118 



COTTON -WOOL. 



Letter from fo Bi'itish subjects vvho mav be disposed to engage 



Court of ^ , . . 



Directors lo in tbe cultivation and improvement of the cotton 



India Board, ^tt-i- -it i 



5 Sept. 1828. and tobacco ot India, it being conceived that the 

 important article of indigo has flourished under 

 encouragement of this nature ; and secondly, the 

 present state of the culture and trade of cotton and 

 tobacco in India. 



1. With respect to the first point I am directed 

 to state, that the same encouragement on the part 

 of the Indian Government is now afforded to the 

 cultivation and trade of the articles in question as 

 to that of indigo, alluded to by the Lords of the 

 Committee of Privy Council for Trade. Land is 

 granted to speculators in these articles on the same 

 terms as those in indigo, and a drawback of all 

 duties is allowed on export to the United Kingdom. 



2. With respect to the second point, namely, the 

 present state of the culture and trade in the two 

 articles in question, I am directed to communicate 

 to you the following particulars, viz. 



Memorandum 071 the present State of the Culture and 

 Trade of Cotton in the East- Indies. 



State of Culture The cottou shrub is indigenous throughout the 

 Cotton in Lidia. peuiusula of India, from Ceylon in the south to 

 the foot of the Himalaya mountains in the north, 

 and various kinds have long been known to the 

 native cultivators, viz. annual, biennial, and cotton 

 of several years' duration. Some kinds scarcely 

 reach the height of one foot, others attain ten or 



twelve 



