt¬ 
ed the cultivation of it, with the cautions recom¬ 
mended, will be found highly profitable; the British 
dominions not supplying at present, much more than 
one fourth part the home demand. If after a care¬ 
ful selection and trials of the different species of the 
seeds already in our possession, the cotton-wool of 
the British West Indies shall still be found inferior 
* It has been sug esttd, that the ravages of the worm or grub 
might be prevented by raising the plant from slips or layers. 
