104 



WILD AND CULTIVATED COTTONS 



investiga- 

 tions in 

 1793. 



Tucker's 

 account, 

 1829. 



Hamil- 

 ton's 

 descrip- 

 tion, 1828. 



special Dacca cotton (see Eoyle, Lc. p. 245). In the volume of 

 reports on Cotton, Silk and Indigo, published by the East India 

 Company in 1836, there is a report written by Mr. Henry St. George 

 Tucker in 1829, ' On the Supply of Cotton from British India,' in 

 which (pp. 159-60) he discusses the superior cotton of Dacca. 

 He calls it ' Bairati kapas, the finest variety, perhaps, of the Eastern 

 cotton, is produced only in small quantity in the districts north- 

 west of Dacca, and is never exported I believe as an article of 

 commerce. Its favourite site seems to be the high banks of the 

 Ganges ' and its tributaries. ' The fibre of the Bairati is extremely 

 fine, silky and strong, but the staple is very short, and the wool 

 adheres most tenaciously to the seed.' It is ' admirably calculated 

 for the manufacture of the muslins and thinner fabrics, but has the 

 disadvantage of a short staple.' It is 'perhaps too costly a pro- 

 duction to enter largely into our manufactures.' Mr. Tucker adds 

 that he sent the seed of this plant to his native island, Bermuda. 



Dr. Eoxburgh, ' Flora Indica,' gives the points of difference 

 between Bengal and Dacca cotton. The plant is more erect, has 

 fewer branches, and the lobes of the leaves more pointed. The 

 whole plant is tinged with red, even the petioles and nerves of the 

 leaves, and it is less pubescent. The peduncles of the flowers are 

 longer, and the exterior margins tinged with red. The staple is 

 longer, much finer, and softer. Dr. Eoxburgh's MS. drawing (see 

 Plate No. 12) manifests all the special peculiarities mentioned, and 

 thus doubtless faithfully represents the plant, but Eoxburgh adds 

 that the people of Dacca think, the great difference lies in the 

 spinning, and allow little for the influence of the soil.' 



Colonel D. Prain, F.E.S., Director of the Eoyal Gardens, Kew, 

 published in the Annals of the Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, a most 

 instructive ' Sketch of the Life of Francis Hamilton (once Buchanan),' 

 from which the following passage may be abstracted from a letter to 

 Wallich in November 1828, some years after he had left India, and 

 which affords most valuable imformation regarding the superior 

 grade Dacca cotton, one hundred years ago : ' What grows on the 

 plains, especially to the north-west of Dacca, is vastly superior, and 

 I beg to call your attention to the report which I have made on 

 the cultivation of that kind in my report on the agriculture of the 

 Dinajpur district, which you can readily procure at the India House. 

 A small portion of the country favourable for the fine cotton extends 

 into the south-east corner of the district, and is distinguished by being 



