THE COTTON QUESTION. IV. INDIAN COTTON. V. I. FLAX COTTON. II. JAMAICA COTTON. III. CENTRAL AMERICA. FLAX COTTON. A MEETING of the citizens of Lockport, N. Y., has been held to organize a company for the manufacture of flax cotton. It was attended by Ex-Governor HUNT and Hon. S. B. RUGGLES, the latter of whom, says the Lockport Journal, "made some interesting statements of the merits of the invention, the simplicity and certainty of the scientific principle on which it is based, and its great value at the present crisis, in cheaply extracting from flax a fibre capable of being substituted for cotton, at least to a considerable extent. The company who controlled this most important invention had the whole United States for their field of action, but, after careful inquiry, had selected Lockport for their first and principal establishment, as enjoying convenient access at once to the productive flax regions of the interior, and to the centres of manufacturing industry on the seaboard; possessing, too, in its own great weight, hydraulic power, the means of manufacturing the fiber to any desired amount. "He dwelt earnestly on the importance of developing this new branch of industry, not only in increasing the trade and revenue of our canals, and opening new sources of agricultural wealth, but its far higher influence in securing to the Northern States and to Europe comparative independence from cotton domination,' with which the world has been threatened. "Among the statistical views which he presented was the fact that the price of the flax fiber thus produced and ready for use, would fall far short of the present price of cotton, probably not exceeding eight, and certainly within ten cents per pound." No one of the speakers stated the process by which the fiber is to be prepared, nor do we learn whether it is new, or one of the half-dozen patents that have been for a year or more before the public. The matter is one of considerable moment to the people of this city, because whatever the manufacture, the raw material must be drawn from the West, and this should be the point in which it is prepared for the spinners. As our readers know, we have great faith in the ultimate success of flax as a cheap rival of King Cotton. Hence we are anxious that Chicago should be among the first to avail itself of the inducements to capital and enterprise which the success of experiments already made clearly hold out. The subject is worthy of an inquiry, and any gentleman of this city who has an intelligent friend in Lockport would do well to get the information which the Journal fails to supply. By flax cotton is meant the fiber of flax reduced in length, cleansed, carded, bleached, and nicely prepared to resemble in appearance cotton that has been cleansed and carded, and adapted for mixture with cotton or wool in the various fabrics of daily wear and use. To accomplish this, requires improvements in the mode of breaking the straw and separating the fiber from the wood, and of the carding, drawing, spinning frames, which are in common use, as well as great nicety in bleaching. All these are to be made by ingenious machinists and manufacturers, and require the expenditure of time and money and careful experiments. The American Flax Cotton Company, organized at Boston in 1859, under a special charter from the State of Massachusetts, adopted the patents of STEPHEN RANDALL, of Rhode Island, JONATHAN KNOWLES and J. M. ALLEN. Experimental mills were established at Watertown and at Roxbury, and thousands of dollars expended in improving the machinery and perfecting their processes. JAMAICA COTTON. The attention of the recent meeting at Newcastle on the subject of the Jamaica Cotton Company was called to the following letters from Lord BROUGHAM and THOMAS CLEGG, Esq.: BROUGHAM, Penrith, Sept. 5, 1861. Dear Mr. BOURNE,-I trust you will continue successful in our great cotton undertaking; no friend of the colored race in the West Indies can avoid feeling much anxiety for the supply by their free labor; and this, during the present unhappy state of affairs in America, becomes peculiarly important for our manufacturers. Believe me, truly yours, H. BROUGHAM. Mr. THOMAS CLEGG, of Manchester, writes thus in relation to the fifteen samples of cotton: 1 Mount-street, Manchester, Sept., 1861. STEPHEN BOURNE, Esq.: Dear Sir,-I have examined, as carefully as my time would allow, the fifteen samples of cotton which you have sent to me, and which you state to have been grown in Jamaica. Eight of them I consider to be worth from 1s. to 1s. 6d. per lb., and seven of them 84d. to 9d. per lb. Having before frequently examined samples which you and others have sent me of cotton grown in Jamaica, and it being uniformly of good quality, and generally very superior, I have no hesitation in certifying that, in my opinion, Jamaica is admirably adapted for growing that particular kind of cotton of which we stand so much in need, and which at