194 COTTON 



tion of Indian cottons was published by the present writer. 

 Another scheme of much the same character, and differing 

 only in some minor details, was put forth by Sir George 

 Watt in his admirable work on the " Wild and Cultivated 

 Cottons of the World." Mr. F. Fletcher, some time 

 Deputy Director of Agriculture, prepared a mass of 

 material for a work of the same nature, but this has never 

 seen the light. 



In the Punjab, Mr. D. Milne, the Economic Botanist, 

 has botanically surveyed the cottons of his Province. In 

 the United Provinces, Mr. Martin Leake has been steadily 

 working on the inheritance of characters in the cotton 

 plant, and it is expected that valuable results will be the 

 outcome of his patient work. In the Central Provinces 

 Mr. Clouston has separated out all the types in his large 

 cotton tract. Mr. Main has done the same in Bombay, 

 and Mr. Sampson, by the separation of mixed varieties, 

 in the Madras Presidency, has established at least one 

 cotton of high merit. 



So far, then, as the botany of Indian cotton is con- 

 cerned, we may say now that we know definitely every 

 form in India, and in most cases also the limits of each 

 type. 



The claims of adoption of several systems of scientific 

 classification is still a matter of argument and discussion ; 

 but from a practical point of view it has been found more 

 profitable in most of the Provinces to use the vernacular 

 names known to the people, and this method is quite 

 precise enough for ordinary purposes. As people were 

 still possessed with the old idea that Indian cottons would 

 be still inferior even if they were improved, a large 

 number of foreign varieties of tree cottons were intro- 

 duced, and sanguine persons actually risked loss by 

 putting them out on a field scale at once. 



Results of a few years' experiments proved plainly that 

 these tree cottons possessed so many inherent defects 

 that their profitable cultivation was impossible, results 

 which probably coincide with the experience gained in 

 every country in which they have been tried. It is certain 

 that the Bourbon cotton gave hope of success in the 

 Konkan and North Guzerat, and actually succeeded in 



