84 COTTON IN THE MADE AS PRESIDENCY. [1ST SEASON. 



then it might be worth the Agent's while to employ 

 the gin, for the sake of the superior cleanness of the 

 ginned Cotton. But it must be borne in mind that 

 the carriage of the seed and staple to the Agent's gin- 

 house would be infinitely more expensive than the 

 carriage of the staple alone ; and that the carriage of 

 the seed back again after the ginning would prevent 

 the people from giving much for it. If therefore, from 

 the increased cost of carriage, the price of the staple 

 and seed, before separation by the Agent's gin, was 

 equal to the price of the staple and seed after separ- 

 ation by the Native churka, it was clearly impossible 

 that the extra outlay for ginning could be made to 

 pay. 



The Thresher recommended. — Under such circum- 

 stances, Mr. Finnie considered it best to leave the 

 people to separate the staple from the seed by the 

 churka; and to employ some machine which could 

 clean the dust and trash out of the wool. For this 

 purpose he recommended the " thresher " already de- 

 scribed in para. 27, as cleaning the Cotton prior to its 

 separation by the churka as effectually as the brush- 

 wheel cleaned the Cotton after it had been separated 

 by the saw gin. But notwithstanding this expression 

 of opinion, Mr. Finnie was prepared to set up saw gins 

 worked by cattle, and to exhibit their working to the 

 people. He was indeed expecting the arrival of a 

 thresher from Calcutta ; but this he proposed to set 

 up together with the gins, as both gins and thresher 

 could be worked by the same driving machinery. 

 Meantime however he intended to ascertain if the 

 people would use gins worked by hand, provided the 

 machines were let out on the toll system. Accordingly 

 he asked and obtained three hand gins from Dr. 

 Wight, two of twenty-five saws each and one of 

 twenty saws.* 



* These remarks of Mr. Finnie against the employment of the 

 American gin in India were subsequently referred to Dr. Wight, 

 whose reply will be found at para. 170. For the sake of clearness, 

 however, it will be advisable to continue the narrative in exact 

 chronological order. 



