disastrous a contingency, in spite of repeated warnings, we have made no provision whatever.

It is true that the attention of the manufacturing districts have been awakened to the hazards of their position, and directed toward the real source of security; but though all parties seem prepared to co-operate in the work, there has been, as yet, nothing effected toward the production of a tangible result. The East India Company has expended vast pains and considerable sums, in testing the agricultural capabilities of their territory; and the Manchester Chamber of Commerce has memorialized government in furtherance of the same ends. It has been ascertained, on one side, that India can unquestionably produce cotton of admirable quality, in abundance, sufficient for all the demands of England; and it is confessed, on the other, that the opening of such a source of supply would be extremely acceptable. To complete the unanimity of purpose, the finances of India are in such a condition that any measure tending to increase the exports and revenue of the country, would be in a high degree opportune and serviceable. If, therefore, certain proceedings would conduce, at one and the same time, to the prosperity of India and the security of Manchester, and are, besides, notoriously practicable, why is the result not achieved without further delay?

The first necessity of a cultivator, is food. In this country, as in most parts of Europe, any agricultual produce can find a market and secure a safe return in money; but in India, the cultivator has no such guarantee. He has no certain market within reach, nor has he the means of transmitting his produce, however intrinsically saleable it may be, to markets at a greater distance. Unless, therefore, his crop be of such a kind as will serve in the last resort for his own consumption, he is liable to the extremities of want. Suppose, for example, that he plants his fields with cotton, and that, by aid of a favorable season, he raises a respectable crop, he is, perhaps, hundreds of miles from the cotton markets of the coast, to which he has no means of access. In other coun ries, such conditions of cultivation would call into being a class of inland merchants, whose trade it would be to purchase the crops on the fields of their growth, and collect them for transmission to the exporters. In India, no such class of agents exist. The inland trader is a man without enterprise, capital or knowledge, who would simply avail himself of such circumstances as we have supposed, to lie in wait for the unfortunate cultivator, and secure his cotton at a nominal price when he was on the verge of starvation. But, by growing edible grains, the ryot escapes such straits as these. In the worst of cases he can pay his modicum of rent in kind, and reserve the remainder of his crop for his own subsistence. By such means, he makes himself independent of merchants or markets-nor can it be any matter of surprise that he adopts them. The consequence is, that, in the interior of the Deccan, where the best cotton lands lie, cotton is not grown upon one field in fifty capable of producing it—and thus, no material supplies have ever found their way to England.

The remedy for this is so obvious and simple, that it scarcely needs to be indicated. What is primarily required, is a class of Indian traders, sufficiently intelligent and provided with sufficient means to take the cotton from the ryot, at a money price, which will renumerate him for his labor, and encourage him to renew the experiment. There is no want of acuteness in the native cultivators. The capabilities of various lands, and the values of various descriptions of produce, are computed and known, to a nicety, and the preference would be invariably given to the more remunerative crops, if there were accessible markets for all. At present, grain of the coarsest kind is grown, not because the land will not bear cotton, but because cotton will not yield food. Whenever such arrangements can be made, that cotton becomes readily convertible into money, it will supercede grain to any extent required. As for the land tax, it will be seen how correct were our calculations in attributing no weight at all to this alleged burden on agriculture. With rent and dues of all kinds, at eighteen pence an acre, no man can well complain of taxation.

The Manchester Chamber of Commerce has thus received a very promising, and certainly not an impracticable, suggestion. The agents of English mercantile houses are stationed all over the world-in all climates, and under all goyernments-from Hong Kong to Vera Cruz-from Hudson's Bay to the coast of Africa. Why should not such an element of commercial success be introduced into India?-London Times.

COTTON CULTURE IN THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS.

The following article appears as editorial in Wilmer and Smith's European Times of April twentieth :

"The law of supply and demand, is the leverage which moves the commercial world. When an indispensable article of consumption becomes scarce, the value, as a natural consequence, rises in the market, just as it falls in value when there is a superabundance. Applying this uncontrovertible fact to cotton, you would imagine, to hear certain sapient persons talk, that they desired a bill of indictment against the whole of the southern planters, because they cannot control the seasons, and furnish abundance of the raw material for all the spindles in the world. These grumblers forget that the grower can no more regulate the price of cotton, than he can mete out the sunshine which feeds, or the frost which kills, the plant. The southernors engaged in the cultivation of the staple, might justly retort upon the lords of cottonopolis, in the language of the ancient Briton: If Cæsar can hide the sun with a blanket, and put the moon in his pocket, we'll pay tribute to him for light.'

