246 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [1853 62. 



CHAP, system of cultivation, if there be one ; and of dealing 



L_ directly for the raw produce, which is much deteriorated in 



picking, cleaning, packing, and transit. 



343 Detailed report by Mr. Murray, the previous Col- 

 Mr. Mur- lector. The following report, drawn up in 1858 in reply 

 SGst July to Professor Mallet's application, conveys still more particu- 



1 8*18 



lar information respecting the Cotton cultivation in the 

 district of Cuddapah. 



344 Soil." Cotton is chiefly grown in the Western portion of 

 the Cuddapah district, in land commonly designated " Ka- 

 gada" or Black Cotton soil, which is very tenacious of 

 moisture and is almost impassable in the monsoon. During 

 the dry weather, the whole surface of the ground is broken 

 up by the deep fissures caused by the drought, but is filled 

 up during the rains. The soil is very fertile, in almost 

 every part of the district, though there are some exceptions ; 

 and upon it, various kinds of cereals, pulse, oil seeds and 

 indigo are grown, which when sown on land which are 

 properly taken care of and manured, produce large returns. 



345 Weeds." Black Cotton land, if not annually ploughed but 

 left waste for several years, very soon becomes clogged by 

 an Indigenous plant called Nut grass, which penetrates into 

 the ground from three fourths to one yard deep, and the 

 herbage spreads along the surface of the field ; and should a 

 Kyot wish to cultivate this waste land, he will require to 

 yoke six or eight pairs of large heavy bullocks to his 

 plough to force it through the roots, which also require to 

 be extirpated by manual labour with the aid of pick axes. 

 There is also an Indigenous plant with a root something 

 resembling a Potatoe, commonly called by the Natives 

 " Kudunchy ;" the root varies from the size of a small to a 

 large Potatoe, is excessively bitter, and cannot be eaten, and 

 from it springs a species of vine, which runs along the 



