36 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [2ND SEASON. 



eially with the more matured observations of Dr. 

 Wight and Mr. Imnie, which will be found in other 

 paras, of the present volume.* 



DR. WIGHT'S NOTES ON AMERICAN COTTON CULTURE 

 AS PRACTISED ON THE GOVERNMENT COTTON FARMS. 



49 Drill husbandry : land ploughed and cast in ridges, 

 eight or ten inches high, at intervals of about five feet. 



— The American system of Cotton agriculture is 

 simply Drill husbandry. The ground is ploughed and 

 cast into ridges, about four, five, or six feet apart, and 

 about eight or ten inches high. The distance between 



these ridges must be regulated by the rich- 

 Royie? 6 ness or P over ty of the soil, and by the va- 

 Cotton Cui- riety of the Cotton grown. The object is 

 2i9. e ' P * 217, *° keep the plants sufficiently near to each 



other, that when full grown the branches 

 may meet and cross in the intervals between the 

 ridges, and thus protect the soil from the heat and 

 drying influence of the sun. Accordingly in rich 

 soils the New Orleans Cotton plants may be five feet 

 apart, but in the poorer soils they must be nearer to 

 each other ; as the branches naturally will not be so 

 luxuriant on a poor soil as on a rich one. Then again 

 the ridges for Sea Island Cotton may be seven feet 

 apart. The primary object of these ridges is to draw 

 off the superfluous moisture, by means of the water 

 furrow between them ; a precaution which is espe- 

 cially necessary in America, where the frequent and 

 heavy rains of spring and summer are especially in- 

 jurious to the young plant. 



* For Mr. Wroughton's Remarks on the cultivation of American 

 Cotton in India, see paras. 67 — 74. For Dr. Wight's " Notes on the 

 Habits of the American plant, and their adaptation to the seasons of 

 India," see paras. 92 — 118. For Mr. Finnie's 44 Notes on Cotton 

 Cultivation in America and India," see paras. 143 — 160. For Mr. 

 Finnie's " Notes on the Peculiarities of the Cotton Trade in Tin- 

 nevelly," see paras. 175 — 178. For Dr. Wight's Final Report, see 

 paras. 263 — 281. As regards Bourbon Cotton, see Mr. Hughes's in- 

 structions to Mr. Heath, para. 34, note. 



