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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[March i, 1883. 



the largest market— the entire native population of 

 India to wit. The manufacture of ghee will not be 

 discouraged therefore, for it is a necessity of the 

 climate and of the preference and prejudices of the 

 native population." 



COTTON CULTIVATION IN INDIA. 



Mr. W. R. Robertson, m.r.a.c, Agricultural Report- 

 er to the Government of Madras, wrote to the Secretary 

 to Government, Revenue Department, on •29th Nov- 

 ember 18S2, as follows : — " Witli reference to G. 0., 

 No. 1,238 of the 11th instant, I have the honor to en- 

 close two samples of Nankin cotton produced on the 

 SiidApot Fiirm. Sample No. 1 — in the seed ; sample 

 N '. 2 — clean lint. It will be observed that there are 

 several shades of color in the unginued sample, and that 

 thf'se differences disappear to a considerable extent 

 wiien the cotton is ginued, due to the thorough admix- 

 ture of the fibre in the process of ginning andiluring the 

 spinning and weaving processes 1 think a still greater 

 uniformity in color will be secured. The Nankin 

 cottou has been grown in this Presidency as a botanical 

 curiosity for fifty years or more. It was originally 

 imported from China, where the fabrics made from 

 this cotton are in great demand for their cheapness 

 and great duritbility. At one time, large quantities 

 of Naukin cloth were exported from China, but I un- 

 derstand that its export has now almost ceased. I do 

 not thiuk the crop is grown anywhere in the Presid- 

 ency, except on a very small scale. I remember see- 

 ing it growing at the Coimbatore Jail Farm about ten 

 years ago ; but Mr. Grimes, who I observe has been 

 addressed, will probably submit the results of his 

 experience there. I am now putting an acre of land 

 under the crup, and this should in four or five months 

 give enough sted for 20 to 25 acres of land, which 

 will probably suffice for experimental trials." Mr. 

 H. R. Grimes, Superintendent, CentralJail, Coimbatore, 

 also wrote : — " I have grown Naukin cotton on the 

 Jail grounds since the year 1S6S, in which year two 

 seeds were given me by the Hon. J. D. Sim, which 

 both germinated ; and from those two seeds, I have 

 been enabled to plant at different times about 12 acres 

 of land. It is a hardy description of cotton, grows 

 in any description of soil, is perennial and gives more 

 than one picking a year. 1 regret now I have not 

 kept an account of how many times a year I have 

 picked one field, or what quantity of cotton I ob- 

 tained at each picking. The plant in the field grows 

 to a height of about eighteen inches, but in favor- 

 able localities I have had it grow into a large bush, 

 quite four feet iu height. I have the honor to sub- 

 mit for the inspection of Government some of this 

 cotton in the pod, some hanks of thread spun by 

 the convicts from it, and two samples of cloth made 

 from it in the Jail. Owing to the recent orders of 

 Government putting a stop to miscellaneous jail manu- 

 factures, J have just rooted up the last field of 

 this cotton, which was planted in 1879, as I thought 

 there would be no further us" in cultivating it. I have, 

 however, a small quantity of it in my own garden, 

 from which I can obtain seed and can reoomini'oce 

 its cultivation if necessary. I believe it is not cultiv- 

 ated by the ryots in this district, but I am told it 

 is so iu the Tinnevelly districr. The great drawback to 

 it is its shortness in fibre. I should much like to ob- 

 tain fresh seed from Chnnar or elsewhere, to ascertain 

 whether it is superior to what I have grown. Brig- 

 adier-General Clerk, who accompanied His Kxcellency 

 the Commander-in-Chief on his recent visit to this 

 Jail, took twenty yards of this " Nankin " cloth, 

 with a view of trying its suit ibility for the summer 

 clotliiog of troops." On these letters the Madras 

 (iovercment niadc the following order: — "The Go- 



vernment of India will be informed that the cuUioation 

 of this cotton has passed beyond the experimeutal 

 stage in this Presidency, and a specimen of cloth 

 made from it in the Coimbatore Central Jail will be 

 forwarded for inspection. The Government would how- 

 ever, be glad to be supplied with a small quantity 

 of the Cbunar seed, that its identity with the cotton 

 grown at S&idapet and Coimbatore may be established. 

 Meanwhile, there is no necessity for extended cul- 

 tivation in the places named, though a supply of 

 seed should be carefully maintained for distribution 

 to cultivators in the event of a demand bt'inf» eventu- 

 ally established." 



It is the fashion in Millau to grow fruits instead of 

 flowers for house plants. Some elegant parlours are almost 

 converted into little nvclmTds.— Queeiislinuler. 



The .Steanoe Death — recently reported of a traveller 

 iu Guiana from mi.xing his India-rubber water and rum, is 

 thus referred to in the Gardeners' Chronicle: — 



"On referring to the Dietioiuiry of Economic Plants, 

 recently published by the veteran ex-Curator of the 

 Eoyal Gardens, Kew, we find the following remarks, 

 which seem to have some bearing on the above. Amongst 

 the several " Cow trees " mentioned by Mr. Smith is the 

 Cow tree of Para, which i* supposed to be a species of 

 Mimusops (M. elata). On incisions being made in the 

 bark a milky juice flows most copiously ; it is about the 

 consistence of thick cream, from which, but for a sHght 

 peculiar flavour, it can hardly be distinguished. By exposm-e 

 to the air it thickens and forms an adhesive glue, some 

 thing like gutta-percha. The well-known action of alcohol 

 on gums has been utilised freely enough in newspaper 

 Uterature ; indeed, sunilar fatalities to the above have 

 been charged to the account of almost every gum or gutta- 

 producing tree. 



The Cinchona Plantations of Madras are thus 

 noticed in a Minute by Governor Grant-Duff: — 

 " The Secretary of State is on the point of sending 

 out Professor Lawson of Oxford to take charge of 

 our cinchona and general botanical in'erests. These 

 were a year ago lu sufficiently evil case. The departure 

 of Col. Beddome had eliminated from the Forest De- 

 partment its only Botanist — a reproach which will now be 

 wiped away. It is hoped iliat iu the spring Dr. Trimen 

 will visit our cinchona plantations, and that a very close 

 entente cordiale may b'" established between the botanical 

 work of Ceylon and Madras. It is sad to think how 

 small a part this gre.at Presidency has, for some tio^e, 

 taken in the botanical enterprise of the British Empire, 

 which is, however, not the least honorable or useful 

 portion of that empire's world-wide activity. It is the 

 privilege of the rulers of Southern India, far removed 

 from wars and rumours of wars, to give what might 

 in some other parts of the country be a dispropor- 

 tionate amount of attention to making two blades of 

 grass grow where only one grew before, and to set great 

 store by those peaceful victories which have covered so 

 many of our hillsides with tea, coffee, or cinchona — 

 victories which are likely, if the attention now given to 

 such matters is not allowed to slacken, to add so 

 largely to the wealth of the cultivator and to the veget- 

 able products of this Presidency. There are, however, 

 products otlier than vegetable in these regions which 

 need development, and it may be hoped another year will 

 not pass by before we see the beginning of a survey, 

 more complete than any which yet exists, alike of 

 our mineral wealth and of our m.inufactures, with regard 

 to both of which curiously little accurate information 

 immediately available for the purposes of trade is easily 

 or indeed at all procurable. The Madras Museum, 

 so well managed by its present excellent head, will not 'be 

 working at full power, until it is made a complete 

 and thoroughly classified index of all that the Presidency 

 has to oflfer to the notice alike of the merchant and 

 of the scholar. '' 



