CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 



FOUR YEARS OF EXPERIMENTAL CULTURE UNDER DR. WIGHT AND 

 THE AMERICAN PLANTERS, 1841 TO 1845. 



Stoppage of demand for Indian muslins and calicoes, bnt growing de- 

 mand for Cotton wool, 23 ; Early efforts to extend and improve 

 Indian Cotton, 24; Introduction of Bourbon Cotton into the 

 Madras Presidency, 24; Mr. Metcalfe, an American Cotton cleaner, 

 sent to the Presidency, 1813 : efforts of the Madras Government, 

 1819-1836, 25 ; Ten American Planters sent to India, 1840, 27 ; 

 Prevailing opinions upon Cotton cultivation in the Madras Presi- 

 dency, 27 ; Three Planters located in Tinnevelly, October, 1840, 28 ; 

 Contemplated removal of the Planters to the neighbourhood of Mr. 

 Fischer's establishment at Salem, 29 ; Eirst Season, 1841-42 : 

 commenced under Captain Hughes, 30 : Reported failure in con- 

 sequence of a heavy monsoon, January, 1842, 31 ; Sudden renova- 

 tion of the crop : Dr. Wight succeeds Captain Hughes, 31 ; Rela- 

 tive effects of the Monsoon, the Drought, and the Rain upon the 

 Cotton shrub : difference between the Red and Black soils, 32 ; 

 Results of the Season of 1841-42, 33 ; Dr. Wight's plan of opera- 

 tions : introduction of xlmerican Culture more important than that 

 of American Cotton, 33 ; Early trials of the American saw gin, 34 ; 

 Second Season, 1842-43 : arrangement of the four Experimental 

 Farms, 34 ; Three varieties of land, viz. Black, Red, and Allu- 

 vial, 35 ; Distribution of soil amongst the four Earms : method of 

 cultivation, 35. 



DR. WIGHT'S NOTES. 



Drill husbandry : land ploughed and cast in ridges, eight or ten inches 

 high, at intervals of about five feet, 36 ; Sowing in a furrow of 

 about two inches deep along the centre of each ridge, 37 ; Scrap- 

 ing out of superfluous plants and weeds, 37 ; Banking up the 

 ridges, first with the plough and afterwards with the hoe, 37 ; 

 Keeping down extraneous vegetation until the crop ripens, 37 ; 

 Native ploughs and American ploughs compared : question of 

 whether American Cotton would thrive without ridging, 38. 



Results of the second season on the Black, Red, and Alluvial soils, 

 1842-43, 38 ; Comparison of the growth of the Indian, New Or- 

 leans, and Bourbon Cotton, 39 ; Reports of English Brokers on 

 Dr. Wight's Cotton, 40 ; Oopum (Indian) Cotton, 40 ; New Or- 

 leans, 40 ; Bourbon, 40 ; Third season, 1843-44 : state of the Cot- 

 Ibn Earms, Gins, and Gin-house, 40 ; Unfavourable results : their 

 causes, 41 ; Comparison of the crops of the third season with those 

 of the second, 41 ; Fourth season, 1844-45 : experiment of treat 



