182 COTTON 



would ensue in Europe in the event of an inadequate 

 supply of cotton, we are not surprised to know that 

 not only the manufacturers, but the general public 

 even, are directly interested in the area of culture 

 being extended. India, from its great extent and 

 apparently illimitable powers of production, is looked 

 to as the country capable of counterbalancing our 

 irregularities of supply and cost. It is granted that it 

 would be for the benefit of the Indian farmer to share 

 more largely in the trade which the American planter 

 nearly monopolizes. The reasons why the Indian farmer 

 cannot compete on equal terms is ascribed either to mis- 

 management or to the absence of a regular demand and 

 of remunerative prices. There is no doubt of the con- 

 tinuous demand for cotton in general, and, if India has 

 anything to complain of in this respect, it must be either 

 owing to the nature of the Indian cotton or to the state 

 in which it is sent to market. 



The first question which arises is, whether manu- 

 facturers in Europe require large quantities of such 

 cotton as the people themselves use, or whether they 

 require some other kinds which can be grown successfully 

 in India? 



To take first the nature and condition of Indian cotton, 

 we find that with regard to its quality, it will be admitted 

 that some of it at least must be quite fitted for the 

 purposes of the cotton manufacturer, if we consider only 

 the durability" and substance of Indian calicoes, or the 

 fineness in texture of the celebrated muslins. It is 

 possible, however, that the cotton suitable for such 

 purposes when spun by hand may be yet unfit for the 

 rougher handling of machinery, more especially when 

 we remember that the weavers of the Southern Provinces 

 derive part of their success in manufacture from the 

 softness of the climate, while in the Northern Provinces 

 the weavers create the same atmosphere artificially by 

 working in underground chambers, in which the air is 

 maintained at its proper degree of moisture. It is 

 probable, however, that the cotton in different tracts of 

 such an extensive country may differ so much that what 

 is produced in one part may be fit for European textile 

 purposes, while that of another part may be quite unsuit- 