"At the same time, when the equilibrium of prices has been destroyed by an unlooked for casualty-when exclusive dependence upon a particular country, for an essential article of commerce, is found to interfere with the legitimate course of capital and labor-it becomes, not only necessary, but imperative, to look elsewhere for a supply, fully equal to the requirements of the times, so as to be provided for every contingency; and in this spirit we can discern nothing to censure, but, on the contrary, much to commend, in the pains which are now taken to procure a supply of cotton from other parts of the world, to compensate for the unquestionable deficiency of the American crop.

Much has been said and written about the capabilities of India, to send us as much cotton as we require, and, to a certain degree of faith in the capacity of that country, may be traced the anxiety with which the public has watched the formation of Indian railways, and the eagerness with which the progress and commpletion have been regarded. The East India Company has partaken largely of this feeling, and has extended a helping hand to two companies which have taken the field, and for which acts of Parliament were passed in the last season. One of these companies will cut a line from Calcutta to Delhi; the other a line from Bombay to Kalliar, in the direction of the great cotton field of Ghauts. These undertakings may be regarded as in practical operation, for the East India Company has guaranteed a dividend on the outlay, which makes their completion a matter of certainty. A third line from Madras to Arcot is also projected; but whether it will struggle into existence is, at present, somewhat questionable. Nevertheless, grave doubts exist, whether the best internal communication in the world would enable India to grow cotton in quantities sufficient to affect the price in the home market. At present India grows little more than is required for its own consumption and the export trade to China; and as to quality, it is impossible, under any circumstances, that the cotton of India can ever compete with the long staple of America.

"Port Natal is also mentioned, with encouragement, as a cotton growing district; but the smallness of the population, and the fact that no vessel has ever yet sailed from D'Urban, the only port in the colony, direct to England, shows that a long period must elapse ere its developments can produce tangible results. “The most feasible scheme of the many which has been broached, is one put forward by the owners of property in British Guiana. The West India Association, in their petitions to parliament, as well as in their memorial to the colonial secretary, make out a strong case on behalf of the West Indies generally, and of Demarara more especially. The labor question is at the bottom of all our West India difficulties. Every plan adopted since the emancipation of the black population, to secure a sufficiency of labor, has failed, and the association ask, through Mr. F. Sand, their chairman, permission to engage blacks on the coast of Africa, on the plan which the British factories on the river Bonny adopt with the natives of the Kroo coast-namely, to hire them, say for five years, at the expiration of which they can return, if they desire it, to their native country. In the estimation of many persons, this would be equivalent to a renewal of the slave trade; but if similar arrangements were permitted in the case of the coolies, and in the one referred to-that of the Kroo blacks-we can see no sufficient reason why precautions might not be taken on the African

coast as well as at Demarara, to protect the blacks who might willingly enter into these engagements, from the possibility of wrong or injury. To no higher practical end could the naval force which excites Mr. Hutt's antipathy be directed, and, under judicious regulation, the moral and physical condition of the laborers, instead of being deteriorated, would, in reality, be improved and elevated, by the boon which the West India Association solicit at the hands of government and the country. If the experiment were tried in British Guiana, it might, if successful, be extended to the West India islands.

In the meantime, the southern planters of America, stimulated by the prices which now prevail, have every inducement to extend the cultivation of cotton with, if possible, increased power and capital. Probably the next crop may, in its amplitude, compensate for the shortness of the last one, and the outcry which now exists for other fields of cultivation in various quarters of the globe, would, in the event of such a result, correspondingly abate. But at the same time they will read the signs which are every day passing around them very imperfectly, if they do not perceive a fixed determination, on the part of the merchants and the manufacturers of this country, and its government, to rely less exclusively than heretofore on the cotton of the United States.

Experientia docet.

2. WEST INDIA MODE OF SUGAR CULTURE.

[The following essay received, several years ago, the prize of one hundred guineas, offered by Lord Elgin, then governor of Jamaica, for the best practical treatise upon the subject. We have supposed it might interest our planters to know what systems their neighbors have been adopting, though no great practical good be derived from the information.-ED.]

Commence by subdividing the old cane-fields, or such parts of them as may be suitable to receive the plow, into sections, by substantial and durable fences, and in the most convenient manner to save fencing and promote draining. Fences may be growing fences, or ditch and penguin. As ditches may be necessary in many parts, in carrying out the principle of draining and retaining water for stock, they will be found beneficial, and inay be planted on the top of the bank with any of the growing fences found on experience to be the most substantial, durable and least expensive, and least likely to harbor rats.

