The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-22 00:00:00

otton Supply Assoeation.

At the usual weekly meeting of the executive com-
mittee, held on Tuesday, Sept. 20, a letter was read,

dated Government House, Antigua, West Indies, August
06, stating that his Excellency, the Governor-in-Chief of
those Islands has joined some gentlemen in an experi-
ment to grow cotton on an abandoned sugar estate, with

a view to induce proprietors generally to enter into the
cultivation. The first 100 acres will speedily be planted;
the outlay is not more than 30s per acre; the seed used is
from the island of Anguilia, where cotton has been most

successful, and whence it is said the American planters
procured their first seed. Satisfactory specimens of Antigua
cotton have already been sent by the governor through the
Board of Trade, and sanguine hopes of further success are

entertained. A letter was received representing that the
Hayden Government has raised the export duty on cot-
ton. A letter was read stating that Count Livacheff,

principal aide-de-camp to the Grand Duke Michael, is
desirous of introducing the culture of cotton into the
Caucasus, where the short Bokhara cotton has already
been successfully cultivated, and requesting such infor-
mation and assistance as the association can render. A
letter was received, enclosing a small sample of African
cotton which the British Consul, Mr Balfour Baikie,
has forwarded to Mr Barley. A letter from the
honorary agents of the association at Calcutta,
states that cotton has been cultivated very
extensively, but the out-turn cannot be relied upon,
and in some districts will probably prove a failure, owing to
the long continued drought. Many natives have been in-
duced to purchase exotic seed, both Egyptian and Ameri-
can ; the Rajah of Benares has taken a quantity of the lat-
ter. A letter was received from Wellington, Madras,
enclosing a sample of a supposed kind of cotton fibre,
obtained from a tree on the Neilgherry Hills, of which
numerous specimens have at various times been forwarded,
but which have never been found available. The honorary
agents at Bombay report that they have recently supplied
Egyptian, New Orleans, and Sea Island seed to the deputy
commissioner of Chandah, and have applications from Seore
(Bhopal), the deputy commissioner of Wurdah, the settle-
ment officer,Sukkur (Scinde),and others in Marcara (Coorg),
and elsewhere. Consular despatches, forwarded by the
Foreign-office, were received from Salonica, Thessaly,
Adrianople, Smyrna, the Mores, and Madeira. In the let-
ter island x.,,, wawa is grown, nor is thsie soy prospect that
its cultivation would afford satisfactory results. The consul
of Salonica reports that in Macedonia 50,e00 acres were
planted with cotton in 1863, and about 140,000 acres in 1864 ;
that in the former year 8,000 cwt of exotic seed, chiefly Ame-
rican, had been used, and that this year 40,000 cwt, all Ame-
rican, have been sown. The crop, which amounted to 90,000
cwt in 1863, is expected to yield 350,000 cwt this year.
As a proof of the energetic measures for the destruction of
locusts taken by Akif Pacho, the Governor-General of
Salonica, who offered a reward of a few piastres for every
oke of locusts collected, and visited in person the localities
most subject to their ravages, it is stated that as many as
1,600,0001 b weight of locusts were brought to Salonica and
paid for. At the time they were collected they were so
small that as many as 5,200 of them only weighed one
pound, showing how vast an amount of mischief has
thus been prevented. This was not effected without con-
siderable difficulty, arising chiefly from the prejudices
Amiana' agricultural
operations,
of the rural population who consider it a sin to de-
stroy locusts. The returns supplied by the vice-consul
of Larissa and Volo /how that in Thessaly 6,500 acres
were planted with cotton in 1869, and about 25,030 acres in
1864; that 7,2501 b of American' seed have been used this
year, being four times the quantity sown the previous
year, and that the produce, which in 1863 was 55,0001 b,
will, it is estimated, amount to between 1.,650,000 and
£1,750,0001b0001b this year. The crop of the last two years has
been shipped from Volo to Marseilles by French steamers.
