94 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOTANY OF [ Malvacee. 
the oil-seeds are plucked, the field is hoed, and manured with cow-dung and ashes, 
mud from tanks, and oil-cake ; it is then watered once in from eight to twelve days. 
The cotton is gathered between the middle of April and the middle of June, and its pro- 
duce may be from 360 to 500 lbs. am acre. 
In the most northern provinces of India, I have never observed so much care bestowed 
on the cultivation. The seasons for sowing are about the middle of March and April, 
after the winter crops have been gathered in, and again about the commencement of the 
rainy season; the crops are commenced being gathered about the conclusion of the 
rains, and. during October and November; after which the cold becomes considerable, 
and the Christmas raims severe. About the beginning of February the cotton plants 
shoot forth new leaves, produce fresh flowers, and a second crop of cotton is produced, 
which is gathered during March and beginning of April. The same occurs with the 
cottons of Central India, one crop being collected after the rains, and the. other in 
February, and what is late in the beginning of March. 
Experiments having been frequently made to introduce into India the finer kinds of 
American cotton, and these having generally proved unsuccessful, it would appear an 
unnecessary expense to repeat them; but as it is, highly desirable to substitute a superior 
kind for the coarse cottons now in cultivation, the experiments should still, I conceive, 
be continued, both with foreign seed and with that which is indigenous to India. The late 
attempts which have been made in Bengal: have proved unsuccessful with the long staple 
cottons; and as it is stated: that the plant runs too much into leaf, the ill success would 
appear to be owing to the climate, and therefore irremediable with that kind of cotton; 
but this was ascertained many years ago by Dr. Roxburgh, who mentions that the 
Bourbon cotton: attains) a good size in Bengal, but yields little cotton, and that it 
succeeds better in the more elevated, dryer, and less fertile soil of Coromandel. Much, 
however, may no doubt be done by selecting such seeds as are best suited to the pecu- 
liarities of the soil and climate, especially as some cotton grown in the fields by Mr. 
Piddington forty miles, N.E. of Calcutta, imstead of degenerating, had improved in 
quality, and was so luxuriant, as to oblige him frequently to root it up.. This was 
pronounced by sevem cotton-brokers: of Liverpool to be a very useful description of 
cotton, werth 63d. per pound, whilst the average quality of Surat and Bengal was not 
more than 5d, per pound, and that of nine-tenths of the cotton grown in the United 
States of America of the value of 63d. per pound. The introduction of the Bourbon 
cotton into the southern part of the Indian Peninsula has been eminently successful, as 
the soil and climate are said to be favourable ; but the experiment had also the advan- 
tage of Mr. Hughes’ skill and superintendence; and his cotton and senna have both 
long been known as the best from India. The former has frequently sold for Is: 
per pound, when other Indian cottons did not fetch half the price. Mr. Charles 
Groves, te whose intelligence as a merchant I have been indebted for much valuable 
information respecting the commercial products of India, has been good enough to 
procure 
