The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-01-15

The strenuous efforts that are being made by
the Manchester Cotton Supply Association to re-
lieve the English manufacturers of cotton goods
from their dependence upon the UNITED STATES
for adequate supplies of the material, by en-
couraging its production in other tropical or semi
tropical regions, might be viewed with some
uneasness by our Southern planters, if the previous
attempts TO grow cotton in India, and elsewhere,
had not resulted Enthusiastically. There are many
places where cotton of excellent quality may be
very readily cultivated 1t grows in wild luxuri-
ance on the banks of the Senegal the Niger and
the Zambesi; at Sierra Leone and the Cape de Nerd
Islands; on the Coast of Guinea and in Abvssnia
Cotton was grown in India five hundred years
before the Christian era. In Central Africa and
in Egypt, it has been in common use for many
centuries; but in no country except the UNITED
STATES has it been made, to any great extent an
article of commerce. Here, alone, the supply has
kept pace with the demand, whilst the cost of pro-
ducton has been gradually reduced to point which
renders successful competition almost matter of
ofimpossbility. 1t well known that the British
West India Islands possess all the natural advan-
tages of soil and climate for producing cotton
to an extent much beyond the probable
demand Of English manufacturers; but its
cultivation has nevertheless been attended with so
little profit to the Planters that the annual pro-
duct has been gradually diminishing. Even in
Brazil, where slave labor prevails, and where the
quality of the cotton-especially that from Per-
nambuco-is such as COMMUNICATIVE the excep-
ton of the Sea Island Cotton-the highest price in
the English market, the supply must always be
INIT tod
my that characterizes the general management Of
nearly all South American estates. In Egypt the
Viceroy has exerted all his authority to increase
the production of cotton for export but its cult
walton by the Fellahs is sloveny TO the last degree
whilst the frequent irrigation which the crop re.
quires, renders the product uncertain and unre-
munerative, Notwithstanding the naturally superior
quality of the fibre. In Algeria also, cotton has
been cultivated to some extent under the stimulus
Of an annual prize of four thousand dollars to the
best cotton grower, and an agreement on the part
of the French Government TO purchase all that
is grown at a price fixed beforehand; hut the
excessive moisture of the soil, at the season
of planting, and the prolonged rains OF
autumn, present almost insuperabe obstacles
to extending even the present area of cult
walton. Cotton requires dry soil, and warm,
but moist climate, to bring it to perfection. A
wet season, or an early frost, will destroy the
crop. 1t flourishes most luxuriantly on the sea-
coast, the salt air having tendency to produce a
staple which is both strong and silky The opera
ton of gathering requires to be performed with
great care, and the seed must be perfectly separa-
ted from the boil before the cotton is packed
otherwise it will become oily and mouldy. and
unit for spinning The English manufacturers
to whom the failure of single cotton crop in the
UNITED STATES would be most disastrous. one
time entertained sanguine hopes that large sup
plies of this great staple of their trade MIGHT be de-
rived from India; but, we have already stated
in previous article, it is conceded that all the
experiments which have been made have resulted
in utter failure. The members of the Cotton Sup
ply Association have now turned their attention
England, after residing for several years in the
interior of Africa his description of the country,
and the favorable opinion he expressed of the
industrial habits of the natives and of the perfect
adaptation of the soil and climate to the produc-
ton of cotton, created lively desire on the part
of the Association that experiments should be
instituted for the purpose of asceranng the prac-
ticability of growing cotton, for expectation to
England, on the banks of the Zambesi river; and,
under the guidance and supervision of the ener-
geuc LIVINGSTONE, an expedition was at once
ntteo out Tor that purpose. From the tenor of the
letters recently received from him, we infer that
the sangulne expectations which had been formed.
of his ability to induce the tribes inbabitinp the
territory contiguous to the lower Zambesi. to nm
dertake the cultivation of cotton-tor any other
than home consumption been disapnointed
When he reached the district, where he nronosed
to commence his operations, he found the natives
engaged in one of those petty wars, which are
constantly occurring between neighboring tribes.
and which, for centuries, have prevented them
from settling down quietly TO agricultural pur-
suits. And herein lies, what we apprehend will
be found serious obstacle to any effort which
may be made to extend the cultivation of cotton
in Africa The soil and the climate may be
everything that is desirable; but SO long as
wars prevail, it is impossible to expect that
much attention will be given to the culture of cot
tom Or indeed, of any other crops, whether cereal
Or leguminous. A still greater difficulty in the way