SECTION III: SAW-GINNED DHARWAR 199 



Indeed, in India it has almost reverted to the specific type of 

 G. punctatum, var. nigeria, just as in Egypt a similar degeneration 

 (or reversion) has resulted in the so-called ' Hindi weed ' which 

 might be described as G. punctatum, var. Jamaica. In the former 

 the softly hairy condition is preserved, and in the latter the tendency 

 is toward a glabrescent form. It is thus possible that under neglect 

 or defective cultivation the finer strain gradually dies out, and the Degenera- 

 dominant condition (or original wild form) gradually supervenes. tion< 

 Some such explanation is necessary to account for the admitted 

 degeneration of the Indian Dharwar stock. It is no unusual circum- 

 stance to read of a parcel of Dharwar acclimatised cotton having 

 been valued as equal to Kumpta, but inferior to Gujarat cotton. 

 Thus, for example, a Memorandum, addressed by me to Sir William 

 Thiselton-Dyer in 1894 (see ' Kew Bulletin,' Additional Series, 2, 1898, 

 21-2), contains the following, which may be here abstracted : During 

 the first few decades of this century the Honourable the East India 

 Company entertained the somewhat unfortunate opinion that the 

 true way to enable India to participate in the greatly expanding 

 British traffic in raw cotton would be to acclimatise the most highly 

 prized forms of America. Large sums of money were accordingly 

 spent in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, that might (as we now learn) 

 have been used to better advantage in an effort to improve and 

 develop the indigenous crops. Year by year America steadily 

 improved the quality and increased the length of her staple, and the 

 demand for Indian cotton accordingly declined. Ultimately, how- 

 ever, India succeeded in producing New Orleans cotton at Dharwar New 

 a staple of a far superior quality to the Indian. The high price eans> 

 paid for this, unfortunately, induced adulteration instead of en- 

 couraging greater effort. In July 1863, a law had accordingly to be 

 passed to repress the frauds perpetrated, but this, while being wholly 

 ineffectual in its main object, very frequently punished the wrong Frauds 

 persons, and accordingly did great harm to the industry. It was in Act ' 

 consequence repealed, and the Indian cotton trade was thus left to 

 take care of itself. The effort to participate in the British traffic had 

 practically to be abandoned, and not because India had been proved 

 incapable of producing a staple of the kind required. But this is not 

 all. The reputation of India for its once famous indigenous cottons 

 had at the same time been completely destroyed, and its American crop 

 having fallen into disfavour, rapidly degenerated in quality, until at 

 the present day it might almost be described as inferior to many of 



