Carde assumed African farming could yield far more cotton without altering traditional methods

Evidence

This was because Carde’s primary assumption was that it was possible to “draw from native cultivation,” without modifying traditional farming methods, a much greater yield of cotton than the few hundred tons produced: It is incontestable that the areas devoted to this industrial plant can be largely extended without any great changes by the farmer. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 793