210 COTTON 



years. Soil containing a higher percentage of lime is 

 preferred for Bourbon, and it is in this kind of soil that 

 the proportion of Bourbon predominates. The reason 

 for the mixed cropping is probably the fact that Bourbon 

 in its early stages requires the shelter of the Nadan, 

 which is fast-growing. 



Neither gives any crop in the first year, and to get 

 something in the way of return the cultivators grow with 

 them bajri, tur, castor, etc. 



Bourbon ripens from November to January and Nadan 

 from February to April, so that the produce of each could 

 be kept separate if necessary. 



Tirrupur is a large commercial city, where this cotton 

 is brought in every bazaar day, and bought by merchants 

 at a price above that of local cotton. Some merchants 

 have their petty agents stationed in different villages to 

 bring this cotton, and it is these men who really do the 

 sorting, i.e., separating samples where Bourbon pre- 

 dominates from those in which Nadan predominates. 

 The extension of pure Bourbon cotton in its own area 

 as a dry crop does not seem practicable. 



Punjab. 



These Provinces are noteworthy in that, in addition 

 to the predominance of various forms of neglectum, 

 there are types of plants belonging to an annual form of 

 arboreum known as Gossypium sanguineum, or Mooltan 

 cotton. In the varieties of neglectum we have the usual 

 variations in the leaf and colour of the flower, the 

 yellow-flowered plants having a finer staple and a lower 

 percentage of cotton to seed than those of the white- 

 flowered types. In the sanguineums there are two types 

 of flowers, a dark red and a pink. 



In addition to these, there are varieties which have 

 the botanical character of indicum, but the cotton of 

 neglectum. With the exception of Mooltan cotton all 

 these varieties extend into the North-West Frontier 

 Province, which, in addition, also possesses what seems 

 to be a hairy form of obtusifolium. Finally, there are 

 series of American cottons, all introduced, and these fall 



