60 



COTTON m THE MADE AS PRESIDENCY. [CH. Ill, 



93 Br. Wight's reply : July is the best time for sowing. 



— Dr. Wight replied to the following effect. Before 

 Dr. Wight's sowing the land must be ploughed; and 

 April' i 8 847 ^ e pl° u gh m g cannot be carried out until 

 Pari. Return some copious showers have fallen to soften 

 (1857), p. 151. an( j i 00gen the hard, sun-baked, and im- 

 penetrable soil. The present Farms in Coimbatore 

 enjoy the benefit of both monsoons. The south-west 

 rains rarely commence before the middle of May ; and 

 then the ploughing begins, and lasts for a month or 

 six weeks. Consequently it is impossible to sow before 

 July. But if we take the north-east monsoon into 

 consideration, we shall see that the middle of July is 

 after all the best sowing time. The plant is of rapid 

 growth, requiring humid weather whilst growing, and 

 dry clear weather whilst maturing. If sown in July it 

 comes into flower about October, when the north-east 

 rains invigorate it, and the subsequent dry season 

 matures it. If sown earlier, the Cotton bolls are 

 maturing at the very time when the rains are begin- 

 ning. The consequence is that the plant is surcharged 

 with sap ; and then the Cotton, instead of maturing, 

 absorbs the sap and rots in the capsule. 



94 2nd, Low Alluvial soils had proved a failure, but 

 low lands near the Coast were under trial. — As re- 

 garded the length and silkiness of the staple Dr. Wight 

 admitted that the change was produced by the soil. 

 Native Cotton dealers had long been aware of the 

 fact that Indian Cotton grown on Black land had a 

 longer and finer staple than when grown on Red 

 gravelly soil. But still American Cotton had been 

 more successfully cultivated on the Red than on the 

 Black soil. Dr. Wight however had tried the low 

 Alluvial lands, as more nearly resembling the best 

 American soils than either Black clays or Hed gravel. 

 The result established the theory but not the practice. 

 The Cotton produced was of excellent quality, but the 

 yield was very uncertain ; as a shower of rain, which 

 would fall innocuous upon Cotton growing on a dry 

 soil, would deteriorate half the crop on a low Alluvial. 

 As regarded the cultivation of lands near the Coast, 



