232 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PEESIDEIfOT. [CHAP. TI 



January, February, or Marcl, the leaves fall, tlie plants 

 droop, and the pods grow crooked. Cloudy, rainy weather 

 when the pods burst spoils them. In American Cotton, 

 the flowers are apt to be extensively destroyed by two 

 beetles, of the genera cetonia and cantharis, that feed 

 upon them ; the pods, when ripening, are liable to be 

 pierced by an insect, the lava of which feeds on the in- 

 side ; so that when they open, a large portion of the 

 wool is stained rusty red and spoilt." 



363 4th, Western strip or Malabar coast : three districts. 

 — The narrow strip of land between the Western Ghauts 

 and Indian Ocean, is known by the general name of 

 Malabar, and stretches from the little Native state of 

 Paras. 7, 101, Cochin on the South, northwards to the 

 i"2- frontiers of the Bombay Presidency. The 



physical features of this region, which is peculiarly 

 open to the influence of the south-west 

 ^"^ ' ' ' monsoon, have already been described ; as 

 weU as the results of the Cotton exploring expedition 

 of Mr. Simpson, the American planter. The country 

 is divided into three districts ; viz. — (1) North Canara ; 

 (2) South Canara ; (3) Malabar. 



3G4 (1) North Canara : not a Cotton producing District. 

 — North Canara is not at present a Cotton producing 

 district. The port of Coomptah on the coast is the out- 

 let for nearly all the Cotton exported from Bellary and 

 the Nizam's dominions. The district is also the scene 

 of an interesting experiment in the growth of foreign 

 Mr.Kscher's Cotton now under trial. The Collector re- 

 letter, 12th ports that the lines of communication be- 

 P ' ^^^' tween the frontier of the neighbouring Cot- 

 ton districts and the coast, are in better order than 

 any beyond the boundary of the district. The principal 

 road, namely, that between Dharwar and Coomptah, is 

 bridged and metalled, and in good working order. Mr. 

 Kscher adds, — " The obstacles to increased production 

 seem to be uncertainty of local demand, the want of 

 European capital and influence in the producing dis- 

 tricts, and the absence of a direct shipping port on the 

 coast. If European Agency and capital were to be 

 found in the Cotton districts, there would be no diffi- 



