THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Jan. 1, 1865. 



250 ON THE COTTON PLANT. 



and rounder thread, and fills up the fabric better. The long-staple 

 article is never used for this purpose, and could not, however cheap, be 

 so used -with advantage ; it is ordinarily too harsh. For the warp, 

 strength and length of fibre are required ; for the weft, softness and full- 

 ness. Now, as the lower numbers of ' yam' require a far larger amount 

 of raw cotton for their production than the higher, and constitute the 

 chief portion (in weight) both of our export and consumption ; and as, 

 moreover, every yard of calico or cotton-woven fabric, technically called 

 cloth, is composed of from two to five times as much weft as warp, it is 

 obvious that we need a far larger supply of this peculiar character of 

 cotton, the medium-staple, than of any other. 



" The short-staple cotton is used almost exclusively for weft (except 

 a little taken for candle-wicks), or for the very lowest numbers of warp, 

 say 10's and under. But it is different in character from the second de- 

 scription, as well as shorter in fibre ; it is drier, fuzzier — more like rough 

 wool, and it cannot be substituted for it without impoverishing the 

 nature of the cloth, and making it, especially after washing or bleaching, 

 look thinner and more meagre ; and for the same reason it can only be 

 blended with it with much caution, and in very moderate proportions. 

 But its colour is usually good, and its comparative cheapness its great 

 recommendation. 



" It will be seen, therefore, that while we require for the purposes of 

 our manufacture a limited quantity of the first and third qualities of 

 raw cotton, we need, and can consume, an almost unlimited supply of 

 the second quality. In this fact lies our real difficulty ; for while 

 several quarters of the world supply the first sort, and India could 

 supply enormous quantities of the third sort, the United States of 

 America alone have hitherto produced the second and most necessary 

 kind." 



I have read most attentively the history of the Indian experiments. 

 They tell of the well-directed skill, the stout and willing heart, the rough 

 hard toil and untiring energy of the Royles, Wights, and other earlier 

 and later labourers in the field of Indian experiment. They prove 

 that good useful cotton, such as goes by the name of good middling New 

 Orleans in Manchester, can be, and has been, produced on Indian soil. 

 The accounts, the authentic accounts, and the samples received from 

 time to time, only strengthen the conviction. The long series of experi- 

 ments carried on under the auspices of the Indian Government for now 

 nearly a century, go to prove that the principal impediments to the pro- 

 duction of good Surats are the filthy habits of the gentle Hindoo, and 

 the religious prejudices of his priesthood. 



In the case of the cultivation of the exotic species by Europeans or 

 natives, the casualties would appear not to differ greatly from those to 

 which every agricultural crop is subject in India, or England either. Even 

 the elements can be coaxed, if not controlled. Irrigation i3 now no 

 pwvWhI^, and the neriods of sowing can be so arranged that the wild 



