COTTON-WOOL. 



243 



No. 92. 



Extract Letter from H. Lacon, Esq.^ Principal 

 Collector, Cuddapah, to the President and Members 

 of the Board of Revenue^ Fort St. George, dated the 

 16th Apr in S33, 



With respect to the seed of the American cotton, Letter from 

 I beg leave to state that the first supply not being cmWapIi^^^ 

 fresh, few plants were reared. The second supply ^^^^"^ ^^'^"^ 

 reached me at the most unfavourable period of the 

 year for distribution, and the nature of the present 

 season has been such, as to discourage the project 

 of introducing any new cultivation. In my letter 

 to the Secretary to the Commercial Committee, 

 30th March 1832, I had occasion to report on the 

 result of the first trial, and I there stated as my 

 opinion, that " it could not be expected that the 

 American would ever supersede the country cotton, 

 as the latter plants require no watering, and being 

 annuals are cultivated in unenclosed fields, chiefly 

 in the rich black soil of the western talooks." I 

 am also inclined to think that the American cot- 

 ton has a tendency to degenerate in this climate, 

 which defect 1 have seen noticed as the result in 

 another part of the country where its introduction 

 had been attempted. 



Copy of the letter above quoted I herewith 

 enclose ; and as your Board may wish to see a 

 specimen of the American cotton, I shall take 



R 2 the 



