1194 Nurma or Chanderi Cotton, [No. 132. 



capital, they cannot select their markets, and any novelty in the 

 texture or hue of a commodity gives it disadvantage in the market of 

 the district. Although the softness of the Mhahlie cotton is too 

 remarkable not to be perceived at once, yet it has remained in this 

 district an unknown number of years, utterly disregarded.* There can 

 be little doubt that if sent to Bombay, it would command the market 

 for export there, and the experiment seems quite worthy of trial ; there 

 is no difficulty in separating the seed. But the colour is not white, 

 and the method employed in bleaching the Mhahlie at Chundairee, 

 should be ascertained from gentlemen resident at Sagor. It were also 

 a curious enquiry to be made at Chundairee, when the manufacture of 

 mamoodies was first established there. What led to the selection of the 

 Mhahlie cotton, and (if it be of foreign origin) what induced the choice 

 of Nimar as the garden of its produce, other, and I believe richer, cot- 

 ton lands being near to Chundairee. In addition to its defective hue, 

 the manufacturers of Nimar conceive that the filament of the Mhahlie is 

 not so strong as that of the common cotton, and in consequence prefer 

 this for the coarse cloths woven in the villages. Indeed the manufactures 

 at Muhaiswah and Kurgaon, although rich and extensive, are not cele- 

 brated for the fineness of their texture, as were those of Chundairee ; 

 and therefore so long as the Mhahlie maintained its high price, there is 

 little wonder that the enterprising Hindoo manufacturer neglected it. 



Of the Nurmah I cannot learn many particulars in this district, 

 where, as an article of produce it is quite unknown. The natives 

 allow that it is very superior to the common cotton ; but they object 

 to the expense and trouble of preserving it from injury throughout 

 the year. Nothing can more strongly exemplify the apathetic spirit 

 of the ryut ; for the jungles in Nimar bring up to every cultivators 

 door an abundance of thorny plants fitted for enclosures, and I imagine 

 the produce of the Nurmah must be about four times that of the 

 common cotton plant, for it rises to the height of seven or eight feet, 

 branching out on all sides. It is said to abound in Kurrah Manick- 

 pore. Its hue is whiter than that of the Mhahlie, and the natives of 



* We trust that this really beautiful varieties of Cotton will now be better studied 

 and known, and this scientifically for they are not only in all probability valuable 

 in themselves but they may become invaluable to India as stocks from which to breed 

 new sorts, a process apparently not yet dreamt of amongst our Cotton experimenta- 

 lists.— Ed. 



