own use; and, indeed, very few seem to care anything about it. I think, however, it might be made a profitable article of exportation. 2. The pomegranate is a dense, spiny shrub ten or twelve feet high. It produces beautiful, brilliant, large red flowers, and the fruit is about the size of a large apple, and covered with a thick coriaceous rind. It is filled with a multitude of small seeds, and the pulp is slightly acid and astringent. This fruit is seldom cultivated in Liberia, although I presume it will thrive as well as in most other parts of the world. 3. The African cherry (so called in Liberia) is a very peculiar fruit. It is about the size of the ordinary Morello cherry of the United States, but in taste it more resembles the cranberry. The tree is usually about fifteen feet high. The great peculiarity in the growth of this fruit consists in the manner in which the short stems are attached to the tree-not to the twigs of the branches, but to the body and larger limbs of the tree, the stems of the fruit being about one third of an inch long. This fruit makes very fine tarts-equal to the cranberry. 4. The African peach, of which there are several varieties, is a large, round, acid fruit-one variety being about twice the size of the largest peaches in the United States. These trees, some of which are very large, grow abundantly in the forests of Liberia. The fruit is used only for making preserves, which when properly made are surpassed only by the guava. 5. The sour-sop is a large, pulpy, acidulous fruit which grows on a tree about the size of an ordinary apple-tree. The fruit is nearly pear-shaped, and is about as large as an ordinary cantelope. It is covered with a thick, knotty rind. When perfectly ripe, it is a very pleasant fruit, especially when a little sugar is sprinkled over the pulp. It is also very good when fried in slices, in which state it somewhat resembles in taste fried sour-apples. 6. The sweet-sop is a fruit somewhat similar to the sour sop, but not so acidulous nor so pleasant to the taste. It is seldom used. The cacao, from which chocolate is produced, though not yet extensively cultivated, thrives well in Liberia, and doubtless might be made a very profitable article of cultivation. The rose-apple is a small, round fruit, which takes its name from its delightful fragrance. It is not very palatable, however, and is seldom eaten. 7. The granadilla is a large fruit that grows on a vine. It is about as large as a moderate-sized cantelope. No part of the fruit is eaten, except the seeds and the mucilaginous substance by which they are surrounded. These are loosely confined in the center of the fruit. The taste of this mucilage resembles the American strawberry more than any other fruit with which I am acquainted. 8. The sorrel is a large shrub having deep-red blossoms, which are often used for making tarts. It grows freely in Liberia, and it is a very handsome ornament to a yard or garden. 9. The chiota is the fruit of a vine. It is about as large as an ordinary pear. When properly prepared by stewing, it affords a wholesome, palatable, and nutritious article of food, and it may be easily raised in Liberia. 10. The celebrated bread-fruit of the island of Tahiti, which was introduced into the British West India Islands, by order of the Government, will grow well in Liberia. But as there are so many other articles of a somewhat similar kind that are preferable to it, it is seldom used. 11. I have seen several other indigenous fruits in Liberia, some of which are very palatable; some very fragrant, but not very acceptable to the palate; and others not possessing any good qualities to recommend them. And there are many other kinds of fruits peculiar to tropical climates which, no doubt, would thrive well in Liberia, but which have not yet been introduced. I have alluded to those only that I have seen growing there, and of which I have eaten. CHAPTER XII. PRODUCTIONS.-Continued. 1. In addition to the vegetable productions of Liberia to which I have alluded, there are some others that are worthy of particular notice, especially as they are the principal exportable articles, some of which may be rendered very profitable articles of commerce. These are, coffee, ginger, pepper, sugar, ground-nuts, indigo, cotton, and arrow-root. 2. In reference to coffee, I am quite satisfied that the soil and climate of Liberia are as well adapted to the cultivation of this article as the soil and climate of any other part of the world. I believe that as good coffee can be raised in Liberia as in any other coffee-growing country, and I have no doubt that, by proper attention, it may be raised as plentifully as in any other part of the world. These opinions are not hastily formed, but are founded on personal observations in some of the West India Islands, as well as in Liberia, and on frequent conversations with persons who have visited various other parts of the world in which coffee is cultivated. 3. I have frequently seen isolated trees, growing in different parts of Liberia, which have yielded from ten to twenty pounds of clean dry coffee at one picking; and however incredible it may appear, it is a fact, that one tree in Monrovia yielded four and a half bushels of coffee in the hull at one time, which, on being shelled and dried, weighed thirty-one pounds. This is the largest quantity of which I ever heard as being gathered from one tree, and it was the largest coffee-tree I ever saw, being upward of twenty feet high, and of proportionate dimensions. 4. I have given particular attention to observations and investigations respecting the cultivation of coffee in Liberia, and I think I may safely set down the average quantity that may be raised, by proper cultivation, at four pounds to each tree-that is, each tree six years old and upward. The coffee-tree will begin to bear in three years from the time at which the seeds are planted. At the end of the fourth year, the average quantity may be set down at one pound to each tree; at the end of the fifth year, two and a half pounds; and at the end of the sixth year, four pounds. 5. About three hundred trees can be planted in one acre of ground, allowing the trees to be twelve feet apart. Therefore in four years from the time the seeds are planted in the nursery, 300 pounds of coffee may be gathered, which, at ten cents a pound (a very moderate rate for Liberia coffee, which has frequently been sold for twenty cents a pound in this country), would be worth $30.* At the end of the fifth year, 750 pounds may be gatheredworth $75; and at the end of the sixth year, 1,200 pounds -worth $120. So that in six years from the time of the planting of the seeds, agreeably with this calculation, 2,250 pounds of coffee may be produced on one acre of ground -worth $225. And accordingly, ten acres, properly cultivated, will yield during the first six years an income of $2,250, and at least $1,200 during each succeeding year. 6. This calculation I regard as pretty nearly correct; but even admitting that I have set down the quantities and the value at one fourth more than they should be, it will still appear that the cultivation of coffee may be rendered a source of wealth in Liberia, even supposing that nothing else could be raised for exportation, which is by no means the case. I am quite satisfied that at least $100 a year may be realized by proper management from the produce of one acre of ground cultivated in coffee after the sixth year from the time of planting the grains in the nursery. 7. And as it does not require much labor, one person * These prices approximate the prices in 1853. may easily cultivate three acres, with a little hired assistance in clearing the land, and may devote one half of his time, or more, to the cultivation of other articles for the use of himself and family, and for sale, and he need not work more than five or six hours a day. So that, by industry, prudence, and economy, any man may realize at least $300 a year for his labor over and above the necessary expenditures of himself and family; the other articles which he may raise being quite sufficient for the comfortable support of his household. 8. I am aware that the truthfulness of this statement has seldom been exhibited in the agricultural operations of the citizens of Liberia; but this fact does not necessarily confute the truth of the statement, nor does it sufficiently exhibit the impracticability of its being fully and easily carried out. And I might add, that it does not require the exercise of profound wisdom, even in a cursory observer, to discover the real cause why the feasibility of the result of the foregoing calculation is not more frequently exhibited. CHAPTER XIII. PRODUCTIONS.-Continued. 1. COFFEE is indigenous to Liberia. It may frequently be seen wild in the woods. It is, however, much improved by cultivation. The most approved method of raising it is to plant the grains in a nursery, and to transplant when the tree has attained the height of a foot and a half. Some trees arrive at their full growth in five or six years, while others continue to grow more than double that length of time. The grains grow in pairs, covered with a hull, from which they can be easily separated when dry. 2. The coffee blossom is a beautiful and highly fragrant little white flower, and the berry when fully ripe is of a |