198 COTTON nr the madbas peesidejstct. [chap. ti. 



The means of communication between the uplands on 

 which the Cotton is grown and the ports of shipment 

 are all easy. ' 



294 (4) Kristna : large Cottoa supply. — Guntoor, which 

 now forms part of this district, is regarded as a Cotton- 

 growing country. Upwards of 100,000 acres are under 

 Cotton cultivation, and, as we have seen, a considerable 

 quantity is exported to the Grodavari district. Every 

 exertion is being made by the Department of Public 

 Works to effect a junction between two canals, — that 

 from Bezwarah, and that from Dowlashwarum to El- 

 lore, — which will reader the line of inland water com- 

 munication complete from the Cotton-producing locali- 

 jj _, ties to the coast. The following particulars 



hill's letter, are suppiied by Mr. Thornhill, the Collector. 

 |8thNov., "The Cotton produced in this district is 

 partly consumed within its limits, but by 

 far the greater portion is transported by land to the 

 northern districts of Godavari andVizagapatam, where 

 it is used by the native weavers. Very little, however, 

 is exported by sea, and none is shipped direct for Eu- 

 rope. The Cotton is picked in the dry season, and is 

 seldom cleaned and packed before the setting in of the 

 monsoon in June ; and therefore it cannot be moved 

 until the following December or January, as the roads 

 are not passable until that time. The soil suited to 

 the cultivation is very widely spread, and therefore it 

 cannot be doubted that the extent of land under culti- 

 vation would be largely increased, in the case of a 

 larger demand, accompanied by a rise in price. At 

 present the greater part of the Cotton grown is of the 

 sort called " Eed Cotton," which I am given to under^ 

 stand is not now in demand for the European market. 

 I do not, however, think that any measure of Govern- 

 ment would have any effect in incresising the produce. 

 Tliere is abundance of room for an extension of the 

 cultivation, and the merchants have only to send their 

 Agents into the country, to enter into agreement with 

 the cultivators, and to show them that the cultivation 

 will be profitable, to induce them to bring more land 

 under Cotton culture. In the same manner it rests 



