The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-09-23

much Of the product was carried long dis
tances on the backs of bullocks, and was
unloaded every night, often in the mud,
and subject to loss and deterioration in va
rious ways. The Bombay Cotton Commit
tee, in 1S47, estimated that "the whole
s'charges Of conveyance to Bombay from
sthe mart of Khangaon, only 216 miles dis
Giant, being the nearest of all, do not fall
"short of 66 per cent. on the price of the
commodity" We do not find any state
ment of the current railroad charges; but
the cost of transportation has been further
reduced by the extension of the use OF the
cotton press. The conversion Of bullock
paths into cart roads, in certain cases, has
further facilitated the arrival Of cotton st
market, and it is possible for the govern
meat to cheaper its cost yet more at the
ports Of shipment, by the removal Of the
tax which it has to pay at the towns to
which it is brought. This tax has already
been somewhat reduced, but the commits
siOner is very urgent in advising its total
abolition, citing the repeal Of the tax on
American cotton as reason for tightening
to the utmos: the burdens of the Indian
staple. In the race that India must run
with America for place in the Manchester
market, the weight of the "octroi" duties,
he says, cannot fail to tell against the
former.
The attempt to extend the growth of the
"Hingunghat," Berar and other superior
cotious-which are more especially the
rivals ofthe Americsn-into the less favored
districts Of India, has, so far, been attended
with bat Indifferent success, the commits
sioner expressing the belief that the supe-
riority of the staple produced in those dis
tricts is due to local causes. or expert
ments likewise made with American seed
the commissioner says that "the result Of
'sthe experiments, conducted again this
"year with great care, has not been such
Gas to convince me that the American cotton
"seed is likely to prove success in Cen
"tral India The report details the vari-
ous measures taken for the improvement Of
the indigenous plant, among which is the
establishment Of three seed farms, aggre-
eating 260 acres, in selected spots within
the districts referred to.
The exports toward Bombay Of Central
Provinces and Berar cotton during the
season of lS6S-'69 are stated ss follows:
Full. l.pressed bales, 20 SOL; half pressed
bales, I77,775; dohras, 1885. The num-
Ser of acres under cultivation in these dis
tricts in lS67-'6s was 1854, $50; and in
1s6S'69, l, ,2s6, ,742; showing an increase Of
80, 100 acres in the latter year. The commits
siouer, however, remarks: GAS stated early
Gin the season, the area under cultivation
"has not undergone any marked change,
ssand is still nearly at the figure at which it
sshas now been for several years, and at
(which it is likely to remain for some time
"to come. For, save under extraordinary
circumstances, the cultivation is notlikely
''to receive any apprecisble extension" )"
The reason for this conclusion is stated to
be that s'in the wurdah Valley, where the
"crop is most successful, the crop still
s'takes up one half of the land sown for the
ssautumn harvest: while in the Valley Of
"tivated area is devoted to cotton. When
sit is remembered that an area at least
"equsl to that sown with cotton must be
preserved for other produce in order to
"adnit- Of the rotation Of crops. it will be
understood that the cultivation does not
s'admit Of much extension in this quarter. {"
The Hingunghat cotton is sowu during
the frat break in the weather following the
setting in Of the rains. generally on fields
which have borne grain crop the previ-
Gus year, the soil having been broken up
previous to the monsoon by the "bukhur, 4"
g rough instrument peculiar to that part Of
Inc C0uu1Ey, odu WhtSu IL EaSsSu S'cA VIC
field five or six times The seed is then
sown in drills, very close, and the plant is
hoed soon after it appears above ground.
1t is then left to itself till weeds appear,
when it is weeded by hand, and thinned
when found to be too close. 1t begins to
flower in September, the pods form the fol-
lowing mouth, and in November the cap
sules burst, and the c,tton is ready to be
picked. The ginning has heretofore been
done by q native invention called the
"churka," or "recha." In closing his re-
port for ls67-'6s, Commissioner Carnac
says:
"JubbulpNa and Hingunghat have FOR some
time gov eni 4yed the advantage Of the pres
eroe Of European merchants. But the number
OF half-presses and full-presses at these places
have considerably increased during the last
year, and Messrs. Warwick i Co. intend, I be-
lieve, to set up ginning factory at Hingun-
CHAT. The Mofussl Ginning and Pressing
Company have now been at work some time IN
the Berars, and their excellenty managed es
adjustments have done much to keep up the
credit of the cotton sent down from this part
Of India. The factories of the Deccsn Compa-
" D.