GENERAL VIEW. CULTUKE AND CLEANING. 19 



degree of attention bestowed upon the land. The Ameri- CHAP, 

 cans practise deep ploughing, are careful in the selection ' 

 of seed, and sow on ridges, keeping the plants wide apart, 

 and carefully destroying all weeds. The Indian Ryots 

 on the other hand, frequently sow their Cotton broad cast, and 

 often with three or four other crops ; they allow the plants 

 to grow too closely together, the weeds to flourish, and the {?J|*J le o* 

 wool too hang long after the seed is ripe. In some locali- ^a 

 ties however they sow in drills, plough the land previous 2l5 ' 

 to sowing, hoe weeds away whilst the plant is growing, and 

 take care to have a rotation of crops. When this is the case, 

 says Dr. Royle, the Cottons are superior to those produced 

 by more careless cultivators. 



3rd Better method of separating and cleaning the 24 

 Cotton : 1st, The Foot Holler, Cotton grows in a pod. 



When the fruit is ripe the pod bursts, and discloses the seed 

 enveloped in a kind of soft white fibre, which presents all 

 the appearance of a particularly fine and dazzling wool. 

 Two operations are necessary to render this wool, or staple as 

 it is called, available for the carder and spinner : first, to 

 separate it from the seed ; and secondly, to clean it from any 

 extraneous matter, which may have adhered to it in the 

 processes of gathering and separation. The proverbial simpli- 

 city of the tools and engines employed by Hindoo artisans and 

 mechanics generally, is strikingly displayed in both operations 

 in India. In ancient times the Natives literally separated the 

 wool from the seed with their feet, and then cleaned it with 

 their hands. This practice still lingers in the Southern 

 Mahratta country. The Cotton is placed on a flat stone. A Letterfrom 

 woman sits on a stool before it. Her only implement is an 4?h'ik.cem- 

 iron roller, but wooden soles are fastened to each of her feet. cXum 1 !?- 

 This iron roller she places on the Cotton, and then rolls it p?294 ( . 

 backwards and forwards with her feet, until the wool is 

 fairly separated from the seed, and the seed is rolled out in 



front, whilst the Cotton wool comes out under the stool 



