12 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from will tend equallv to ffive their cotton a preference 



Bombay to , , 7 . i 



Oovernor.gen., to that 01 other traders, as it prevents that great 

 accumulated mixture of dust and filth, unavoidable 

 with bad wrappers, and when the bales are screw- 

 ing, landing, or relanding ; a measure looked upon 

 by the country merchants as deviating from their 

 general principle of economy, which leads them 

 frequently to risk their whole property sooner 

 than be at a trifling precautionary expense. 



Of late years cotton has not been in great de- 

 mand in Bengal, consequently, little or none has 

 been carried thither, but it is this season reported 

 te be at twenty and twenty-two rupees per pucca 

 maund ; and last year (1788) the best cotton in 

 China, which was the Company's, sold for fourteen 

 tale the pecul. The exportation of about 8,000 or 

 10,000 bales per annum, either to Europe or Ben- 

 gal, would probably raise the price of cotton in a 

 trifling degree, but is not supposed likely to affect 

 the manufactures, as it appears by the present 

 season that the cultivation still increases in pro- 

 portion with the demand for it. 



Surat, 31st July 1789. 



No. 



