1853 62.] CENTRAL TABLE-LAND : FIVE DISTRICTS. 245 



(3) Cuddapah : present state of Cotton as reported CHAP. 

 by Mr. Wedderburn, the Collector. Cuddapah is also VI " 

 a Cotton growing district, about 50,000 acres being 342 

 under this cultivation. Mr. Wedderburn, the Collector, Mr . wed- 

 reports as follows. " The out-turn of this district last year leuer'.Ssth 



.... ,, ,, , , April 1861. 



was calculated at more than two millions ot IDS., valued at 

 3|d per Ib. upon the spot, or about ^30,000, the greater 

 part of which is exported. This Cotton, though short in 

 staple, is of a fair quality ; but it is liable to deterioration 

 from careless picking and packing. It is not properly 

 cleaned, and when gathered it is packed loosely in bags 

 which do not exclude the dust. Were some mercantile firm 

 to purchase direct from the grower, and to superintend or 

 insist on greater care in the gathering, and to establish a 

 screw press on the spot to screw the bales ready for ship- 

 ment in this dry climate, instead of that process being per- 

 formed in the damp air of the Sea coast, 1 believe that the 

 value of this Cotton in the home market would be enhanced, 

 and the cost of carriage reduced. Finer qualities than the 

 Indigenous Cotton could only be produced by a local demand 

 and good prices." In a subsequent letter Mr. Wedderburn Mr. wed- 

 stated that the extension of the cultivation depended upon letter, 22nd 



Oct. 1861. 



the profit to be derived from the exportation of Cotton, as 

 compared with the exportation of other grain products. 

 That Government could do nothing that would prove of 

 advantage, beyond adding a few bridges to a road, and thus 

 facilitating the export, and cheapening the cost of transit. 

 Above all, that the people would not be induced to grow any 

 kind of Cotton but their own stunted Indigenous variety ; 

 all previous experiments with foreign seed having proved 

 failures, excepting perhaps in gafdens and favoured locali- 

 ties ; whilst the commercial value of other crops grown on 

 irrigated lands, rendered it impossible that Cotton should 

 be grown at a profit on any but dry lands. Private indi- 

 viduals must take the risk and profit of introducing a better 



