1852.] Da. WIGHT'S FINAL COTTON REPORT. 209 



has laboured under considerable disadvantage, from being CHAP, 

 conducted by gentlemen but little conversant with agricul- ' 

 tural affairs. 



Partial success of Mr. David Lees on the sandy 280 

 coast lands of Tinnevelly : error as regards deep 

 sowing, The cultivation of American Cotton by Mr. Da- 

 vid Lees, on the sandy coast lands of Tinnevelly, has proved 

 only partially successful ; for whilst Mr. Lees was a warm 

 and sanguine advocate of the experiment, he was unfortu- 

 nately an unskilful agriculturist. He desired to modify 

 the cultivation by deep sowing ; and feeling dissatisfied at 

 the results of sowing the seed three inches under 

 the surface, he gave directions for sowing it still 

 deeper. This modification was founded on an errone- 

 ous deduction, and its practice has already been found 

 to do harm. Cotton ought not to be sown deeper than one 

 or two inches. What is required is a light loose soil, into 

 which its slender tap root can easily penetrate ; and when 

 that is secured, the nearer the seed lies to the surface the 

 better. Nature sows entirely on the surface, and ordains 

 that the roofc shall descend and the stem ascend. Loose soil 

 and light covering promote both these ends, and are more 

 likely to increase than to diminish the produce ; and indeed, 

 unless the former of these conditions be secured, and main- 

 tained by occasional hoeing and ploughing between the 

 rows, the plant does not thrive. The roots, in short, of a 

 healthy growing plant require the free access of the air, al- 

 most as much as the leaves require light ; and unless they 

 have it, the plant becomes more or less sickly. 



Sandy soils along the Coromandel Coast adapted 281 

 to the cultivation of American Cotton. But whilst the 

 success of Mr. Lees, experiment fell far short of his antici- 

 pations, it has established beyond all doubt that the sandy 



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