. J1853-62.] CENTRAL TABLE-LAND : FIVE DISTRICTS. 229 



; but for moist low-lying rich soils five feet m not too 

 much, as in such circumstances the bushes will still fill 

 hthe ground, and unless they have plenty of room the 

 | ^crop blights. The roots ■ of Native Cotton penetrate 

 1 [deeper than American, and the Bourbon plant goes 

 , .even deeper than the Native ; hence the two latter bear 

 | ,heat and drought better than American. In the sam- 

 ■ pies of American plants now forwarded, the roots owing 

 ■to their age (5 years) are immensely developed, ex- 

 tending some of them to four feet in length and two 

 s ofeet in lateral spread : this no doubt much exceeds the 

 i average of ordinary plants, which are now unfortunately 

 inot obtainable. The roots of the Bourbon plant ap- 

 .pear to average one foot and a half in depth and fifteen 

 finches in spread, and those of the Native Oopum Cot- 

 ton to be about the same in depth, which, considering 

 fit is much the smallest of the three, argues a greater 

 .proportional depth. Its lateral roots however appear 

 |to be very insignificant. 



{ Mode 'of cultivation, time of flowering, weight of 360 

 iCotton wool per acre, etc. — " In the southern pro- 

 vinces of India, the cultivation of Cotton has to be 

 adapted to the peculiarities of the season. Drought is 

 fan obstacle, not so much from insufficiency in the 

 i quantity of rain, as from its all falling within too short 

 ; a period. Occasionally for months scarcely a shower 

 ;falls, until the monsoon regularly sets in ; and then, in 

 place of the total quantity being distributed over two 

 for three months, nearly the whole falls in as many 

 weeks or even days. This usually happens in October ; 

 •and a few days of gloomy weather and heavy rain has 

 i been known to destroy a fine crop just bursting the 

 ipod. It becomes therefore an object so to regulate the 

 sowing, that the flowering shall commence after the 

 heavy rains have ceased, and the pods ripen during the 

 bright clear weather that always follows ; so that, in 

 i short, the plants may receive wet wea/ther while grow- 

 ing, and dry sunny weather while maturing. The 

 mode of cultivation is simple. The ground is well 

 ploughed, the deeper the better ; and as much as possi- 

 ble freed from weeds, and if uneven the inequalities 



