OCT.— ma.e. 1859-60.] Proceedings. 375 



Proceedings of a Meeting of the Committee held at the Gardens, on 

 Wednesday, December 7th, 1859. 



PRESENT. 



Honorable Walter Elliot, Esq. — President. 



H. B. Montgomery, Esq., m. d. 



Secretary, 



J. D. Sim, Esq. 



H. F. C. Cleghorn, Esq., m. d. 



Colonel Colbeck, 



The Proceedings of the last Meeting are read and approved. 



The Committee determine that the day for the next Annual Com- 

 petitive Exhibition of Fruits, Flowers and Vegetables shall be 

 Tuesday, February 21st, 1860 * 



The prizes already offered and notified in their Proceedings under 

 date April 6th, 1859, will be then offered for public competition. 

 The following is also added to the list : — 



21J. — For the best twelve Dahlias of varieties. 



Further particulars will be published in the next Proceedings. 



A specimen of a new and undescribed species of Isonandra, dis- 

 covered by Captain Beddome, is exhibited by Dr. Cleghorn. 



Bead the following Report upon the systematic cultivation of 

 the Asclepias Gigantea, otherwise known as Calotropis Gigantea. 



This Report was forwarded to the Revenue Board and by them to 

 the General Committee of the Madras Exhibition of 1859, from 

 whom it was received by this Society. 



REPORT. 



On the cultivation of Yeroocum Cotton in Chingleput. 



Referring to the Board's Proceedings, No. 455, of the 8th Fe- 

 bruary last, I have the honor to report, that I immediately issued 

 a notice in the District Gazette, calling upon the Tahsildars to fur- 

 nish me with supplies of Yeroocum cotton seed, and acquaint me 

 whether they were willing to look after its cultivation. I believe only 

 one Tahsildar replied, that he would attend to one cawney, if in- 

 structed in the way he was to cultivate the plant, while another re- 

 ported, that, do all he could, he could not induce any ryots to un- 

 dertake the business. I merely mention this to show the little interest 

 shown in the cultivation of the plant by the people of the country. 



As regards seeds, there was none to be had when the Board 

 wrote their Proceedings adverted to, and it was not till about July, 



* This has been since altered to Thursday 23rd. 



