GOSSmUM HERBACEUM. 



79 



of the Bombay Presidency, where an improved variety extensively grown owes its origin to 

 these endeavours. It has been proved that good American cotton can be grown in this 

 country but at a cost in manure and tillage which practically places it beyond the means 

 of all but the wealthiest cultivators. The intrinsic merits of the indigenous cotton when 

 properly grown and carefully harvested appear to have been too often lost sight of, and 

 much labour has been spent in trying to introduce foreign varieties which might perhaps 

 have been more profitably directed towards attempts to improve the variety of the country. 

 The fibre of the narma variety has a poor reputation, but a broker's report kindly obtain- 

 ed bj/ Mr. T. Wyer, in charge of the Dubari Court of Wards Estate in the Azamgarh 

 District, shows that with careful cultivation it may attain great excellence, while in a 

 report drawn up by Dr. Forbes Watson in 1878, the conclusion is arrived at that " one- 

 half of the whole bulk of American cotton imported into England could be matched as 

 regards length of staple by cotton grown in India." 



Explanation of Plate XVIII. 



1. Portion of a flowering branch. 



2. A single leaf. 



3. Vertical section of flower. 



4. Cluster of capsules. 



5. Single capsule closed. 



6. Transverse section of capsule. 



7. Capsule opened showing the cotton. 



8. A seed with its coating of cotton. 



9. A seed with the cotton removed. 

 10. Transverse section of dittOi 



