COTTON-WOOL. 



73 



tender plants from the heat of the sun until the Letter to 



, . , 1 . , . . the CoUectc 



g-ram be ripe, by which time they have acquired at Kaira. 

 sufficient vigour. In the present case the bejaree 

 answered the purpose equally well ; and as the 

 plant yields no return the first season, the crops 

 of bejaree ought to pay the expense of rent and 

 cultivation. 



6. The after-rains of 1816 were very scanty, 

 and the plants remained in an apparently sickly 

 and dwindled state until the rains of 1817, when 

 they put forth most luxuriantly ; so much so, that 

 it was found necessary to remove every alternate 

 plant, which left a space of six feet between each : 

 still they were subsequently too crowded. I think 

 eight feet would be a good distance. The flower- 

 ing commenced early in September, and the cot- 

 ton began to ripen in November. The gathering 

 of the first crop was finished by the middle of 

 January : a second crop may be expected in the 

 month of May, but I imagine a very scanty one. 

 Opinions are divided on the Island of Bourbon, 

 whether the plant should then be cut down or 

 simply left to the operation of nature. The pre- 

 ference can only be decided by experience, and I 

 would, of course, recommend that one-half of the 

 plantation be pruned, leaving the other to its 

 natural state. ^. 



7. There are two kinds of cotton cultivated in 

 Bourbon ; one producing a black seed, which is 

 very easily detached from the cotton ; the other a 



white ^ 



