212' COTTON 



export of the raw material, and supplant, by the produce of 

 her free labour, the slave-grown vegetable wool of the Western 

 world. 



A vast railway system, extending over more than 2,000 miles, 

 is actively progressing. A central line from Calcutta to Delhi, 

 of 1,100 miles, leads from the great sea-port to the -ancient 

 capital of the Moguls. Another of 600 miles from Madras to 

 Belary is soon to be opened. A third railroad of 200 miles, from 

 Bombay into the interior, is in progress ; and a fourth of still 

 greater length than the last, through Scinde and the Punjaub, 

 is also commenced. Our fancy delights to dwell on the tide of 

 prosperity'' ready to flow along these lines of rapid communica- 

 tion, over the plains of India ; of the vast improvements in every 

 respect which they are destined to call forth, and of their 

 favourable reaction on our own country, for every progress of the 

 Indian labourer is a boon to the hardworking artisan of England. 



In the climate of India, where copious rains are succeeded by 

 long intervals of drought, an artificial supply of water is required 

 for the successful cultivation of the land, and to quote the lan- 

 guage of Colonel Grrant, a most competent judge, "Nothing 

 appears more susceptible of improvement from culture and a 

 regular supply of water than cotton." In fact the cotton of the 

 common field and that of the irrigated bed cannot be recognised 

 as the same plant ; not only do the shrubs attain to a greater 

 size, and bear many more pods, but each pod is much larger 

 and contains a much greater quantity of fibre. 



In ancient times large sums were applied by the enlightened 

 sovereigns of India to irrigation, but in the earlier days of 

 British rule, many of their works were suffered to decay. More 

 recently some of their structures have been repaired, and 

 several new canals have been opened, which have not only 

 changed the aspect of the country, but have yielded a direct 

 return of from ten to twenty per cent. Down to 1848 the 

 average annual outlay on public works in India did not exceed 

 100,000^., but in 1857 it had risen to 2,220,000^. In Madras 

 alone, ten works of irrigation were begun in 1853 which will 

 irrigate and enrich 450,000 acres of land. In 1857 a joint- 

 stock company was formed in London to construct a canal for 

 irrigation and navigation through Madras, Berar, and Mysore, and 

 another from the Malabar to the Coromandel coast, which will 



