IpO COTTON 



1848. Report from the Select Committee of the House 

 of Commons on the growth of cotton in India. 



1849. Mr. Simpson, having returned from America, is 

 engaged to prosecute the experiments in 

 Khandesh. 



,, 200 cottage saw-gins, prepared under the super- 

 intendence of the Manchester Commercial Asso- 

 ciation and of Mr. Petrie, sent by the Court of 

 Directors to the three Presidencies. Seeds and 

 saws sent at various times during these experi- 

 ments. 



1850. The Indian Government offers, through the Agri- 

 cultural Society of India, a reward of Rs. 5,000 

 for an improved cotton-cleaning- machine. 



The underlying difficulty in the improvement of Indian 

 cotton has been the indifference of the cultivators on the 

 subject, and this frame of mind has been upheld by the 

 lack of reward from the trade for their efforts and by the 

 lack of direct contact with purchasers from the European 

 markets. 



The long series of failures which occurred was supposed 

 by some to be due to the trials having been conducted 

 by Government officers who had no personal interest in 

 them. Others say that attention was not always paid to 

 the peculiarities of soil and climate, and in the case of 

 both failure and success no explanations were given of 

 the causes which conduced to the results, and finally, 

 although results were on record for a series of years, the 

 same results were obtained and continued to be announced 

 as new. 



The following extract is from a letter from the 

 Governor in Council at Bombay to the Court of Directors, 

 dated May 30, 1812. After detailing the failures to grow 

 cotton on Salsette Island, this letter goes on to say : 



" These failures are attributed to the same cause as 

 those which have rendered many of the agricultural 

 speculations in India abortive. The Hindoo labourer 

 will never yield any adequate return for his wages when 

 employed in agricultural concerns, even with the utmost 

 vigilance of the farmer. The severe labour of working 



