66 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Letter from worked by two men, separated 5 lb. in four hours ; 

 20 Dec. 1817. and consequently, twelve men would have cleaned 



37|^lb. during the same time, in a superior manner 



and without injuring the fibre. 



No. 38. 



Extract Letter from the Governor in Council at 

 Bombay to the Court of Directors, dated the Wth 

 April 1818. 



Bourbon Cotton. 

 Letter from Par. 2. We have the honour of communicating 



Bombay, 



11 April 1818. to your Honourable Court, that the cultivation of 

 Bourbon cotton within the Kaira districts, prose- 

 secuted experimentally by Mr. Gilder, during the 

 past season, has been attended with a very success- 

 ful result. 



32. The former trial was made in the western 

 districts of that jurisdiction, the soil of which proved 

 ill-suited to the Bourbon cotton, which differs much 

 from the common cotton of the country. In addi- 

 tion to other peculiarities of the soil. Captain 

 Robertson states that the soil of the western dis- 

 tricts, except near the surface, is impregnated 

 with salt, and not calculated to afford nourish- 

 ment to plants whose roots strike deep into the 

 ground. The cotton of the country being sown 

 annually, and producing its crops before it has 

 been six months in the ground, sustains no injury 



from 



