166 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Mr. Tucker's British India the cultivation of the two species of 



Paper. ... 



cotton, or those varieties which are most esteemed, 

 and which are likely to be found most suitable and 

 useful in extending and improving the manufac- 

 tures of this country. 



Second. That, with this view, it is desirable to 

 establish two or more plantations upon a large 

 scale, under the superintendence and management 

 of the public servants, for ascertaining experi- 

 mentally the best system of husbandry applicable 

 to the growth of cotton, and the species or 

 varieties of the plant which can be cultivated with 

 the greatest advantage in the soil and climate of 

 British India. 



Third. That if persons acquainted with the 

 mode of cultivating cotton in America can be 

 procured, one or more be sent out to India, to 

 assist in the management of the experimental 

 farms which it is proposed to establish ; and that 

 steps be also taken to procure from the Brazils, 

 Egypt, the Isle of Bourbon, and other quarters, 

 the necessary supply of fresh seed of the most 

 approved varieties of the Western cotton.* 



Fourth. 



* The colour of the seed is a distinguishing character in 

 cotton ; but nature is arbitrary, if not sometimes capricious, in 

 her arrangements, and the black and the green seed are con- 

 verted into each other by a change of place and circumstances. 

 The Sea-Island cotton, which bears so high a price in our 

 markets, is from the black seed ; but I am told that, if it be 

 transplanted to the Upland or back country, the black seed 



in 



