Coimbatore.—The very copious agricultural details from this district enable me to give a fuller account of it than of any of the preceding, or rather I should say renders it difficult to give a sufficiently condensed summary. There are several varieties of country cotton cultivated, but I shall confine myself to two, the annual and triennial, or oopum and laudum purthee, the former is cultivated in deep black, the latter in the lighter loamy calcarious soils. In the latter only the American and Bourbon cottons can be cultivated successfully.
The lands, previously manured, are prepared for the reception of the seed by repeated ploughings, after the first rains in April; but the sowing does not take place until August, September, or even October, according to the setting in of the rains, when, after two or three additional ploughings, it is sown broadcast, the seeds being previously soaked in cow-dung or red earth and water, and dried to prevent them adhering to each other in sowing. When about a month old, the ground is again ploughed with a light plough made without iron on the share, a proof that they are not so tender at this age as usually supposed, which at the same time weeds the ground and thins the superfluous plants. In about another month they are weeded again, after which they are considered sufficiently matured to resist the weather. The same methods are practised with the American and Bourbon cottons. In ordinary seasons the gathering commences in March and continues till the end of April. If rain falls about that time, the plantation is again ploughed and cleared from weeds, and in July and August a second crop is gathered, amounting to about half the first. In January of the second year these processes are repeated, and the two crops gathered as in the first, and again in the third year, after which the plants droop, cease to bear, and are rooted out before the setting in of the North East monsoon. If the soil is black it is re-manured and prepared for a fresh crop of oopum purthee, but if the plantation has been triennial, the land is fallowed or sown with some common light grain. The time for ploughing, sowing and gathering the annual, is the same as for the triennial, plant Experiments were in progress, at the date of the report, for determining the comparative advantage of row planting, but have not yet been communicated. It seems probable much advantage would accrue from liberal pruning after each crop. The cultivation of Bourbon and American cotton is rapidly extending, and in some talooks has nearly superseded the indigenous triennial; the plan of culture being the same for both, and no advantage obtained on that account, its extension must be solely attributable to its superiority. The collector, Mr. Drury, thinks that if the cost, of conveyance to the coast for exportation was reduced, a further increase would take place, greatly to the advantage of the district.
