Dr. F. Royle estimates the cost of Indian Cotton, at the port of shipment, as 2.50d. per lb., and in another place he gives 2.77d. per lb.: the tendency of all the evidence on record certainly is to the effect, that if the profits of the middleman be got rid of, the lower of the above figures would be well within the limits of price which Cotton might be laid down in Calcutta: the reader need not be reminded that since the date to which all those figures refer, a rise in the value of all agricultural produce is stated to have taken place: the statements will, nevertheless, it is hoped, afford useful data for calculation, fair allowance being made for such disturbing influences. Districts. TIRHOOT. SARUN. PATNA DIVISION. The three last of the districts into which the Patna Division is sub-divided, lie north of the Ganges, stretching up to the Nepal Terai: the other three lie south of the river. The whole division presents very great varieties of soil, climate, &c., including, as it does, part of the Gangetic delta alluvium, wide tracts of the older alluvium, and also considerable areas of the upland country: each district, too, contains within its boundaries many such varieties of soil and site Shahabad and Behar probably most, and Patna itself least. In 1848,* there were supposed to be 18,190 acres under the Cotton crop within the whole division, and the Commissioner did not think that this area was likely to be increased. The average yield per acre is given as 112 lbs. The average price is 3d. per lb., but it is stated that this bazar rate represents the price of the Cotton imported from * The information referred to is contained in the answers to the six questions before quoted, see ante page. Northern and Western India viâ Mirzapore,* and that the growth of the districts, whenever it is to be obtained, commands a somewhat higher price. The present Commissioner, reviewing in May 1861 the evidence relative to Cotton cultivation, which he had collected from all sources, seems to arrive at nearly similar conclusions in regard to the probable extension of the crop: he thinks that it will, at least, be a slow process, dependent on the increased facilities of irrigation and inter-communication, which time alone can render available. PATNA. This district lies, for the most part, on the alluvium: it is stated not to grow Cotton, save to limited extent. a very In 1790, the Commercial Resident reported that at that time five kinds of Cotton were cultivated in the district, each possessing recognized peculiarities: 10,000 mans were annually raised, but no export existed. The only experiment in the growing of exotic Cotton, of which I have found any record, is one made by Mr. Commissioner Ravenshaw, in 1843. He tried New Orleans seed, which he sowed in his compound in August: it came up well, and the young plants bore flowers in the following October, when only 6 inches high: in December the Cotton was picked in the following April the plants flowered again, and yielded an abundant crop in May: they were once more flowering in August, after which we hear no more of them. In the present year, Mr. Wake, in general terms, reports the failure of the exotic seed, which had, in 1860, been distributed among the land-holders of the district. Cotton is not grown at present with a view to sale: in the Pergunnah Gyaspore 400 mans are annually produced, but only to be spun *Often spoken of as Mirzapore Cotton. † Agricultural Journal, Vol. II., page 197. by the growers: this same pergunnah, prior to 1835, annually sent 2,000 mans to market: an inundation, which destroyed the crops in that year, is assigned as a cause why the cultivation was not resumed, but it is supposed that, were it to become really remunerative, the former out-turn would be rapidly attained: the fact being, that the rates at which the Mirzapore Cotton can be sold here, render it more profitable to the villagers to grow other things. SHAHABAD. There are certainly few districts in Bengal which present physical features more varied than those of Shahabad: and many different kinds of soil are found, from the rich alluvial flat over which the annual inundation spreads a thin coating of the finest silt, to the upland valleys, where a few acres of arable land occupy the sloping floor of narrow gorges among the rocky hills. In 1790 the district is stated to have turned out an annual crop of 54,000 mans: four varieties were cultivated, and the finer kinds necessitated much care, and fetched high prices: they are stated at least to have rendered a rather costly method of culture remunerative. The earliest experiment on exotic Cotton, of which I have found any mention, was made by Mr. J. Gibbon in 1836.