CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I, 



GENERAL VIEW OF" THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY, AND OF THE 

 IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED IN INDIAN COTTON. 



Hand-Book to the Cotton Cultivation of each Presidency ordered by 

 the Government of India, page 2 ; Method pursued in drawing up the 

 present Hand-Book to the Madras Presidency, 2 ; Three objects 

 sought by the East India Company with reference to Cotton, 4 ; 

 Boundaries of the Madras Presidency, 4 ; Physical features of the 

 country, 4 ; Three modifications of the tropical heat : viz. the 

 table-land, the sea, and the two monsoons, 5 ; North-east mon- 

 soon, October to April : South-west monsoon, May to Septem- 

 ber, 5 ; Climate of the Madras Presidency and Cotton States of 

 North America compared : reversal of Seasons, 6 ; Bevenue Di- 

 visions of the Madras Presidency, 6; Bevenue systems of the 

 Madras Presidency : based upon the Tillage Communities, 7 ; 

 Three Bevenue systems : 1st, Village joint-rent system, 8 ; 2nd, 

 The Zemindary system, 9 ; 3rd, The Byotwary system, 9 ; Ad- 

 vantages of the Byotwary tenure over the Zemindary tenure and 

 the Village joint-rent system, 10 ; Bevenue division of lands ; 

 Government, Zemindary, and Inam, 10 ; Nature and extent of the 

 Cotton soil of India, 11 ; Pour great Cotton Districts : Bellary 

 and Cuddapah to the North ; Coimbatore and Tinnevelly to the 

 South, 12 ; Statistics of the Cotton-growing Districts, 12 ; Be- 

 view of the three improvements required in the Indian Cotton, 13 ; 

 1st, Better variety of Cotton : general classification of Indian and 

 American Cotton, 3 3 ; Six leading varieties of Cotton, viz. Indian, 

 Bourbon, New Orleans, Pernambuco, Egyptian, and Sea Island, 14 ; 

 Indian, Bourbon, and New Orleans Cotton compared, 15 ; 2nd, 

 Better system of Cultivation : Indian and American agriculture 

 compared, 16 ; 3rd, Better method of separating and cleaning the 

 Cotton : (1) The Poot Boiler, 16 ; (2) The Native Churka, 17 ; 

 (3) The American Saw Gin, 17 ; (4) The Thresher, 18 ; Division 

 of the subject matter of the present Hand-Book, 19 ; Twelve years 

 of Cotton Experiments, divisible into three periods of four years 

 each, 20 ; Specialities of the several Chapters, 21. 



