BOOK which, with sugar and rum, principally constitute the bulky freight that gives employment

V.

to an extent of shipping, nearly equal to the whole commercial tonnage of England at the beginning of the present century.

CHAP. IV.

Of the minor Staple Commodities; viz. COTTON, its growth and various species.-Mode of cultivation, and risques attending it.—Import of this article into Great Britain, and profits accruing from the manufactures produced by it.-INDIGO, its cultivation and manufacture. -Opulence of the first Indigo planters in Jamaica, and reflections concerning the decline of this branch of cultivation in that island.-COFFEE, whether that of the West Indies is equal to the Mocha ?-Situation and soil. Exorbitant duty to which it was subject in Great Britain.-Approved method of cultivating the plant and curing the berry.Estimate of the annual expences and returns of a Coffee plantation.

- CACAO, GINGER,

ARNOTTO, ALOES, and PIMENTO; brief account of each.

COTTO N.

IV.

THAT beautiful vegetable wool, or substance CHAP. called cotton, is the spontaneous production of three parts of the earth. It is found growing naturally in all the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and America; and may justly be comprehended among the most valuable gifts of at bountiful Creator, superintending and providing for the necessities of man.

THE

BOOK

V.

THE Cotton-wool, which is manufactured into cloth (for there is a species in the West Indies, called silk or wild cotton, unfit for the loom) consists of two distinct kinds, known to the planters by the names of GREEN-SEED COTTON, and SHRUB COTTON; and these again have subordinate marks of difference, with which the cultivator ought to be well acquainted if he means to apply his labours to the greatest advantage.

GREEN-SEED cotton is of two species; of one of which the woel is so firmly attached to the seed, that no method has hitherto been found of separating them, except by the hand; an operation so tedious and troublesome, that the value of the commodity is not porprotionate to the pains that are requisite in preparing it for market. This sort therefore is at present cultivated principally for supplying wick for the lamps that are used in sugar-boiling, and for domestick purposes; but the staple being exceedingly good, and its colour perfectly white, it would doubtless be a valuable acquisition to the muslin manufactory, could means be found of detaching it easily from the seed.

THE other sort has larger seeds, of a duller green than the former, and the wool is not of equal fineness, though much finer than the cotton-wool in general cultivation; and it is casily separated from the seed by the common method,

3

IV.

method, hereafter to be described. I have been CHAP. told that this species of the green-seed cotton is not sufficiently known to the planters in general, (being usually confounded with the former) or that probably it would be in high estimation.

BоTH the species above-mentioned, though they produce pods at an early stage, when they are mere shrubs, will, if suffered to spread, grow into trees of considerable magnitude, and yield annual crops, according to the season, without any kind of cultivation. The blossoms put forth in succession from October to January, and the pods begin to open fit for gathering from February to June. I come now to the SHRUB COTTON, properly so called. The shrub itself very nearly resembles an European Corinth bush, and may be subdivided into several varieties, all of which however very nearly resemble each other (a). These varieties (such

(a) The flowers are composed of five large yellow leaves, each stained at the bottom with a purple spot. They are beautiful, but devoid of fragrance. The pistil is strong and large, surrounded at and near the top with a yellow farinaceous dust, which, when ripe, falls into the matrix of the pistil. This is likewise surrounded, when the petals of the flowers drop, with a capsular pod, supported by three triangular green leaves deeply jagged at their ends. The inclosed pod opens, when ripe, into three or four partitions, discovering the cotton in as many white locks as there are partitions in the pod. In these locks are interspersed the seeds, which are commonly small and black.

of

BOOK of them at least as have come to my know

V.

ledge) are,

1st, THE Common Jamaica; the seeds of which are oblong, perfectly smooth, and have no beard at the smaller end. The staple is coarse, but strong. Its greatest defect is, that the seeds are so brittle it is scarce possible to render it perfectly clean; on which account it is the lowest priced cotton at the British market. Such however is the obstinacy of habit, that few of the British cotton planters give themselves the trouble to select a better sort, or seem indeed to wish for it.

2d, Brown Bearded. This is generally cultivated with the species last mentioned, but the staple is somewhat finer, and the pods, though fewer in number, produce a greater quantity of wool. The shrub gives likewise a better ratoon. It is therefore the interest of the cotton planter to cultivate it separately. The only disadvantage attending it is, that it is not so easily detached from the seed as the other, and therefore a negro will clear a few pounds less in his day's work.

3d, Nankeen.-This differs but little in the seeds or otherwise from the species last mentioned, except in the colour of the wool, which is that of the cloth called Nankeen. It is not so much in demand as the white.

4th, French or Small-seed, with a whitish

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beard.