1849.] EESPMPTION O! THE COTTON EXPEEIMENT. 167 



approved of the decision of the Madras Government to 

 dispense with the services of Mr. Finnie at the termin- 

 ation of his engagement. Mr. Pinnie, as _ ^ 

 we have already seen, left the Madras Pre- 

 sidency in October this year. 



State of the Farms at Coimbatore. — Meantime, Drs 241 

 Wight was staying at Madras preparatory Dr. Wight's 

 to retiring from the service ; but on receipt ^o^^'il^ 

 of instructions from the Madras Govern- Pari.' Eetim 

 ment to resume his office of Superintendent ^^*^" ''• ^'" 

 of the Cotton Experiment, he at once repaired to Coim- 

 batore, and placed himself in communication with Mr. 

 Thomas, the Collector of the district.' The ^^^^ 

 lands he had rented, as described in a pre- 

 vious paragraph, had all been given up to the Eyots, 

 except two or three fields which had been taken up by 

 a Cape Farmer named Prince, who had visited Coim- 

 batore in order to receive instructions in Cotton cul- 

 ture, and who but for that accommodation must have 

 returned without attaining the object of his mission. 



Dr. Wight cultivates American Cotton by irriga- 242 

 tion. — As the season was too late for Dr. Wight to 

 cultivate American Cotton as a dry crop, he resolved 

 to try the plan of cultivating both Native and Ameri- 

 can Cotton by the aid of irrigation, as proposed in his 

 Circular of the previous March. Accord- p^^ ^^ 

 ingly he rented several garden lands, or 

 lands under irrigation ; and he proposed to have them 

 cultivated under his direction by the proprietors of the 

 lands, for the purpose of familiarizing them with his 

 practice. In these gardens he proposed to sow every 

 variety of Cobton seed which he had in his possession; 

 namely. Sea Island and Bourbon of the long-stapled 

 varieties ; and New Orleans, Petit Gulph, and Native 

 Cotton of the short-stapled varieties. Dr. Wight had 

 also written to Mr. Cuxton in TinneveUy, to ascertain 

 the capabilities of the climate on the South-eastern 

 coast for the production of American Cotton by a 

 similar course of procedure. 



Postponement of Dr. Wight's Cotton Report. — The 243 

 clear and connected account of the experimental culti- 



