348 
I 
I believe,  treated  as  if  it  was  so  and  crops  in  the  method  described 
by  the  Javanese.  In  spite  of  the  favour  with  which  the  “ Kapas 
Blanda’^  is  viewed  by  these  men,  I should  not  be  inclined  to 
abandon  Kala-kala ’’  in  favour  of  the  imported  variety  unless  a 
series  of  experiments  proved  the  latter  had  the  better  commercial 
prospects.  It  must  be  remembered  that  there  is  a very  great 
advantage  as  regards  labour  in  having  to  deal  with  crops  that  do 
not  suddenly  necessitate  a large  temporary  addition  to  the  labour 
force  on  an  estate.  The  cost  of  engaging  one  man  for  i,ooo  days 
is  ordinarily  much  less  than  the  cost  of  engaging  l,ooo  men  for  one 
day.  And  if  throughout  the  Federated  Malay  States  all  the  plan- 
ters wanted  this  sudden  increase  in  their  labour  force  simultan- 
eously, the  possible' result  would  be  that  the  planters  in  their  at- 
tempts to  attract  the  available  floating^’  labour  would  have  to  pay 
such  prices  as  would  seriously  affect  the  prospects  of  their  enter- 
prise. In  ( otton-growing  countries  it  would  seem  that  during  the 
“ picking  season men,  women  and  children,  who  at  other  times 
are  unable  to  obtain  a wage,  are  eagerly  engaged  at  task-w'ork  rates 
which  make  their  earnings,  during  the  time  they  are  employed, 
considerably  higher  than  the  normal  wages  of  a first  class  labourer 
for  the  same  length  of  time.  Even  disregarding  the  question  of 
costj  the  nature  of  our  population  would  seem  to  offer  an  overwhelm- 
ing obstacle  to  the  general  introduction  of  a form  of  cultivation  the 
success  of  which  must  to  a great  extent  depend  on  the  possibility 
of  planters  being  able  to  engage  simultaneously  a large  sup[)ly  of 
“ casual  ” labour. 
15.  In  regard  to  the  general  question  of  the  desirability  of  a dry 
climate  for  growing  cotton,  it  would  appear  that  in  the  United 
States  a very  wet  season  is  almost  as  much  feared  by  the  cotton 
growers  as  is  a drought.  Exceptionally  wet  weather  is  stated  to 
produce  weeds  and  tends  to  make  the  plant  run  to  wood  rather 
than  crop.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  possible  to  believe  that  even  in 
the  wettest  years  there  is  generally  sufficient  sunshine  here  to 
mature  a crop  of  cotton.  I know  nothing  of  the  climate  of  the 
cotton-growing  districts  of  the  United  States,  but  would  suggest 
that  there  is  possibly  an  unusual  lack  of  sunshine  during  the  wet 
summers  and  that  every  hour  of  sunshine  is  of  great  importance 
when  a plant  has  to  bear  fruit  either  on  a certain  date  or  not  at  all. 
After  the  opening  of  the  boll  there  is  undoubtedly  some  danger  of 
rain  discolouring  the  cotton  if  left  exposed  to  the  weather.  Yet  I 
have  now  in  my  possession  some  beautifully  clean  white  cotton  that 
was  purposely  allowed  to  remain  on  the  shrub  during  three  days 
of  heavy  rain  while  the  boll  was  open.  When  considering  these 
sources  of  possible  disappointment  it  is  only  reasonable  to  bear  in 
mind  that  neither  droughts  nor  gales  (gales  strip  the  shrubs  of 
blossoms),  which  frequently  cause  immense  losses  to  cotton 
growers  in  the  United  States,  are  likely  ever  to  cause  serious  loss 
10  planters  in  the  Federated  Malay  States. 
16.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  endeavour  to  prove  that  cotton 
growing  would  necessarily  prove  a highly  remunerative  form  of 
