SUPPOSED INCREASE OF HINDI COTTON. 41 



other economic plants of American origin, were carried across the 

 Pacific Ocean in prehistoric times." 



If our lono'-staple varieties of Uphind cotton originated in the 

 East Indies it is reasonable to expect that other superior types of 

 Upland cotton may be found in that pait of the world. Indeed, ^h\ 

 Fletcher's Cochin China cotton seems to be a promising type, worthy 

 of attention from the standpoint of acclimatization. The bolls are 

 larger than in our long-staple Upland varieties and the lint is of good 

 length. The very large and well-closed liairy involucral bracts 

 would have value from the standpoint of wee\nl resistance, like the 

 similar bracts of the Central American varieties which exclude the 

 boll weevils from the young buds, as already noted in describing the 

 hybrids of tlie (^x-hin Cliina cotton.'' 



SUPPOSED INCREASE OF HINDI COTTON. 



The popular belief in Egypt is that the proportion of Hindi cot- 

 ton is increasing, though there seems to be no way to obtain definite 

 information on this point. Intelligent natives declare that they 



"Food Plants of Ancient America, Smithsonian Report 1903, pp. 481^97. 



Agricultnral History and Utility of the Cultivated Aroids. Bulletin 1G4, 

 pt. 2, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1910. 



History of the Coconut Palm in America, Contributions from the United 

 States National Herbarium, vol. 14, pt. 2, 1910. 



'' The succ-essful cultivation of a so-called " Cambodia " cotton in British 

 India has been noticed in a recent Consular Report, issued while this bulletin 

 was in preparation. The facts are of special interest in view of the many 

 unsuccessful experiments that have been made in India with Upland varieties 

 from the United States. The statement is as follows: 



'• In Tinnevelly district, Madras Presidency, at the extreme southern end of 

 the peninsula, there had been planted up to October about 17,000 acres in what 

 is known as Cambodia cotton. This is a variety of acclimatized American 

 cotton, introduced into the country about four years ago, which is being quite 

 successfully grown and which yields far more tiber per acre than any of the 

 old varieties. 



" Last year a total of 15,000 bales of Cambodia was produced on l.j.OUO 

 acres of the black soil of Tinnevelly, and this season, iu addition to the larger 

 area already reported as planted in that district, the agricultural department 

 is experimenting with it in several other parts of the Presidency with a view 

 (o its general adoption by growers. It is said to thrive on irrigated lands, 

 and should it i)rove even partially as successful in other districts as in Tin- 

 nevelly, there is little doubt that within a very few years it will be grown 

 throughout the whole of south India, if not elsewhere in the country. 



"As the fiber of the Cambodia compares favorably with that of American 

 Upland cottons, it is not too much to say that India may within a few years 

 l)ecome a serious competitor of the United States in meeting the world's demand 

 for the commodity, inste;id of furnishing only the inferior grades as at present." 

 {Ri'ltort of XailKinicI B. Sicicurl, consul at Madras, India, in, Daily Consular 

 and Trade Reiiorts, December 17, 1910.) 

 210 



