Oct. 1906.] 347 Correspondence. 



mills could wish for, and will open up quite a new and very profitable [trade, if 

 they will get machinery suitable for the longer staple. If we had had a larger 

 quantity of cotton with which we could have continued the trial, making necessary 

 changes, Ave are sure a still finer cloth could be made from it. The total loss of 

 weight in blow room is only 3% and we would gladly give 7 annas per lb. for this 

 cotton." 



The excellence of the cloth proves the correctness of the opinion I held 

 eighteen months ago that this undoubtedly is the raw material from which the 

 " Dacca Muslin " was made many years ago, which acquired a world-wide reputation 

 for the excellence of its quality. Experts in Bombay and Mysore were of the same 

 opinion at the time. Messrs. Forbes, Forbes, Campbell & Co. have kindly consented 

 to show samples of it at their offices in Hornby Road, to those desirous of inspecting 

 it. In spite of the abnormally bad season on this plantation, — for last July we had 

 26 inches of rain in two days and not a drop afterwards for seven months, when on 

 the 16bh February, the heavy unseasonable rain did incalculable harm, — I am glad to 

 be able to state that my first estimate of the yield per tree has been found to be 

 correct. Average trees a year old were marked and all the cotton carefully put into 

 separate bags, the result being an average of 2i oz. per tree. But I am most anxious 

 to be absolutely on the safe side, and have therefore reduced my present minimum 

 estimate to 1£ oz. per tree, and as 5,000 are now planted to the acre, this gives a result 

 of 400 lbs. of clean cotton or one bale per acre. The second year this is doubled, and 

 increases enormously afterwards during the tree's known life of twenty years. I am 

 exceedingly glad to read the favourable reports of the extensive trial of Egyptian 

 seed in Sind. I have had five years' experience of Egypt, and four years ago strongly 

 recommended it to the commercial community of Bombay, selecting the South of 

 Hyderabad as the most desirable spot to cultivate it. I am naturally much gratified 

 to find that my anticipations of its success have been amply verified. The chief 

 difficulty, of course, is to induce cultivators to adopt the Egyptian methods in place 

 of their present crude ones, and this must be done every season ; whereas in the case 

 of "Spence Cotton" the difficulty has to be overcome but once in twenty years, and 

 it will grow and flourish in any soil instead of being confined to Sind only. The 

 immense advantage of this tree over the annual shrub is evident to the meanest 

 cap tcity. Take the yield first: the late Mr, J. N. Tata estimates the average all 

 over India at 30 lb. of clean cotton per acre. I have visited every cotton-growing 

 district of any importance in the country, and consider this is much too low, I 

 am of opinion the average on non-irrigated land is from 45 to 50 lb. per acre— a 

 deplorably poor outturn, in Egypt the average is 400 to 500 lb., and in the United 

 States 200 to 250 lb. I have a method which would more than double the present 

 yield and at very little extra outlay or necessity for intelligence ; but why cultivate 

 such rubbish at all ? 



I am, Sir, 



Yours, faithfully, 



J. R. SPENCE. 



ANT HILL EARTH. 



Dear Sir,— I shall be obliged if you or any of your readers can enlighten 

 me on the advantages derived by the use of earth from ant-hills in refilling 

 holes dug in indifferent soils, where a good surface soil is not obtainable, for the 

 purpose of planting different products, such as, tea, rubber, cocoa &c. 



Kandy. K. B. B, 



[The earth is very finely divided, but we do not know of any other advan- 

 tages it may possess.— Ed.] 



