GOSSYPIUM HERBACEUM, Linn. 



\Vide Plate XVIII.] 



English cotton . Yernacular bari or ban (Districts west of Etah), kapas (Districts east of 

 Etah), narma, manua, radya (varieties peculiar to the eastern Districts). 



Description. An erect shrubby plant belonging to the tribe Hibiscece of the natural order Malvacem ; annual 



or perennial,! more or less hairy. Stems 4-6 ft. high, woody. Leaves stalked ; stipules falcate, lan- 

 ceolate ; blade about as long as the petiole, cordate at the base, palmetely lobed, lobes 5-7, ovate or 

 lanceolate acuminate. Peduncles axillary, jointed, rather shorter than the leaves, 1-flowered. Brac- 

 teoles 3, large, cordate, dentate or nearly entire. Flowers large, yellow with a purple centre. Calyx 

 truncate or obscurely toothed, shorter than the bracteoles, usually beset with black glandular dots. 

 Petals obovate, cuneate, spreading. Stamens numerous, monadelphous ; anthers 1-celled. Style cla- 

 vate ; stigmas 3-5. Capsule ovate, pointed, 3-5-celled. Seeds about 5 in each cell, ovate, covered 

 with closely adpressed greyish or greenish down under the long white woolly hairs. 



Varieties and allied spe- In addition to the cotton wliich is one of the staple crops of the western and south- 



6S • • • • 



ern Districts of the Provinces, there is a species known as Gossypium arhoreum with 

 much fleshier and more shining leaves (in this respect resembling somewhat closely 

 American cotton), which is sparsely cultivated in parts of Oudh and the more eastern 

 N.-W. Provinces Districts. It is ordinarily known as narma or manua, the terras which 

 native cultivators invariably apply to American cottons, and a superior variety of it 

 grown in the Allahabad District is called 7'adya. Both these differ greatly from the 

 ordinary cotton {Jcajods) in the season of their growth, not bearing cotton till the hot 

 weather months instead of at the end of the rains. 



Cotton is one of the leading agricultural staples of the Provinces, being grown on 

 nearly 14,50,000 acres, or 5'8 per cent, of the total cropped area, and 11*0 per cent, of the 

 area under kharif crops. Its production is, however, markedly localized, only attaining 

 importance in the western and south-western Districts. This is shown by the subjoined 

 figures : — 



Cotton grown alone 

 or with other crops. 



Meerut 

 Division. 



Rohilkhand 

 Division. 



Agra 

 Division. 



Allahabad 

 Division, 

 excluding 

 Jaunpur. 



Benares Divi- 

 sion, includ- 

 ing Basti and 



Gorakhpur 

 Districts only. 



Jhansi 

 Division. 



Kunaaun 

 Division, 

 including 

 Tarai Dis- 

 trict only. 



Percentage on kha- 

 rif cropped area, 



12-7 



7-3 



16-6 



17-G 



•2 



12-7 



2-5 



Percentage on total 

 cropped area, ... 



G-2 



3-8 



9-1 



0-G 



•1 



7-2 



1-7 



* References :— Hook. Fl. Ind. i. 346 ; Roxb. n. Ind. iii. 184 ; Wight Ic. t. 9 & 11 ; Royle 111. t. 23. f. 1 ; Tarlatore 

 Sp, di Cotuni, p. 31, t. 2. According to Professor Todaro of Palermo, in his " Relazione sulla cultura dei Gotoni," published 

 in 1877-78, the G. herlaceum of Linna3us is a distinct species from that above described. The latter with their varieties he 

 places under two separate species whose synonymy is briefly as follows :—(!), G. neglectum. Tod. =: G. herljacevm, var. • China 

 Cotton,' Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 185 ; Royle 111. p. 98, t. 23 f. 1 ; & G. herbacevm, Wight Ic. t. 11 (Roxburgh's figure). (2), G. 

 Wightianum, Tod. = G. herlaceum of Hook. Fl. Ind. i. 346, (in part) ; Wight Ic. t. 9 ; & G. allum, W. & A. Prod. i. 54 (in 

 part). 



f Roxburgh says " biennial or triennial," but in this part of India it is usually treated as an annual. 



L 2 