The next important duty is to drain the land by under-drains, which can be dug by machinery, the tiles necessary for draining being made on the spot, by machinery. These points accomplished are the most expensive outlay at the commencement, but will be attended by a durable benefit. The next duty is to manure the land as high as you possibly can, by penning it over with horned stock, or sheep, or stable, or cattle pen dung, given in any way by which its virtues are saved to the soil, covering the pens immediately after they are removed, with a coat of loam, or if stiff clayey land, with lime or marl. This done, close-plow the land with a common single "Wilkie's" plow, seven inches deep, following in the same furrow with the sub-soil, going to sixteen inches into the sub-soil, or deeper, if possible. Then roll and harrow the land, extracting the weeds and grass, and open it into cane holes with a deep single plow, cleaning out the holes with a deep double-breasted plow. Your next duty is to plant them, giving the canes an opportunity of growing in their favorite manner in clusters, or stools, and not in single file along the row. As you plant, cover the bank and cane-bed with cane-trash, dry grass, or any other suitable covering, with a view to keep down grass and weeds, and to protect the soil from that exhalation, which, in tropical climates, is so rapid and so detrimental to land. By these means the plant canes will give very little trouble until they are fit to take the bank, which can be given with the plow. Cane land, so managed, will require very little labor in weeding or hoeing, the principal part of such work being performed with suitable light plows, drills, harrows, scarificators and other agricultural implements now in use in the United Kingdom. They not only eradicate grass and weeds, but turn up the soil and scatter seeds and manures of every kind, thereby saving a world of labor.

The principal part of the plowing and other field work, should be performed by horses, in which case three plowmen, six boys and eight good plow horses,

with the assistance of steers occasionally to break stiff land, or in sub-soiling it, will be sufficient to plow, sub-soil, roll and harrow, drill, scarify, mold and hoe, all the various crops on the model sugar farm, with the aid of a small gang occasionally to plant, weed, trash, heap and turn out manure, fencing, &c.

While on the subject of plowing, it may be as well to remark, that as the plow is now coming into general use throughout the island, and its beneficial effects freely admitted and tolerably well understood,all that remains for me, is to point out some improvement. The team of horses or steers should be brought as close as possible to the beam of the plow, and exactly in the center. They should then walk with a quick step without stopping.

It is proved beyond a doubt by the British farmers, that the work is better performed and with greater ease to the stock, when the horses in the plow go at the rate of three miles an hour, than when traveling at the rate of one mile in the same space of time. Repeated stoppages and going slow, are fagging both to man and beast, and detrimental to the quantity and quality of the work. Oxen may be so trained, as to perform excellent work without flogging.

They ought to be stall-fed during the plow season, on a mixture of hay, corn and grass, and kept exclusively for the plow. The same rule should be extended to the plow horses, with the addition of being well groomed twice a day. When the plow does not take the ground, or is otherwise out of order, the means of repairing and altering it should be on the estate.

RATOONS

Should be plow-molded every year, during which operation any of the chemical or lately discovered manures may be applied, such as are found by experience to be congenial to the nature of that specific soil which is drawn by analysis. By analyzing the soil and the compost, or other chemical manure, it is soon found which description of manure will be most beneficial; or well-digested cattle pen or stable manure, harrowed into the bank so broken, and covered over with the trash so taken off, when clearing for the plow. This may be done by a couple of smart boys going before the plow, raking the trash on the bank last cut by the plow, and so on in rotation to the end of the piece; or a raker drawn by one horse may be invented to remove the trash. By this simple process, canes may be kept ratooning as long as you like. The plow-molding, with the application of manure in the bank, may be done at an early stage, that is, when the sprouts make their appearance.

