BOGRA.

"

This district lies south of Rungpore and Dinage pore, along the bank of the Bramaputra.

In 1848 the Collector stated that it grew very little Cotton, and that little thinly scattered among pepper, turmeric, &c., for domestic purposes only the extent to which it might be grown is not capable of "estimation."

In 1861 the Collector reports that the cultivators of the district grow no Cotton, solely because they find that other crops are more remunerative that of the total area of the district two-thirds are well suited to the crop, and he estimates at 52,000 mans of seed Cotton, or 1,040,000 lbs. of clean Cotton, the possible annual out-turn.

:

He believes that a European dealer, who was prepared to make advances at a rate sufficiently high to make the crop profitable to the grower, would find no practical limit to his operations; and a few inexpensive roads would connect all parts of Bogra with Nokollah, on the river, which is visited by steamers.

DINAJEPORE.

This district lies on the old alluvium; its soil is stated to be very fertile, and it was recommended to Mr. Terry instead of Rungpore, on the ground that more Cotton was grown there. The higher grounds are stated to be suited to the crop I have found several allusions to a supposed formerly extensive cultivation, but not any definite statements in confirmation thereof.

In the old returns of 1790 the district is not mentioned.

In 1848 the Collector said that the Cotton cultivation was probably under 500 bigas: that the soil was not considered suited to the crop, which was looked on as an uncertain one, and very troublesome in cultivation : he did not think that Cotton would ever be extensively grown in his district.

No experiment appears ever to have been tried on the cultivation of foreign kinds of Cotton.

grown by some villagers, who had, some years before, been induced by Mr. Bonnevie to try exotic Cotton seed: he found the plants from that seed then grown to large vigorous bushes, several years old: he had every reason for believing that they had proved profitable to those who had grown them, but the cultivation had not spread: one villager, from whom he obtained some particulars concerning the amount of Cotton yielded by his plants, informed him that his landlord had announced his intention of raising his rent in consequence of the profitable nature of this new Cotton

crop.

This fact naturally suggests one reason why the cultivation had not spread, and Mr. Jackson states generally that the Garrows, who inhabit the hilly country on the other side of the Bramaputra, can grow Cotton, and sell it profitably in Rungpore, at a price so low, that the crop could never be a remunerative one within the district.

In 1848 the Collector of Rungpore stated that an immense extension of the Cotton crop within his district was possible, but that little or none was then grown: the price of the imported Cotton* was 2.89d. per lb.

With regard to the statement above quoted, to the effect that this district grew only two mans of Cotton, it is somewhat difficult to make out to what it refers; possibly to some bazar where this quantity may have been offered for sale: it may be fairly considered to be very improbable that the Cotton cultivation in gardens and near houses spoken of by Mr. Terry and Mr. Jackson, in 1845, had become extinct in 1857.

The old returns of 1790 state that there were then 375 mans annually raised, mostly of a kind called Chintea, which was cultivated on the higher grounds, but considered a bad quality in the market: the crop was not thought a remunerative one, and a considerable import trade existed.

This refers to the hill Cotton above spoken of, not to that of Mirzapore.

BOGRA.

"

This district lies south of Rungpore and Dinage pore, along the bank of the Bramaputra.

In 1848 the Collector stated that it grew very little Cotton, and that little thinly scattered among pepper, turmeric, &c., for domestic purposes only the extent to which it might be grown is not capable of "estimation."

In 1861 the Collector reports that the cultivators of the district grow no Cotton, solely because they find that other crops are more remunerative that of the total area of the district two-thirds are well suited to the crop, and he estimates at 52,000 mans of seed Cotton, or 1,040,000 lbs. of clean Cotton, the possible annual out-turn.

:

He believes that a European dealer, who was prepared to make advances at a rate sufficiently high to make the crop profitable to the grower, would find no practical limit to his operations; and a few inexpensive roads would connect all parts of Bogra with Nokollah, on the river, which is visited by steamers.

DINAJEPORE.

