J Ormond Wilson,

BULLETIN No. 5.

Secretary.

NOVEMBER, 1894.

LETTERS FROM LIBERIA.

. Mr. J. ORMOND WILSON,

MONROVIA, LIBERIA, October 1, 1894.

Secretary A. C. S., Washington, D. C.

DEAR SIR: Perhaps a few facts about Liberia and Liberians stated in a plain manner may prove interesting to the readers of the Bulletin, particularly to those who think favorably of us, and especially so to the colored farmer, mechanic, or business man who feels that he can serve the cause of our race advancement by making his home in Liberia.

In this letter I have endeavored to describe briefly the condition of two farmers and to notice the export of coffee. I have selected not the greatest nor yet the least farms in this description. There are many farmers more wealthy, with far larger acreage than those chosen.

Mr. John Mills lives at Arthington. He came from Bertie county, North Carolina, in 1870. He is now fifty years of age, but looks much younger. I have seen men of thirty look much older. He brought with him to this country a wife and two children. He had about seventy-five cents upon arriving at Monrovia. A stranger in a land unfamiliar to him, the outlook was gloomy. Fortunately he received the usual six months' aid which the American Colonization Society gave to former immigrants. He went with his colony to Arthington and began work on his 25-acre lot, which quantity of land is always given to each family. A comfortable dwelling with several rooms and a piazza and outbuildings attest his industry and economy. On this lot he has 21 acres planted in coffee, and this has been his source of revenue for several years. The value of a small, well-cultivated coffee farm will be apparent when it is known that on this 21 acres in 1891 Mr. Mills harvested and sold 10,000 pounds of coffee.

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Secretary A. C. S., Washington, D. C.

DEAR SIR: Perhaps a few facts about Liberia and Liberians stated in a plain manner may prove interesting to the readers of the Bulletin, particularly to those who think favorably of us, and especially so to the colored farmer, mechanic, or business man who feels that he can serve the cause of our race advancement by making his home in Liberia.

In this letter I have endeavored to describe briefly the condition of two farmers and to notice the export of coffee. I have selected not the greatest nor yet the least farms in this description. There are many farmers more wealthy, with far larger acreage than those chosen.

Mr. John Mills lives at Arthington. He came from Bertie county, North Carolina, in 1870. He is now fifty years of age, but looks much younger. I have seen men of thirty look much older. He brought with him to this country a wife and two children. He had about seventy-five cents upon arriving at Monrovia. A stranger in a land unfamiliar to him, the outlook was gloomy. Fortunately he received the usual six months' aid which the American Colonization Society gave to former immigrants. He went with his colony to Arthington and began work on his 25-acre lot, which quantity of land is always given to each family. A comfortable dwelling with several rooms and a piazza and outbuildings attest his industry and economy. On this lot he has 21 acres planted in coffee, and this has been his source of revenue for several years. The value of a small, well-cultivated coffee farm will be apparent when it is known that on this 21 acres in 1891 Mr. Mills harvested and sold 10,000 pounds of coffee.

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