9 
and it seems utter wanton ness to destroy it. But it must be done, 
or there will be no regular crop during the next season. 
Superintendence. — Tin's is the most important element of successful 
cotton planting, and a superbundance of all the others would be of 
little avail if a deficiency existed in this particular. The Anglo- 
Americans could never have availed themselves as they have done 
of the necessity for renewing the plants annually, if they had not 
been able to bring into action a body of intelligent planters, to 
watch the changing of the seed, year by year, until the staple at- 
tained the closest approach to perfection. It is well known also 
that the efforts of the East India Company to improve the general 
produce of Hindoostan, carried on through a long series of years, 
without regard to expense, have been rendered abortive by the 
absolute impossibility of providing intelligent superintendents for 
such an immense extent of cotton lands. The model plantations 
they established under American and European superintendence, 
produced cotton equal to the best samples of the Southern States 
of America, but the improvement went no farther. The native 1 
cultivators would almost as readily change their religion as adopt a 
different mode of culture from that followed by their forefathers, and 
the general crop continues to be the same description of rubbish as 
before, which scarcely pays the freight to Europe. It remains to 
be seen whether the Chinese will shew the same readiness in adopt- 
ing European improvements in this instance that they have evinced 
in others. But should the culture be successfully introduced here, 
and the Chinese display their usual spirit of imitation, improvement 
would soon spread to Sumatra and Borneo, in fact over the entire 
Archipelago, 
The experiment can now r be carried on more favourably than on 
t He former occasion, when the European inhabitants all resided in 
the town and vicinity, only visiting their country plantations oc- 
casionally. Now many reside permanently in the interior, and can 
therefore give daily attention to the experiment. At Penang, also, 
where much land has been cleared for sugar plantations, the cul- 
tivation of which has in some instances been abandoned, the pro- 
prietors may follow the example of the West Indian planters by 
converting their abandoned, estates into cotton plantations. 
G. W. E. 
Appendix. 
Extract from Col. Low’s Dissertation on the Soil and Agriculture 
of Penang and Province Wellesley : — 
Cotton has never been extensively cultivated at this settlement. 
It has, however, been long introduced, and the staple of one of 
the varieties now cultivated, but whence obtained cannot be easily 
ascertained — is of a very superior quality. It thrives luxuriantly on 
the light as well as the stiff soils, and equally well on the hills, as 
in the valley. i lie chief obstacles to the cultivation are, the price 
of labour, and the sudden vicissitudes of climate from dry to wet, 
the latter being apt to injure the pod. 