* He obtained a supply of Egyptian seed from the Agricultural Society, selected good land, ploughed it carefully, and sowed after some rain had fallen in July: the seed all germinated, but the young plants were much injured by rain, which afterwards fell in unusually great quantity during two months, and caused the failure of many of the ordinary crops of the country: the plants, owing to this, were sickly, in spite of the care he bestowed in hoeing, &c., and when, in September and October, they were subjected to continued heat and drought, these seemed to suit them as ill as the excessive moisture had done: notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the plants, although never * See Agricultural Transactions, Vol. III., page 182. I healthy in appearance, grew to a larger size than those of the ordinary country Cotton, and yielded much larger quantities of Cotton, and as the grower believed, of a decidedly superior quality. It had, however, cost much more, and Mr. Gibbon had not tried how far a similarly careful cultivation might improve the quantity and quality of the yield of the indigenous kinds. In the same year, 1836, Mr. G. Leyburn had also tried Egyptian Cotton seed in Shahabad:* he selected a "good loamy soil," and sowed carefully in July: the plants yielded Cotton in December: in the March following they again flowered, and continued yielding Cotton up to the end of May: during the subsequent rains "they threw out new shoots vigorously." Mr. Leyburn says that the staple of his Cotton is palpably superior to all varieties indigenous to that part of the country, and that it likewise possesses the most important advantages in the proportion of clean to seed Cotton which it yields: only half the gross weight of the raw produce of the Egyptian plants being that of the seed, while, for all Indian Cotton, this amounts to two-thirds or even three-fourths. The extent to which his fields had been robbed, rendered it impossible to estimate fairly the yield per acre. The Agricultural Society's Cotton Committee reports that the sample submitted to them had been spoiled by rain stains, but that, although rather weak in fibre, it was soft and fine. In 1841, Mr. G. Fieldt tried an experiment with Mexican and New Orleans seed: he sowed three cottahs of ground with each kind: he chose a light soil, which he describes as a red sandy clay: he sowed between June and August, and irrigated occasionally, but in all other respects his cultivation was carried on in the manner usual among the villagers of the district, and no extraordinary care was bestowed on the *See Agricultural Transactions, Vol. V., page 52. † Agricultural Journal, Vol. II., page 200. crop. The Mexican seed failed, while the New Orleans all germinated some heavy rain, however, injured the young plants, many of them drooped and died in September and October, and he was obliged to replace these with fresh seed. The plants of his first sowing flowered in October, but yielded less satisfactorily than those which came on later, and it was not until the following March that his best picking commenced. In May the plants all began to put out fresh leaves, and had by this time grown to fine healthy bushes: in July new pods had formed. This second crop he considered better both in quantity and quality than the first, and he calculated the produce as equal to 160 lbs. of clean Cotton per acre: the gross out-turn was decidedly higher than that of the native kinds, besides which the proportion of clean to seed Cotton was materially greater. At the time when he sowed his own crop, he had distributed some of the same kind of seeds to a few of the best cultivators of thirteen different pergunnahs: giving to each of them a Nagri translation of Mr. Mercer's rules.* The general result of this experiment closely resembled that of his own in its commencement: the Mexican seed everywhere failed. As soon as he had seen that this was the case with his own sowings, he sent round to each of the villagers a fresh supply of the New Orleans seed to replace the other. This, as well as that originally distributed, for the most part, came up well during the rains, but in September and October many of the young plants died when this had happened in his own fields, he had put in fresh seeds, and thus kept up his stand of plants, but the villagers had no where taken the trouble to do so: disgusted at the failure of the American seed, and the subsequent sickliness of the New Orleans plants, they came to the conclusion that the Abohawah (climate) was not suited to the exotic Cotton, and from the first sowing of the seed they accordingly utterly neglected the crop. * Mr. Mercer was one of the American Cotton planters employed by Government, of whose proceedings an account will be found in the second part of this volume. |