140 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [3aD. SEASON. 



CHAP, his chief attention to the improvement of the Native Cotton, 

 ' and of the Native methods of cleaning. Accordingly, whilst 

 the subject of his proposed visit to England was still under 

 the consideration of the Court of Directors, he suddenly an- 

 nounced that he had brought the whole question to a suc- 

 Mr. Fin- cessful issue. In May 1848, he forwarded to the Madras 



nie's let- * 7 



May i 2 8 4 48 h ^ overnment a sample of Tinnevelly Cotton, which had been 

 tura'dSn se P ara ted from the seed by the churka alone, but of which 

 P. 283. the particles of trash had been subsequently picked out ol' 

 the wool by hand. This sample he declared to be a 

 very superior article ; it had been taken from a roomful, and 

 was a fair sample of what the churka could turn out, under 

 the new regime which he had induced the Cotton cleaners 

 to adopt. If a quantity could only be shipped to England 

 via America, he was satisfied it would be regarded as a good 

 fair quality of American Cotton. The Natives themselves 

 were scarcely aware that they could make the Cotton so 

 clean, until he had thus induced them to try ; and he 

 believed that a few thousand bales of such an article, arriv- 

 ing in England from India, would be the most important 

 event which the commercial world had known for many 

 years. Already he had nearly the whole of a village at 

 work in producing such very superior Cotton ; and provided 

 that he were sufficiently encouraged, and that purchasers 

 could be found willing to give a reasonable price, he pledged 

 himself to have the whole crop of the district of Tinnevelly 

 ultimately cleaned in this satisfactory manner. A safer 

 investment, he said, could not be made ; and he accordingly 

 suggested that the Government should allow him to encou- 

 rage the production of such an article to the fullest extent.* 



*The following extracts from the letter condensed in the text will fur- 

 nish some idea of Mr. Finnie's style and language. " I have the honour, 

 the pleasure, and the satisfaction, to forward for the inspection of the Right 

 Honorable the Governor, a specimen of Cotton which was cleaned by the 

 churka alone, of course, the particles of trash being separated by the hand; 