The expected cession of Government waste lands rent free,
and the suspension for a term of years of the levy of
tithes, have not been realised. The system of
farming
and selling the tithes of the whole province to the highest
bidders, who in their turn refarm and resell at a profit to
other speculators the subdivisional portions of tho several
districts, remains unaltered, and is said to be productive of
infinite abuses, injustice, and vexation to tho trader as well
as to the grower. The want of roads is a great inconve-
nience, and adds considerably to the cost of transport.
The crops everywhere present a most promising appearance.
The cultivation of cotton in the pashalik of Smyrna has
increased from 29,000 acres in 1863 to 63,760 acres in
1864, and the produce which in the former year, ex-
-14e., was 43,000 bales, is expected to
theto
101,000 bales, or 303,000 cwts. In many loca-
ozl
tuai
ese :hat eh eo thiscf
cultivators
Adana,ltyeari v 40r
s have been obliged to sow twice and even
three times; later on the plant was attacked by a small Cleo-
patra grub, which injured the first shoots, but as the plant
had time to make fresh and more numerous shoots, it is
supposed that the crop has been much improved by this
novel method of heading. It is generally expected that the
cotton ground will be much extended next spring. I
district of Adrianople, the vice-consul reports that the pro-
duce per acre is 300 to 3201 b, and in the districts of Uzun-
kiupra and Dimotica, 4201 b to 4351 b; that cotton is
_
cultivated without irrigation, and that tithe has been cora-
ppirnoodeao f
muted for a fixed assessment as regards old lands, to be re-
newed every five years. The amount which each village has
to pay is collected by the primates, anad
gbryeathteermgrueamaittitteyd to
the Treasury in quarterly instalmentof
exotic
tic in
seed 61
I lit
at
the
therov produce
Patras, in the Morea, the consul reports that the cultivation
of cotton has increased from 308 acres in 1863, to 1,138
acres
ands.
h
which was 61,600 lb. in the former year, is expected to be
396.000 lb, this year. The crop goes to Trieste and England.
The insecurity of property in Greece deters foreigners
from embarking their property
18,
used, that
partl therey has
American, been
e but under a strong and intelligent government the Mom
could produce a large quantity of cotton, Good roads are
urgently required. In Elia, in the Mores, 250 acres were
planted with cotton in 1863, and 875
acres in 1864 ; a small
quantity of American seed has been used, and an increase
of produce from 50,0001 b. in theformer year to 200,0001 b.
in the latter is expected. The cultivation being poor,
pecuniary advances and assistance in procuring seed and m
machinery are needed. In essenia and Laconia, in the
Mores, the Vice Consul reports that 2,600 acres were
planted with cotton in 1863, and 3,0',,0 acres in 1864, and
that the produce, which in the former year was 660,0001 b.,
is expected this year 825,0001 b. 'Whilst high prices con-
tinue,
en increased production of cotton may be expected.

huniug. the report of fires rms. On going to the
The inhabitants of the Itue de la Triperie at
sAinicgoubeys-Mortes (Gard) were alarmed two evenings
h •use whence it proceeded, they found a woman named
A.dvenier lying insensible in the entrance, and bleeding
from a shot wound in the head. As soon as the woman re-
covered sensibility, she stated that she had been shot by her
husband. It appears that the wife, whois 4O years of ag©,
while the husband is above 62, had left her husband's house
six months ago, and had refused to return to live with him.
Exasperated by her refusals, he at last determined on ven-
geance, and fired a pistol at
,her loaded with slugs. The
woman is likely to recover. .Ihe husband was arrested at
his own house almost immediately after the crime, but in
the
ree meanwhile h had taken poison, and now lice in a very
io
TLe transport Intrepide has been launched at
parusstastate. e
Itechefort. This vessel when commenced some years back
was intended for a ship of the line, but in consequence of
the introduction of the iron-cased fleet, her destination was
altered to that of an immense t. ausport ship. She will be
able to carry 2,400 men and 600 horses between France and
Algeria,