120 Proceedings of the British Association. 



mina or clay. Thirdly, of the oxides of iron and manganese, which give 

 the warping colours to the soil. Fourthly, of very small proportions of 

 carbonate and sulphate of lime. And lastly, of organic matter in two 

 states ; a fibro-vegetable and a soluble matter forming from four to eight 

 per cent. Soils of this kind where hardly anything else will grow, are 

 adapted for the cotton plants of America ; a fact mentioned by Mr. Por- 

 ter, and confirmed by Mr. Gray, who was for some years a cultivator of 

 the plant in America. The land on which the indigenous plant of India 

 termed Gossypium herbaceum grows, is very different. It is composed 

 chiefly not of sand (silex) but of the results of the decomposition of trap 

 rocks, the debris of the mountains that constitute the extensive trap for- 

 mation of central India. This soil lies upon or borders on the limestone ; 

 it contains a large quantity of vegetable matter, abounds in oxide of 

 iron, is retentive of moisture, and forms a rich, tenacious loam approach- 

 ing to clay. Such is the soil of the indigenous cotton plant of India, 

 and therefore differs from that of America, so that we ought not to be 

 surprised to learn that all attempts at cultivating the American plant in 

 this soil have failed. But there are in India abundant other soils on 

 which the indigenous plant will not thrive. These prevail in Bengal, 

 on the Coromandel Coast, and in fact throughout India. They consist 

 mainly of the detritus resulting from the disintegration of rocks of the 

 primary and secondary formations, such as granite, gneiss, sandstones, 

 with here and there lime, producing a light soil, fertile or otherwise ac- 

 cording to the quantity of organic matter it may contain. The indige- 

 nous plant will not grow here, but the American plants thrive on it. 

 This has been proved by experimental farms near Bombay, and the 

 Western Coast, in Upper Hindustan, on the Malayan Peninsula, and on 

 the shores of Coromandel, in all of which tracts the American plants are 

 growing at present in much perfection, though not in quantities suffi- 

 cient to make any impression on the cotton market of this country. In- 

 dia could supply all the cotton Great Britain can ever require, even from 

 her indigenous plants, but for local obstacles. The soil, favourable to 

 the growth of this article, however, is situated in a central region re- 

 moved from the coast, and the trade consequently labours under the dif- 

 ficulty attendant on a lengthened journey by land. This will not be 

 the case when the cotton is grown on the fighter soils of the coast. 

 Here every facility exists for its exportation, for there is no doubt that 

 an article equally good might be obtained at a much cheaper rate than 

 that now procured from America. 



Mr. Felkin stated, that there was no objection to Egyptian cotton on 

 account of its quality, but it could not be bleached. There was also 

 much sand in it ; this was why it was not more used ; and no cotton, 

 however cheap, would be purchased in the market with these draw- 

 backs. — In answer to an inquiry, Gen. Briggs stated, that the nankeens 

 of commerce were made from a naturally brown cotton, probably the 

 Gossypium religiosum. This was a very different plant from the indigen- 



