Miscellaneous. 



146 



fFEB. 1908. 



of the practical interest and sympathy 

 of native rulers such as is manifested 

 by his Majesty in his constant attend- 

 ance at, and participation in, agricul- 

 tural shows, and his patronage of such 

 enterprises as the British Cotton Grow- 

 ing Association. 



Cotton. 



From the earlieso ages cotton has 

 been one of the chief products of India, 

 and some account of its history will not 

 be inappropriate here. We need not go 

 back further than the time of Alexander 

 the Great whose admiral, Nearchus, 

 wrote of the "fleeces that grow on the 

 trees in India," and we know now from 

 the researches of Sir G. Watt and other 

 eminent scientists how accurate his 

 description was, for in those days cotton 

 was grown not as an annual plant but 

 as a perennial tree. There is little 

 doubt also that the outturn of these 

 fleeces was exceedingly scanty, and was 

 held in very high estimation. Thus, in 

 China a cotton robe was one of the most 

 valued possessions of the Emperor, and 

 in India the Brahmans selected cotton 

 to form the sacred cord of their caste, 

 while they allotted hemp to the soldier 

 and wool to the trader. To this day the 

 sacred cord of the orthodox Brahman is 

 taken from the Dev Kapas tree, the 

 Holy Cotton tree, which is grown as a 

 perennial in gardens. 



It is probable that it was during the 

 Mohammedan period that the most 

 important discovery was made that the 

 cultivation of cotton as an annual plant 

 rendered it possible to obtain a far larger 

 crop of lint, to refresh the soil by rota- 

 tions, and to preserve the tree against 

 the insect pests to which it is peculiarly 

 liable. 



The Mohammedans also carried the 

 knowledge of cotton cultivation from 

 India to the Mediterranean and to 

 Spain ; and it was from the Levant that 

 the first supplies of cotton came to 

 make Manchester the emporium of the 

 cotton trade in the early days of the 

 Stuarts. 



At the same time the cultivation of 

 the plant was begun in the United 

 States from seed obtained both from the 

 Levant and from the West Indies, 

 though 150 years were to elapse before 

 the States seriously set themselves to 

 export cotton to England. As soon as 

 the East India Company found them- 

 selves free from the danger of annihila- 

 tion iu the wars of the eighteenth 

 century, they turned their attention to 

 the improvement of the cotton trade. 

 In 1788 consignments of superior seed 

 were imported and distributed through- 



out the peninsula ; and steps were taken 

 to compress and pack the cotton in bales. 

 A few years later bounties were offered 

 for improved samples of cotton. In 1813 

 the first American cotton expert was 

 despatched to India, and took with 

 him a number of New Orleans saw- 

 gins. In 1816 the export of cotton was 

 encouraged by exemption from all the 

 internal and export duties then levied 

 on the transport of produce in and from 

 India. Tariff reformers are, no doubt,* 

 aware that between 1803 and 1831 prefer- 

 ential rates of import duty were levied 

 in England, which in the latter year 

 represented 4d. per cwt. on cotton from 

 British possessions, and 5s. lOd. on 

 foreign cotton. 



Between 1816 and 1840 various measures 

 were taken ; bounties were given for 

 certain qualities of cotton ; seed was 

 introduced from all parts of the world, 

 and attempts were made to improve the 

 native methods of cleaning the cotton. 



In 1810, ten American planters were 

 brought to India, and were placed in 

 charge of experimental farms in all the 

 three Presidencies. . Their experiments 

 were extended over a period of ten years, 

 but it was found impossible to accli- 

 matise American cotton to Indian con- 

 ditions except in a small corner of the 

 Dharwar district in Bombay. 



After the cotton famine of the Ameri- 

 can Civil War many of these measures 

 were repeated, but once more without 

 success. 



Economic Progress. 



This summary may serve to show that 

 the cotton problem is not so easy of 

 solution as enthusiasts at home are 

 inclined to imagine, and that the Govern- 

 ment of India are not open to* the re- 

 proach sometimes levelled at them of 

 indifference to the cotton interest. A 

 long course of disappointing failures led, 

 by painful steps, to the adoption of a 

 sound policy of economic progress. It 

 was at length realised that the first need 

 of the country was facility of transport, 

 and the provision of organised agri- 

 cultural enquiry based on the co-opera- 

 tion of the people. In the first half of the 

 last century there was no co-ordination 

 in the experiments made in different 

 regions ; it is true that success was 

 attained with such products as tea, 

 indigo, and coffee, which offered a favour- 

 able field for European enterprise in 

 suitable climatic conditions, but Govern- 

 ment possessed no skilled agricultural 

 advisers to investigate and advance the 

 cultivation of the staple crops. Some- 

 times, as in the case of cotton, the mea- 

 sures adopted met with active opposition 



