376 



Proceedings. [No. 10, new series, 



that I was able to procure any. At that time, and up to nearly the 

 present moment, the plant which is a common weed came into blos- 

 som, and as much seed could be had as was wanted. I have availed 

 myself of some spare ground in the Roshun Baugh, to plant about 

 cawnies, but the plants do not appear to me to thrive. There 

 are about 5,000 plants, of which 200 are one foot high, 3,000 four 

 inches, and 1,800 two inches high. The plant is a weed and seems 

 to grow best in the neighbourhood of old brick kilns or in unculti- 

 vated ground. The little assistance offered by the Tahsildars, the 

 unpromising look of the young plants, and the immense quantity 

 that is to be found growing wild in all directions, have led me to 

 stop, any further extension of cultivation as a useless, and under the 

 circumstances extravagant expense. The present plants, tha'thave 

 been sown, will not, I think, bear fruit before the middle of next 

 year ; but the wild plants growing in my neighbourhood, will give 

 as much produce as would probably have been realized from 50 

 cawnies, if the Board wish for any further quantity of cotton as a 

 specimen than that sent to them with my memorandum, on the 14th 

 Instant. 



2. Had Dr. Shortt, the Zillah Surgeon remained at Chingleput, 

 he could have undertaken the cultivation in that neighbourhood, 

 but his ill health having rendered it necessary for him to go away, 

 there was no one there to look after it, and the plantation at the 

 Iioshun Baugh is, therefore, the only one under superintendence 



The departure of Dr. Shortt is a great loss for the Scientific cul- 

 tivation of the plants, if it was expected to improve under cultiva- 

 tion, as he took an interest in the objects of the Board. Without 

 personal interest in the matter, I do not think much more, if so 

 much, can be expected from the plant than in its wild state. 



3. As regards the Cotton, it is a most difficult matter to collect 

 and keep it, it is so very light, that the least breath of air, drives it 

 about and it can only be picked from the pod cleaned, and packed 

 in a room shut off from the wind. I do not think, therefore, it can 

 ever be cultivated for the market, even if a remunerative price could 

 be got for it by the ordinary ryots, as they have no places where 

 they could dry and pick the pods, and it would require an immense 

 extent of cultivation to produce sufficient produce to pay for the 

 erection of suitable places of refuge from the wind. 