As the canes are covering the ground, or soon after, the soil may be again disturbed, either by a light single one horse plow, or by a scarificator, harrowdrill or horse-hoe, or such of them as the sugar farmer, on experience, finds to be most beneficial. By cutting the rooty fibers of the canes that push out in collateral directions, fresh ones immediately replace them, and take up such nourishment as they can find in the newly cut bank; a reinforcement of suckers will be the result, while fresh stability is added to the mother cane. It is to this end I recommend dung and manures annually for the ratoons, which, if properly done, places them pretty nearly on an equality with the plant canes, and planters of experience know that the cheapest sugar is that produced from ratoons under the old system, and it will be doubly so under mine. When you determine on throwing out a piece of ratoons, I recommend a rotation of crops, such as Guinea corn, Indian corn and green crops of the most beneficial descriptions, for benefiting the land and affording food both for man and beast. They may be of plantains, cocoes, cassadoes, ochres, peas and beans; yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, melons and turnips, if you can succeed in this hot climate. Next comes artificial grasses, to be planted before or after the green crops. this stage, you have the sample estate dividend in the different crops-canes, corn, fallow and green crops, and a part in artificial grasses, sufficient to make hay for the stable, cutting grass for the pens, and sufficient feeding for your stock. By this rotation of crops, you improve and benefit the land and produce good crops at a very moderate expense, and with one-fourth of the manual labor necessary under the old system. The greatest attention should be paid to making manure in the field and at the works-the drainings of the stables and cattle-pens should be preserved, and carted out to the field where most required. The compound qualities of this manure are very powerful. A few boys and mule carts would materially assist in carting out manure-bringing feeding for

At

the pens and stable, and carting loam, lime, marl, or any other ingredient deemed necessary to improve the land. After the first two years necessary to lay the foundation of this work, a small plant will be sufficient-say, at the utmost, from 20 to 25 acres a year, which, after a routine of crops, and for years fed on by horned stock, horses, sheep, poultry and hogs-the land being in the first instance fenced, drained and sub-soiled-should, with moderate penning, give splendid returns in plants and ratoons.

DRAINING AND SUB-SOILING,

Being of the greatest benefit in producing large crops and improving the soil, I may as well give an idea of their merits. The old system of draining by open trenches, was detrimental to the land during heavy rains, as a quantity of loose soil and manure were washed away into the gulleys and rivers. The land not being sub-soiled, the rain could not penetrate far into the soil; the land became caked with a few days of hot sun, which proved detrimental to vegetation. When any quantity of moisture was retained on the surface, or in the upper strata, it heated and scalded the canes, while in the fall of the year or wintry months, it chilled them-in either case, checking vegetation and producing booty and woody joints, and thereby poor returns. The land being underdrained and sub-soiled 16 to 18 inches deep, the moisture soaks down through the soil into the sub-soil, from whence it escapes by the under drains, leaving its chemical benefits in the soil while passing through it.

By this means, in a dry season, the canes or other crops receive sufficient coolness and moisture by evaporation from the sub-soil, which for the most part being stiff and clayey, continues cool and moist. It is a well-known chemical fact, that all the essential airs necessary for the preservation and benefit of the animal and vegetable world, are coutained in the clouds and reach the earth in wind and rain. Rain water being highly charged with them, is deposited in the soil, giving a lively impulse to vegetation, and aiding the manures and natural stability of the soil-that is, when the land is under-drained and sub-soiled.

The drains are to be cut 30 inches deep, then lay a course of tiles on the bottom; after which, lay 12 inches of broken stones, to be covered on the top with sods, flat stones, slate tiles or boards, to prevent the loose soil from getting amongst the stones and injuring the drain. The tiles prevent the stones from sinking into the clay, by which means the drains will be of long duration.

The sub-soil plow must enter 16 inches deep, leaving two inches on the top of the drains, clear of the plow. The land must be sub-soiled across the drains.

MANURING, ETC.

A flock of sheep, consisting of from 200 to 300 head, and as many working steers, horses and mules, as may be necessary to carry on the trial sugar farm, with the assistance of some breeding stock necessary to supply it, and constantly fed on the sections of the cane fields thrown out to rest, and producing artificial grasses and green crops, would be sufficient to make 250 hogsheads.

Land so dressed, with a due regard to the laws of agricultural chemistry, and receiving an annual supply of manure, either simple or compound, such as are found by analysis or experience to agree best with the description of the soil, should average 22 hogsheads (West India hogsheads average 18 cwt.) per acre through the crop, that is, from plants and ratoons. In this case, a field of 100 acres would be sufficient, putting in an annual plant of 25 acres and supplying the ratoons with manure. In addition to the necessary number of plow and cart men, very few field laborers would be required to plant, clean and trash the canes. The sugar farm should raise its own stock thus situated, and breed as many stock and horse-kind as would be sufficient to carry on his farm successfully.

European farm laborers, if properly managed, are fully competent to perform a large proportion of the work necessary on this sugar farm.

BOURBON AND COLORED CANES.

The saving of labor being a matter of vital importance, permit me to remark that the Bourbon cane, so much admired for its superior yielding, is a very expensive cane, giving great trouble, and before it comes to maturity, requiring a great deal of labor.