62 rROSS-FF.UTlLISATIO\ IN THE INDIAN COTTONS. 



takt'ii tlio diversity found nmy in ronlity only be a manifestation 

 dependent on the occurrence of a small percentage of impurities.* 

 From very early times repeated efTorts have been made to accli- 

 matise various exotic cottons in India. In 1829 a farm was started 

 at Akra for the purpose for which seed was obtained from America, 

 though even before this date importations of seed had been made.f 

 The only trace now to be found of the labour of generations in Nor- 

 thern India is in stray plants and, here and there, a stray field of 

 the American type, the latter either the result of the most recent 

 effort of the Department or of the enterprise of individual land-holders. 

 In the rest of India the result is hardly different, and though in 

 certain areas, asDharwar, the type has become permanently establish- 

 ed, it may be said in general terms that the record of acclimatization 

 is one of failure. That such failure is due to imperfect cultivation 

 may, in part, be true, but it is improbable that this is more than an 

 indirect cause. It is only necessary to consider the early history 

 of such importations to see that, for a short period, the crop is grown 

 successfully and yields freely, and that sanguine hopes are built on 

 the early years of experiment. It is impossible to read accounts 

 of the earlier importations, such as are contained in Royle's Cotton 

 Culture, in the Reports of the Cotton Commissioner and in 

 the Journal of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India without 

 being struck by this fact. The crop at first maintains its standard 

 and subsequently undergoes a more or less rapid degeneration. The 

 similarity bet\veen this and the cases of ' degeneration ' in wheat 

 is striking, and suggests the possibility of a like cause here. 



The American forms of cotton in commerce have been raised 

 to a large extent by selection. By such process the general stand- 

 ard in productivity, in length of lint, or in other desirable char- 

 acters is raised to a high level, but the less desirable types are not 

 completely eliminated. The improved plant is adapted to the 

 conditions of the American cotton field with its highly developed 



• Cf. Cook V. S. Uept. Apr. Hur. I'lant ln<iHolrj, Bui). !.".(;. 



t The earlier cxpcriinentK in this ciirection arc rtcordeti in lir. Rojlc"s Culture and 

 Comniercc of Collon in India. 



