ON THE CULTURE OF COTTON BY THE BURMESE. 
pp. 182 and 184, states under the head of 
Dacca, that a considerable proportion of the 
cotton is raised in the adjacent country, but 
a great deal is also received by the course 
of the Ganges from Patna and Upper Hin- 
doostan ; and that “ in this district a species 
of cotton, named the hanga, grows, necessai*y, 
although not of a very superior quality, to 
form the stripes of the finest muslins.” 
The Burmese cultivate cotton in almost 
every part of their country, but the largest 
quantity is grown in the districts lying be- 
tween Ava and Prome. It is not grown as a 
second crop after the cultivation of rice, but 
in distinct lands. The seed is sown about the 
same time with the paddy, in the beginning 
of the rains, in the months of Katshoun and 
Wagoung, our April and May, and the cotton 
is gathered in Tha-dengy-wot and Ta tshoun- 
moun, our October and November. The seed 
is sown broad cast, after being well washed 
with water, and the ground is weeded three 
times before the plants attain the height of 
three feet. A scanty second crop is some- 
times gathered in the months of Tahoung and 
Tagoo, our March and April, before the 
plants are cut down, and the ground prepared 
for fresh sowing. Frequently, at the same 
time with the cotton, brinjalls and other es- 
culent vegetables are sown ; the seeds of the 
two are mixed, and thrown on the ground to- 
gether. 
The Burmese know only the annual plant. 
The Nankeen, called Wa-nee, or red cotton, is 
often grown in the same fields with the 
white ; and some cultivators assured me at 
first, that the seeds of the two are pi’ecisely 
the same, and that they cannot tell which de- 
scription of cotton will be produced, until the 
flower appears. But upon further enquiry I 
find, that the seeds are mixed by the women 
and others employed in cleaning the cotton, 
and that no trouble is taken to separate or 
keep the two distinct, by which means the 
mixed seed is usually planted. A careful en- 
quiry would enable the planter to discover 
from the small portion of cotton adhering to 
each seed, whether it belongs to the white or 
Nankeen species ; but this would give too 
much trouble to a Burmah. No manure is 
used, and the plants sometimes grow up as 
near as three and four inches from each other, 
according to the spot where the seed fell 
when sown in this slovenly manner. 
The red cotton is used by the Burmese to 
manufacture a description of cloths of which 
the women, particularly in the country, make 
their jackets. It is called Phyen-nee or Pen- 
nee, and does not require frequent washing, 
a great recommendation here. The Mye-lat 
or middle ground Shans, those situated in 
the country between Ava proper and the 
Saluen (Dr. Buchanan’s Mre-lap), cultivate 
more of the Nankeen cotton, and manufac- 
ture a better kind of Phyen-nee, which they 
annually bring for sale to Ava. It is in 
pieces of 60 cubits long and 1§ cubits wide, 
which sells for 7 ticals, or 9 rupees 12 annas. 
The Burmese Phyen-nee is often made of the 
white cotton and dyed. I send herewith two 
small samples of the Burmese and Shan 
Phyen-nee cloth. 
The Burmese call the dressed or cleared 
cotton Givon, and the undressed Wa. It is 
cleared from the seeds in the same manner 
as in Siam, by a simple machine called Kyait \ 
or Gyaif, consisting of two cylinders re- !' 
volving close to each other, and moved by i 
a handle. The cotton is drawn between 
them, leaving the seeds in the hand which ( 
feeds the machine. There is a large descrip- ij 
tion also of this machine with iron cylinders, ?| 
called Than gyait, and moved, in addition to ( 
the handle, by a w'heel and the foot, in the 1 1 
same manner as a knife grinder’s engine, j 
The bow, like that of India, is aftex'wards jij 
used, still further to clean the cotton when it '|j 
is x’equired for spinning ; but the cotton, which ij 
is expox’ted, has the seed only removed. The H 
pex’son who sepax-ates the seed can, it is said, jj 
prepax’e lOviss or 36 lbs. of clean cotton per ] 
diexn, and his usual hire is 2 moas or Sg annas 
per diem. 300 viss of undressed cotton yields ' 
loo of cleaned cotton. The price of cotton 
fluctuates from ten to fifteen ticals for the 
undressed, and from thirty to fifty ticals for 
the cleaned cotton : which last, however, has 
sometimes been so high as 80 ticals per 100 ; 
viss. But the average price of 40 ticals per ' 
loo viss, will be about 10 rupees 14 annas ! 
per Bengal maund ; and I observe, from a ; 
Calcutta price current for last month, that the , 
highest priced cotton, then at Calcutta, was 
12 x-upees per Bengal maund. Captain 
White mentions, that at Aeng the traders j 
told him that they purchased the cotton fox* I 
30 ticals per lOO viss, and that they can sell |l 
it there for 65 rupees. They buy the cotton i 
directly from the planter, and can probably ii 
get it cheaper than what it sells for here. I; 
The Nankeen cotton is often mixed with j 
the white fx'om the manner befox’e described, i 
in which the two are planted ; and, to get a j, 
quantity of Nankeen cotton only, a higher 
price is usually paid for the trouble of sepa- !: 
rating it entirely from the white. Few plant i 
the Nankeen cotton only. I have sent down f 
to Captain Rawlinson at Rangoon, to be for- 
warded as samples to Calcutta, 10 viss of 
each description of cotton. It appears to xne not ' 
particularly long in the staple, but very fine ' 
and silky, and so I understand it is considered 
by competent judges. The white cotton I i 
have sent, is the produce of Mendoun, a dis- 
trict on the frontier of Ax-racan, in which . 
territory also it might perhaps be extensively !' 
cultivated. The red cotton is from a place : 
called Tharet or Thayit on the western | 
banks of the Irawaddy near Made (Wood’s i 
Siri’aip Mess). 
The cotton of the Martaban province, called ! 
lately the Tennassexdm cotton, appeal’s to me j 
to have a much longer staple than that of , 
Ava, and so does that I saw at Bankok bx’ought 
from Menan-noi on the frontiex’s of Tavoy. 
The Kareans are the cultivators of cotton in 
the Moulmein px’ovince, and their plantations 
are always, I believe, on alluvial soil, on 
