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Sekctum of Sted. The cotton seeds intended for 

 sowing should be subjected to the most rigid 

 selection. The best-bearing and healthiest plants 

 iu the field should be selected for the purpose, and 

 only the largest and best-developed of the pods 

 picked from each tree. There is every reason to 

 believe that this system of selection, carried on 

 scrupulously for several years, will result in a most 

 marked improvement of the staple. 



*iiig. The best time for sowing cotton in 

 Western India appears to be after the first heavy 

 rains of the 8. VT. monsoon not before, the young 

 plants being very easily injured by heavy floods. 

 1> ut it will be well to be guided by the custom of the 

 native cultivator, whom the experience of hundreds 

 of years has taught the right time of sowing. 



The seeds should be soaked either in a mixture 

 of cow -dung and water, or in a diluted solution of 

 saltpetre, and exposed for about an hour to the 

 sun to dry. Four or live of them are then dropped 

 into holes made on the top of the ridges about three 

 inches deep and two feet apart, and covered lightly 

 with a little earth. 



Thinnitig. \Vhen the plants sprout and begin to 

 develop the third leaf, each duster of them should 

 be thinned, leaving only the two most vigorous 

 plants. The ridges, which the heavy rains will have 

 partly washed down, must be repaired by shovelling 

 up the earth, taking care, however, that none of the 



