350 PICKSON ON COLONEL ABBOTT'S REPORT 



appearance to alpaca, at half the price. They came up in the 

 finish with a gloss and lustre, more like silk and wool mixed 

 than anything else 



" There is no doubt that rheea grows best in the moist 

 lands of the tropics ; and there it becomes one of the most 

 easy, the most prolific, and the cheapest crop to which the 

 land can. be applied. 



' ' Lower Bengal is the position which is best adapted for 

 its propagation by European cultivation, because the land is 

 there exactly suited for it, and it is nearest to European set- 

 tlements, and the best port of shipment. 



"It is for this reason, that it is considered that the 

 Sunderbund Lands below Calcutta would be the best locality 

 to resort to. 



"There are large tracts of land there which belong to 

 European grantees or Zemindars admirably suited to it. 

 There are also quantities of ungranted and uncleared land, 

 which might be had in any quantities if desired. The land 

 selected should be at an elevation above inundation, or suffi- 

 ciently drained or bunded to keep out all rise of river or sea 

 water; subject to that, any very considerable amount of 

 moisture would be rather favourable than otherwise to its 

 growth. 



" Looking to the circumstance that the introduction of a 

 new article of cultivation would be taken up with hesitation, 

 or very slowly, by cultivators, either European or native, and 

 that they would at any rate require a large price and certain 

 contracts to cover what they would regard as a risk, it is 

 clearly desirable that parties here wanting this fibre should 

 without delay proceed to cultivate it on their own account, to 

 a certain extent, because it would ensure the speediest 

 returns ; it vould act as an incentive to neighbouring land- 

 owners, and afford a proof of the price at which it ought to 

 be grown by others. 



