134 
throughout the cotton-growing tracts for preparmg the land. It is thus described bv 
Mr. Kipling, in the note which aceompanies his verylifelike and accurate sketch - -“The 
“ buckhur is the plough in common use when the land is fit and easily workable It is 
“ perhaps the most useful implement employed in the cotton fieldand in general cultivi’ 
" tlon '. Practicafiy it is a wide Dutcb hoe, with a blade of about 1 foot 10 inches wido 
“ set “ two feruled pegs depending from a heavy block of wood, from which a pole 
ascends to the yoke, and fitted to a short handle sloping baekwards The parta «re 
: «rried to . field »d there jotad „p, »Eil / the ei.eple „J*” 
<( ? on + t , nve . d tbat the T « tress ^ d^aught pulls all tightly together. An important feature 
in ihe simple machine is the bamboo carned by the dnver, usedto stimulatethe animals 
„ but . mam, y t0 steady the plough. Two indentations are cut in the upper face of the 
« ma * n Jdock of the buckhur, and m one of them the point of the bamboo is rested It 
wifi thus be seen that the cultivator in this sketch is not gracefully posing himself 
sincc Ins weight, though comparatively slight, as he leans on his bamboo % of vital 
importance as a steadying power.” 
The process of sowing the cotton is simple. The seed prepared beforehand so as to make 
it run wrth ease, is dropped down hollow bamboo tubes carried by labourers, who follow 
the huckhur described above. The cotton is thus sown in rows of about three feet apart 
soon after the first fall of ram, about the commencement of the month of June. It ripens 
in the month of November, when the pieking commences, and about the end of the von- 
the up-country markets are active. As yet it can hardly be said that much improvement 
has taken place in the agricultural miplements in India. Light English and American 
ploughs, specnnens of which are exhibited, have been found to answer well • but thev iVe 
somewhat expensive, and the native cultivators hardly understand them yet. ^ 
The Cottoh Plant. 
, r d’he neixt Step in the cotton collection is the ripe plant. Several specimens of these are 
tobe found m the Indian annexe and an extensive variety are to be seen in the hothouses 
attached to the exlnbition, belongmg to Major Trevor Clarke, who has conducted manv 
important experiments with Indian cotton, especially with hybride. The commonesT 
variety in India is the Gossypmm xndwum or herbaceum. The Gossypium Barbadenw 
and the Gossypmm Peruvtanum or acuminatum are to be found in temples gardens Z 
in India, but they do not fonn any part of the cotton of commerce. ’ ö ’ ’ 
A complete collection of the weeds which give so much trouble in mH an „, n ui„ +• 
has been sent to England, and will be of interest to botanists cultivation 
Measubes Adopted to Improve the Cultivation of Cotton in India 
Of recent years, the government of India paid much attention to the improvement of 
cotton cultivation. Attempts have been made to introduce foreign varieties but the 
result has not been satisfactory, save in the Dharwar country in the south of the Bom W 
Presidency, where the new Orleans cotton seed has been successfully aeclimatised Tu fh 
Dharwar country, however, the cfimate is exeeptionally favourable, and the foreign plant 
is eultivated there under conditions which cannot be secured for it in other ,r 
India. Endeavours have, therefore, been made to improve the indigenous plant which 
though inferior to its American nval, produces a very fairly satisfactory cotton’ wTth 
this yiew, model farms have been established, under the charge of trained EurouP.n 
supermtendents, in the ehief cotton-growing tracts of the Bombay presidencv and in 
the Berars, central provinces, north-west provinces, and in Madras. The experimenl« 
so far as they have gone, seem to indicate that the staple of the Broacli, Hinguno-hat and 
ot the supenor Indian eottons, are about as good as can be grown under all the condi’tinu« 
of climate and soll with which the plant has to eontend in India, But althouo-h thpvn 
appears to be small prospect of improving the length of the staple, it is hoped that the 
yield may be increased by improved cultivation, and to this subject, which in the present 
Hate of the cotton trade is of gTeat importance, much attention is being paid at the 
model farms established by the government. The question all tums upon the cost of the 
improvements. Greater care in cultivation means, in most cases, an increase of expense