16 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [CHAP. I. 



the experimental culture which we shall presently have 

 to record. 



23 2nd, Better system of Cultivation : Indian and 

 American agriculture compared. — The differences be- 

 tween American and Indian culture will be largely 

 illustrated in the present volume ; but it may be as 

 well to state here generally that they chiefly lie in the 

 degree of attention bestowed upon the land. The 

 Americans practise deep ploughing, are careful in the 

 selection of seed, and sow on ridges, keeping the 

 plants wide apart, and carefully destroying all weeds. 

 The Indian Ryots, on the other hand, frequently sow 

 their Cotton broad-cast, and often with three or four 

 other crops ; they allow the plants to grow too closely 

 Dr Rovie's ^°g etner > the weeds to flourish, and the 

 Culture of wool to hang long after the seed is ripe. 

 India 11 "215 ^ n some localities however they sow in 



drills, plough the land previous to sowing, 

 hoe weeds away whilst the plant is growing, and take 

 care to have a rotation of crops. When this is the 

 case, says Dr. Eoyle, the Cottons are superior to 

 those produced by more careless cultivators. 



24 3rd. — Better method of separating and cleaning the 

 Cotton : 1st, The Foot Roller. — Cotton grows in a pod. 

 When the fruit is ripe the pod bursts, and discloses 

 the seed enveloped in a kind of soft white fibre, which 

 presents all the appearance of a particularly fine and 

 dazzling wool. Two operations are necessary to ren- 

 der this wool, or staple, as it is called, available for the 

 carder and spinner: — first, to separate it from the 

 seed ; and secondly, to clean it from any extraneous 

 matter which may have adhered to it in the processes 

 of gathering and separation. The proverbial simplicity 

 of the tools and engines employed by Hindoo artisans 

 and mechanics generally, is strikingly displayed in 

 both operations in India. In ancient times the Natives 

 literally separated the wool from the seed with their 

 feet, and then cleaned it with their hands. This 

 practice still lingers in the Southern Mahratta coun- 

 Letter from ^ e Cotton is placed on a flat stone. 

 Mr. c. Lush, A woman sits on a stool before it. Her 