present is chiefly got from America. Being anxious to get an abundance of cotton from new countries, I assure you I wish your company every success, which you, as an individual, so much deYours, very truly, (Signed,) serve. THOMAS CLEGG. CENTRAL AMERICA AS A COTTON FIELD. Central America contains a greater area of cotton-producing land than all the "seceded" States together, and the quality of the cotton is as good as the best that is produced in any country. In the Southern States the cotton plant, an annual, is killed every year by the frosts, whereas in Central America it is perennial. The best variety, the anguilla, commercially known as the Sea Island, is a native of Honduras, and was introduced into South Carolina shortly after the Revolution. The cotton of Central America is equal in quality to that grown in Jamaica, South Carolina or Florida, and superior to the best productions of India or Egypt. The yield per acre is more than double that of the Southern States, there being two crops a year. The soil is almost inexhaustible, the climate delightful and labor cheap. On the Pacific coast there are extensive plateaux, which are only waiting the attention of the careful and thrifty planter; and the forest trees of that portion which would need to be cleared are such as always find a ready market at remunerative prices in the Northern States and Western Europe, such as mahogany, cedar and Brazil wood. The climate of Central America, though warm, is not oppressive; it is not so debilitating as to prevent white men from engaging in active out-door employment. It is exceedingly healthy. Free labor is abundant and cheap. There are no slaves, and the services of the natives can be procured at the average rate of twenty-five cents (1s. d.) per head per day. This is less than one-half the cost of slave labor in the cotton districts of the South.London American. SUPPLY OF INDIAN COTTON TO ENGLAND. The Bombay mail, which arrived last month, brings a resolution by the Governor-General in Council on this subject. His Excellency, though earnestly desirous to encourage the cultivation of products of trade, and especially of cotton in India, laid down as a fundamental rule for the guidance of the executive, that every measure which places government in the position of a private capitalist or cultivator, must be injurious, and that all attempts by authority to stimulate cultivation are out of the question. But consistently with the observance of this rule, Lord CANNING is desirous to do all in his power to increase the growth of cotton, and especially to encourage the cultivation of the finer sorts. With this view, prizes will be given for the production of cotton in each of the three presidencies for the largest quantity, combined with the best quality. Each prize will be in value about £1,000, and the prizes are offered for each of the two next seasons. BREAD VS. COTTON. The sovereignty of cotton certainly appears to be disputed by corn at this moment in a remarkably direct competition. England and France, as we have been told for months, may be sorely tempted to intervene in our affairs by their urgent want of cotton. It happens, however, that while we have been fighting, and harvesting the while a magnificent crop of breadstuffs, England and France have suddenly found an enormous deficiency of grain staring them in the face. Of the two, cotton can probably be spared more easily than bread. At all events, it now happens that whenever either of these powers is tempted to consider whether the law of nations and peace might not be advantageously bartered for cotton, it has also to consider whether it wishes to exchange a dearth of cotton alone for a dearth of both cotton and bread. For this year then, at any rate, it seems to us that the question of peace is settled, even if no higher considerations are to enter into European counsels than those which we name. We do not believe the European powers to be in a position to play the desperate game ascribed to them, even if they are capable of it, which we are far from willing to suppose. Providence has not only smiled upon us so far as to give us the means of domestic prosperity and comfort while carrying on this struggle, but has by the same agency insured us, to a great degree, from external interference from the only quarter whence it was to be expected. It is for us now to see to it that this opportunity is vigorously improved, and that as the pressure which now constrains our powerful friends abroad is removed, so the temptation which may urge them to recognise the South as an independent power is removed also.