1837-1 Transactions of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India. 173 



force of his arguments, and to deprive them of much of the effect they 

 were otherwise calculated to produce. On such an occasion the purity 

 of Dr. Lush's motives ought to have been respected, as much as he 

 (Mr. B.) wished his own to be. Dr. Lush was aware that many fruit- 

 less and expensive attempts had been made to introduce exotic cottons 

 into Bombay, and he had made many himself; anxious at length to 

 discourage such unprofitable labour, he drew up and published his 

 memoir, neither the arrangement nor style of which are, in our opini- 

 on, we confess, the best suited to make the desired impression ; and he 

 has, we think, besides erred in generalizing too much : but, in spite of 

 these defects, we do not see that Mr. Bell is justified in accusing him 

 of a wish to repress inquiry, of forming baseless, new fledged theories, 

 of building hobby horses on which he wishes all men to ride as well as 

 himself, for that is the meaning of the passage, though somewhat dif- 

 ferently expressed. Dr. Lush has merely detailed the result of his 

 own experience, as any other man would do, and left others to choose 

 for themselves. What else does Mr. Bell do, with this difference in 

 favour of Dr. Lush, that he draws his conclusions mainly from his own 

 experience, in place of from that of others. That Dr. Lush has esta- 

 blished his case with respect to India generally, which by the way he 

 does profess to do, we are far from thinking ; and even doubt whether 

 his views will ultimately be found to hold good for the tract of country 

 to which they more immediately refer : but, not wishing to fall into the 

 error which we complain of in him— excessive generalization— we pre- 

 sume not to offer any opinion on a country, with the nature of whose 

 climate and capabilities we are personally unacquainted. 



We would, however, entreat Dr. Lush to continue his experiments, 

 and furnish somewhat fuller details of the sources of failure, the better 

 to enable us to guard against them, as well as those circumstances 

 which we may expect to operate in our favour, and which, skilfully 

 taken advantage of, may finally ensure success. The characters of the 

 soils, especially with reference to their retentiveness of moisture, as 

 well as their usual state of dryness, or the contrary; their depth, and 

 the qualities of the sub-soil, and whether wet or dry ; the nature of the 

 climate, especially with reference to the frequency of rain, and the 

 usual length of the intervals of dry weather; and whether the American 

 varieties were tried on soils apt to crack and yawn during seasons of 

 drought. 



In Coromandel, a few trials were sufficient to satisfy experimenters, 

 that the black soils were altogether unsuitable for either the Bourbon 

 or American varieties. For the former the red loamy soils of the in- 

 terior, that never crack, have been found most suitable, but it thrives 



