176 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [1849. 



CHAP various parts of India ; and I have constantly found it im- 

 ' possible to bring to perfection in one place, the plants which 

 nourished most luxuriantly in another. Who for instance 

 can explain why the delicious Mangostein is confined to a 

 small circle in the Straits of Malacca ? Why the Maize, which 

 in every part of India requires unceasing irrigation, will yet 

 grow as a dry crop on the hills in the vicinity of Nankin ? 

 Why the Pumplenoses (West Indian Shaddock) which grew 

 in my garden at Bhooj, in the rich and proverbially hot cli- 

 mate of Kutch, were far superior, both in size and flavour, 

 to any that I have ever seen either at Bombay or on the 

 coast of Malabar? 



229 Dr. Wight ascribes the failure in Coimbatore to 

 the want of humidity, but humidity does not mean 

 rain. I see that Dr. Wight attributes the failure of the 

 American Cotton in Coimbatore to the want of humidity ; 

 and I understand him to signify that the humidity of a 

 climate depends upon the quantity of rain that falls. To 

 this definition I beg to differ. The climate of the lower parts 

 of Scinde is for some months the most humid I ever lived 

 in ; and yet the rain, beyond a few showers, does not usually 

 fall in more than one year out of three or four. I believe 

 also that there are other regions of the globe to which the 

 same remark may be still more forcibly applied. 



230 The Ryots should now be left to themselves, with 

 such aid as the Revenue Establishments may give. 



I have made the foregoing remarks to show that I have 

 not taken a superficial view of this important question. I 

 give Dr. Wight the highest credit for his zeal and persever- 

 ance ; but had he even effected greater results than he has 

 done, I should still think that the Ryots ought now to be 

 left to themselves. The Ryots however will still have the 

 advantage of such advice and instruction as can be given 

 them through the Collectors and Revenue establishments ; 