-Boston Daily Advertiser. FLAX COTTON IN IOWA. An Iowa correspondent of a New-York paper writes: We have had in operation one of "RANDALL'S Brakes" and a "Duster," both manufactured in Rhode Island, for the purpose of preparing flax straw for the manufactory. The process is as follows: The flax is mowed with an ordinary scythe or mowing machine before it is thoroughly ripe; it is cured in every way the same as hay. It may be threshed the same as any other grain, the tangling the straw not injuring the fiber. One ton of straw yields from 500 to 1,000 pounds of lint. 200 tons of the unrotted straw have been engaged in the vicinity of this place at $5 per ton, by the party who has the control of the machinery here. This is intended merely as an introduction to the operation for next season, when a large amount of machinery will be located here for purpose of preparing the straw for market. Two of the same brakes are in operation at Mt. Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa, with the same success as here. the I do not think we can entertain a doubt as to the success of this movement. With Yankee ingenuity and Western perseverance both interested, there can be no such thing as fail. A Boston correspondent thus speaks of the recent invention for "flaxing out" King Cotton : There are now in operation in this city experimental works for the manufacture of flax fiber into a material called fibrilia or flax cotton. This can be produced in any quantity at seven or eight cents per pound, and the cloth made from it is better in every respect, and will take and preserve colors better than cloth made from cotton. The raw material, flax, wild or cultivated, can be produced, and is produced, in Canada and all the Northern States in vast quantities. Col. LANDER, in one of his recent reports, speaks of coming to plains covered with immense quantities of this plant growing wild. Now, here is an article which even now can be had in quantities, so that its material can be produced at from two to three cents per pound less than cotton, which makes a better cloth, and which is destined to supersede cotton. Slowly but surely the parties owning the patents for the process for manufacturing this article are working it into the attention of our people. PERENNIAL COTTON IN COLD CLIMATES. Capt. R. C. KENDALL, formerly of the United States Coast Survey, is making an earnest effort to interest merchants and agriculturists in the Northern States in the practicability of introducing, for general culture in this part of the country, a species of cotton-growing plant from Peru. He is confident that results of great commercial importance may be anticipated. While engaged several years ago on the estate of a gentleman in Chili, Mr. KENDALL'S attention was directed to a fine specimen of the Gossipium Arborium, or perennial cotton-tree-presenting to the eye “a perfect cone or pyramid of pure, brilliant snow, elevated at its base perhaps seven feet from the ground, upon a shaft of whitish bronze." The foliage had been shed, but the pods remained, having fully burst, covering the entire structure with a mass of spotless cotton. In a recent lecture before the New-York Farmers' Club, Mr. KENDALL remarked as follows: "The Gossipium Arborium, or Peruvian cotton tree, will yet answer the almost universal call for a cotton capable of being cultivated in northern latitudes. It is perennial, can be grown wherever Indian corn can be matured, and promises to yield larger crops than the present herbaceous cotton of the South, while its requisite culture and mode of manipulation are such as can readily be performed here. I have already proved, by personal experiment, that it can be grown in the northern part of Maryland, and shall most earnestly urge the prosecution of more extended experiments, fully assured that its successful introduction will tend to prevent any future recurrence of difficulties such as now derange the harmony of the country." The plant is perfected in its sixth or seventh year, obtaining the size of a common peach-tree, and thrives best in a high latitude. Its product can be prepared for market with great facility, as the seed is attached to the stamen, (not distributed through the lint, as in the herbaceous cotton,) and is readily shaken off, without ginning. Either seed or cuttings may be used in propagating the plant, and we understand that Mr. KENDALL proposes to demonstrate that it is practicable to produce, in the free States, an abundant supply of good cotton. He predicts that "the period is not very remote when hedges, most efficient as fences, shall yield annual dividends of cotton; ornamental trees, blending the useful with the beautiful, shall repay tenfold their cost and culture; when the rugged heights of the Hudson, the plains of New-Jersey, the fertile valleys of the Keystone State, and the undulating prairies of the Great West, shall gleam in the sunlight, white as the winter drift, with generous pods of democratic cotton." This is a glowing prospect, but if only part of it shall be realized, the consequences cannot easily be estimated.-New-York Journal of Commerce, October 11. FLAX COTTON AND FLAX WOOL. The manufacture of these articles is on the increase. There is a good demand now for the latter, which is used to mix with wool in the manu |