Thishasenabledmetoengagesomanypersonsintheexperimentastobetolerablysureitwillbefairlymadebysomeofthem。ItwillfurnishalsoacomparisonwiththatfromTimor。Ihavethesuccessofthisspeciesofriceatheart，becauseitwillnotonlyenableotherstatestocultivatericewhichhavenotlandssusceptibleofinundationbutbecausealsoifthericebeasgoodasissaid，itmaytakeplaceofthewetriceintheSouthernstates，&bysupersedingthenecessityofoverflowingtheirlands，savethemfromthepestilential&mortalfeversbroughtonbythatoperation。
WehavelatelyhadintroducedaplantoftheMelonspecieswhich，fromit’sexternalresemblancetothepumpkin，wehavecalledapumpkin，distinguishingitspecificallyasthe_potatoe-pumpkin_，onaccountoftheextremeresemblanceofit’stastetothatofthesweet-potatoe。Itisasyetbutlittleknown，iswellesteemedatourtable，andparticularlyvaluedbyournegroe’s。Comingmuchearlierthantherealpotatoe，wearesomuchthesoonerfurnishedwithasubstituteforthatroot。Iknownotfromwhenceitcame；sothatperhapsitmaybeoriginallyfromyourislands。InthatcaseyouwillonlyhavethetroubleofthrowingawaythefewseedsI
encloseyouherewith。Ontheotherhand，ifunknownwithyou，I
thinkitwillprobablysucceedintheislands，andmayaddtothecatalogueofplantswhichwilldoassubstitutesforbread。Ihavealwaysthoughtthatifintheexperimentstointroduceortocommunicatenewplants，onespeciesinanhundredisfounduseful&
succeeds，theninetyninefoundotherwisearemorethanpaidfor。Mypresentsituation&occupationsarenotfriendlytoagriculturalexperiments，howeverstronglyIamledtothembyinclination。I