1842.] Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. 1191 



3. Accompanying my report are seven small tin boxes, of which 

 three contain specimens of Mhahlie cotton, two specimens of the 

 Nurma and its seed, and the remaining two specimens of the common 

 cottons of Nimar and Berar. Circumstances prevent my sending 

 just now specimens of the soil in which the Mhahlie thrives. I purpose 

 selecting them at a season more favorable to the design, the ground 

 being now strongly impregnated with manure. 



I have the honor to be, &c. 



(Signed) J. Abbott, Captain, 



Mundlaisur, the 30th September, 1 842. Assistant in Nimar. 



P. S. I have the honor to return the copies of correspondence upon 

 this subject, with which you favored me. 



(True copy,) 



(Signed) R. N. C. Hamilton, 

 Secretary to the Government, N. W. P. 



No. 3 in No. 4013 of 1842. 



(Copy.) 



Particulars relative to the Mhahlie Cotton of Nimar. 



Q. \st. What is the Nurmah cotton of Malwa? Is it the common 

 cotton of the country, or a choice sort ? 



A. Nurma cotton is not indigenous to India. It is not, so far I as 

 can learn, cultivated for manufactures in Nimar or Malwa. It is not 

 annual, but grows into a bush, lasting ten or twelve years. As this cot- 

 ton is evidently not the kind to which the queries of the Asiatic 

 Society refer, I shall consider the name Mhahlie substituted for Nurma, 

 and answer accordingly. 



The Mhahlie I should say, cannot be indigenous to Nimar. The na- 

 tives suppose the seed to have been sent, time out of mind, from 

 Chundairee. They are utterly ignorant of its manifest superiority in 

 texture to the cotton of the country, and it has never been in demand 

 in Nimar, where in a few years its existence will altogether cease. 



Q. 2d. Does it grow in any common cotton soil ? or are peculiar 

 sorts and spots sought out for it ? 



A. It will grow in any cotton soil, but formerly its high price com- 

 manded for it the choice soils. 