This district lies on the old alluvium; its soil is stated to be very fertile, and it was recommended to Mr. Terry instead of Rungpore, on the ground that more Cotton was grown there. The higher grounds are stated to be suited to the crop I have found several allusions to a supposed formerly extensive cultivation, but not any definite statements in confirmation thereof.

In the old returns of 1790 the district is not mentioned.

In 1848 the Collector said that the Cotton cultivation was probably under 500 bigas: that the soil was not considered suited to the crop, which was looked on as an uncertain one, and very troublesome in cultivation : he did not think that Cotton would ever be extensively grown in his district.

No experiment appears ever to have been tried on the cultivation of foreign kinds of Cotton.

MALDA.

This district lies for the most part on the delta alluvium.

In 1790 a small quantity of Cotton is stated to have been grown on the higher grounds: the Nurma and Byratta varieties are mentioned as being cultivated.

In 1848 the Collector states that Cotton is not cultivated, and that "the soil is supposed to be not adapted for its production," and that the Mirzapore Cotton cost about 3d. per lb.

In 1861, the Collector states, on the authority of Dr. Buchanan Hamilton, that the district once grew Cotton to a considerable extent: great facilities for irrigation he says exist.

RAJSHAYE,

This district, like the last, is mainly situated on the newer alluvium, extending northward from the left bank of the Ganges.

It is stated in the returns of 1790 to have grown a small quantity of Cotton solely for local consumption, and always spun by the growers, who sometimes offered the yarn for sale, but never the Cotton: four varieties were then known and cultivated on the higher lands in the north of the district, and irrigation was applied, whenever available, in their cultivation.

In 1848, 2,000 bigas were supposed to be the extent of the cultivation, and the Collector thought that there was no prospect of extension : large quantities of Mirzapore Cotton annually found their way into the district, at an average price of 3d. per Ib.

PUBNA.

This district is altogether within the delta alluvial area.

The returns of 1790 state, that at the factory of Hurriaul, both Surat and Mirzapore Cotton were largely used, but that certain Cotton grown in the district in small quantities was more esteemed, and paid for at a higher rate than either.*

*I find that the Resident mentions the Byratta as an inferior and low-priced Cotton here, although generally this name is applied to the very finest of Bengal-grown Cotton, especially in Dacca.

In 1848 the district is stated to grow absolutely no Cotton, and the same statement is made again in 1861.

MOORSHEDABAD,

upland area.

This is also an alluvial district, barely touching on the extreme limits of the undulations of the old alluvium, and the lower slopes of the

In 1790 two varieties were known, and an annual crop of 7,000 mans raised the cultivation is stated to have been careless, the Cotton being grown in the same land with other crops.

In 1848 the Collector states that there is no Cotton grown in any part of his district, except within the Noorye Thannah, where there are 500 or 600 bigas under the crop, and 100 or 200 bigas more, on which it might be raised: he estimates the yield as about 90 lbs. per acre: the average price of the Mirzapore Cotton was about 3d. per lb. at the great mart of Jeagunge.

*

In 1857 the Commissioner of Nuddea gives the particulars of an account furnished by the Deputy Collector of Jamookandy, which subdivision "comprises all the Cotton cultivated in the district. The "places where the Cotton is grown are high and dry lands; they are well ploughed and manured, and considered fertile: they are not fit for "the rice crop. Irrigation is occasionally employed from the cold weather "to the beginning of June. After being well manured and broken up, "the ground is allowed to lie for a month, when it is ploughed again, "until the manure is well worked in the seed is soaked before "sowing, and is in the ground before the end of October. The labor required for weeding and picking, &c., per acre, is that of from "100 to 125 coolies. The ginned Cotton fibre produced per acre is

*There is an apparent discrepancy between this statement and that made by the Collector in 1848. I have failed to identify Noorye with Jamookandy, but even if they refer to two distinct places, the Noorye spoken of lies on the western borders of the district, and is, like Jamookandy, situated on the old alluvium.