The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-09-08
NEVER SAW SUCH COTTON.
Georgia Amazed by a New Mid.African
Plant.
NeaU York Sun.

been left to Adolph Kyle, an English
Jew, who is now, if alive, in the Klon-
dyke region, to revolutionize cotton
growing in the. South, to change the
method of production Of the greatest
money crop in the world, that brings
s36, OO0, 900 annually to the producers
aside from what accrues to the trans
portation companies, the factors, deal
ers in futures, manufacturers, and
merchants.
From a few seed brought from the
heart of equatorial Africa three years
ago enough cotton has been grown to
prove beyond a doubttha he has been
the means Of solving the problem Of
profitable production, which has long
puzzled the political economists Of the
country. In spite Of all that has been
said and written the facts still patent
to the thinking man that cotton is
still king in the South, and the com;
mercial monarch is more firmly seated
on his throne than ever before in the
history Of the world.
One day in the autumn Of 1894 a
traveller, bronzed and bearded from the
effects Of the tropical sun and q long
sea voyage, about 45 years old, robust
and sinewy, signed "Adolph Kyle,
England" on the hotel register at the
Kimball House and ordered his
somewhat cumbrous luggage carried to
his room. He was soon surrounded
by a crowd of curious colonels, who
were anxious to learn what particular
brand of spirits he affected, aud, incl
dentally, somethingof his antecedents,
and whether or not he had any spare
cash to invest in suburban lots or min
ing schemes.
Partly through natural garrulity
and partly through desire to crafty
the manifest curiosity of the colonies,
he began to relate scraps of his adven-
lures among the juagles Of Central
Africa and Of the remarkable sights
and scenes that came under his obser-
walton. he RECALLED them with hunt
ing stories, tales Of the slave trade,
which made their mouths run water,
and of the wonderful vegetable pro-
auctions Of that region Of eternal sum-
mer.
'sIn December, 1892, I Joined a par
ty Of prospectoss," said he, "aud we
set out on a tour of exploration to the
country Of the Congo. 1t was an ard
uous undertaking, full of perils and
priyations, but we were all young En-
glishmen who had started out to seek
our fortunes, and we had all to win
and little to lose, and for many months
we wandered about the jungles Of
Central Africa, meeting with the
savage tribes and passing through
strange scenes innunlerable, such as
may be seen only in that wonderful
land. n
"One day along in 1893 we pitched
our camp on the outskirts Of an Afri-
can village, about twenty miles south
of the equator and 1000 miles from
the coast. I observed growing near
the camp a thicket of enormous cot
ton plants, twenty feet and over in.
height, and covered from bottom to
top with snowy pods and blossoms. It
attracted my attention because of the
abundance Of the plant, which was
limbless and bore its Spods at the base
of the big, broad, ifg-likc leaves and
only q few inches from the stem OF the
plant, which shot straight up from the
ground and appeared like a young
tree.
81 tried to learn Of the natives what
use, if any, they made of it, but they
seemed utterly ignorant Of it's utility.
I had seen cotton growing in Egypt,
and the similarity Of the plants caus-
ed me to think to myself that if this
plant could be introduced into a civil
lied cotton growing country, and could
be made to grow as luxuriantly and
fruit as abundantly as it did there