311 
rainy  season,  November  and  December,  as  I found  the  trees  produc- 
ing cotton'  which  was  only  spoilt  by  the  rain  [ cut  off  all  the 
branches  to  about'one  or  two  feet  from  the  main  stem.  They  are 
now  beginning  to  flower  again  so  by  the  time  the  dry  weather  is  on 
the  Cotton  will  begetting  ripe.  I do  not  suppose  that  cotton  cultiva- 
tion will  pay  in  Sumatra  as  labour  is  dear  here,  nor  do  1 ihink  the 
seasons  will  suit  as  the  plants  keep  growing  and  flowering  all  the 
year. 
I wrote  to  and  received  from  America  what  they  said  was  Sea- 
Island  cotton  seed.  I planted  the  seed  only  about  a month  ago  and 
it  is  now  about  li  feet  high  and  has  begun  to  flower  and  the  plants 
look  weedy,  and  I conclude  that  what  I planted  beft.re  was  not 
Sea-lslan  1 though  the  leaf  and  general  appearance  is  the  same’’. 
These  reports  are  fairly  satisfactory,  but  of  course  are  only  rx- 
perimental  plots,  and  it  might  be  well  worth  whde  planting  it  on  a 
larger  scale  in  the  richer  soils  of  such  places  as  Klang  district,  and 
the  low  lands  about  Taiping.  The  absence  of  a distinct  dry  sea- 
son for  the  bolls  to  ripen  is  certainly  against  the  cultivation;  heavy 
rainstorms  at  the  period  of  ripening  injure  if  they  do  n t quite 
destroy  the  cotton.  The  plant  here  in  Singapore  at  least  flowers 
and  fruits  throughout  the  year,  so  that  the  crop  is  practically  coii- 
tinuous,  and  cannot  be  gathered  all  at  once  as  is  done  in  Brazil  and 
elsewhere,  and  this  must  occasion  a greater  expenditure  of  labour. 
I The  present  expense  of  labour  and  its  scarcity  is  agiinst  cultiva- 
tion of* cotton  on  a large  scale  for  it  it  is  distinctly  a crop  which 
requires  cheap  labour.  As  to  local  pests,  termites  were  certaiidy 
troublesome  in  Malacca,  chiefly  by  packing  the  soil  with  their  nests, 
but  it  must  be  remarked  that  the  soil  was  really  too  stiff  anyway 
J and  not  that  which  would  have  been  selected  had  there  been  any 
choice.  The  red  cotton  bug,  Dysdercus  cingulatus  is  very  common, 
feeding  usually  here  on  Urena  the  herbaceous  Hibisci 
other  Malvace.T,  Damage  has  been  done  to  cotton  in  India  by  the 
bug  sucking  the  bolls.  It  is  allied  to  another  species  which  is 
known  as  the  cotton  stainer  in  America,  which  discolors  the  cotton 
also  by  destroying  the  seed  and  staining  the  cotton  with  its  excre- 
ment. There  is  a short  account  of  our  species  in  the  first  series  of 
the  Bulletin  p.  272.  I certainly  have  not  noticed  that  it  does  much 
harm  to  the  plants  which  it  feeds  on,  but  it  is  a very  objectionable 
animal,  and  might  give  a good  deal  of  trouble. 
These  notes  perhaps  do  not  give  a very  encouraging  view  of  the 
possibility  of  cultivation  of  cotton  on  a large  scale  in  the  Malay 
I peninsula,  even  as  a catch  crop,  but  I should  certainly  like  to  see 
the  cultivation  tried  again  in  better  soil  than  we  had  at  our  disposal 
at  the  time  that  these  experiments  were  made  in  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments and  with  other  varieties  of  Cotton.  The  importance  of  Cot- 
ton cultivation  throughout  the  Bmpire  at  the  pre>ent  time  cannot 
be  overrated,  and  if  we  cannot  here  produce  it  In  very  large  quan- 
tities we  can  at  least  supply  some,  and  that  I think  at  a rale  which 
will  produce  a fair  return  for  the  cost  of  cultivation. 
Editot\ 
