Cotton is another of' the agricultural productions for which India has been celebrated from the most remote times: its manufactures of cotton of extraordinary white ness arc expressly mentioned by Arrian, Sze, It is culti vated very extensively, but of a better quality, as well as in greater abundance, in some parts of Guzerat, Bengal, the Mahratta districts, the district of Tinnevelly, the vici nity of Surat, and on the coast of Coromandel, the soil and climate of which particularly suit it, than elsewhere in Hindustan. The cotton grown near Alimoocl in the pro vince of Guzerat is perhaps the finest of all ; the fibre is extremely delicate, but the staple, as is the case with al most all Indian cotton, very short. The cotton grown near Nagpoor, in the province of Gondwana, is also in great repute ; considerable quantities of it are brought for the supply of the Bengal manufacture to Midnapoor, which is the great depot in this part of India fur cotton. In those districts of Guzerat, which lie near the Gulf of Cambay, the cotton is of good quality, but perhaps not equal to the Ahimood cotton: it is sown here on fallowed spots, along with rice, the latter being reaped at the beginning of the rainy season, while the cotton stands. It is a precarious crop, as either too much or too little rain destroys it. On the banks of the Jumna its cultivation is an object of great attention ; indeed the demand of the Bengal market is so extensive and regular, that the growth of this shrub must always be profitable in every district, with a proper soil, within the reach of that market, especially as Bengal it self, •itn the exception of its more eastern tracts. in v% hich a fine soil of cotton is grown for the most delicate manufac tures, does not supply nearly enough of fine cotton, nor even a sufficiency of the coarser kind, though they ale cultivated in every part of the province, interspersed in fi.:Ids of pulse. Cotton, as it is disposed of by the culti vator, is called kopass; when divested of its seed, which i3 on an average full three-fourths of its weight, it is named room As there can be little doubt that indigo is the same as the indicum of the ancients, we may reckon this plant as another of the agricultural productions of Ilindostan, cul tivated from time immemorial. The great demand for indigo from Ilindostan, in consequence of the devasta tion of the plantations in the island of St. Domingo, which formerly yielded a produce nearly equal to that of all the other West India islands, has of late years very much increased the cultivation of it, especially in the Bri tish provinces under the Bengal presidency; but the cul ture of it by the natives has not improved, notwithstand ing the increased demand, and, at first, the consequent in creased !nice. The quality and quantity of the produce depend nearly as much on the nature of the soil, as on the mode of cultivation. In the Dooab the soil is so fa vourable to this plant, that what grows there in a wild state is of superior quality to that produced by cultivation. The soil and cultivation of the Bcnares district are also extremely favourable to indigo; but perhaps there are few spots of equal extent, in which it is grown to a greater extent, than in the vicinity of Mowdy Ghaut in the pro vince of Agra ; from this place there was sent to Europe, from one manufacture alone, in the year 1798, 800 maunds of 80 lib. each of manufactured indigo. We have already adverted to the stimulus which was given to the cultiva tion of this plant by the state of St. Domingo : As a proof of this, we may mention, that at the sales of the East India Company, in the year 1786, only 245,011 pounds of manu factured indigo were sold: in 1807.8, the total manufac ture of indigo in the Bengal presidency amounted to 8800.000 fibs.; and in the year 1810, the total quantity of indigo, British property, which was sold at the East India Company sales, amounted to upwards of five million pounds weight. See INnico.
The poppy, pc:paver somniferum, is chiefly cultivated in Bengal, Allahabad, and Bahar. It is a very uncertain crop—the produce of an acre varying from 20 lbs. to 40 lbs. It also requires much labour in the cultivation, and in the gathering of the juice, which is afterwards evaporat ed into opium. Besides between 20 lbs. and SO lbs. of the opium itself from an acre of land, the cultivator ob tains about 40 lbs. of poppy seed, and frequently from the
same land a crop of pot herbs, or some other early vege tables or grain. In Bahar, the cultivation of the poppy, and the manufacture of opium, are carried on so exten sively, that 4000 chests of the latter may be exported an nually; but it is a general complaint in Europe, that in this, as well as other provinces of Hindostan, the opium is frequently adulterated by a mixture of cow-dung, an extract from the leaves and stalk of the poppy, the gum of the mimosa, and other substances. It is said, that opium of an excellent quality is made from the poppy's gum in some parts of Northern Hindostan. In the ceded districts of Mysore, poppies are cultivated not only for the purpose of making opium, but also for the sake of their seed, from which, when ripe, an intoxicating liquor, called post, is made, that is much drunk for inebriation both by the Ma homedans and Ilindoos. The opium made from the pop pies grown in Malwah is deemed much inferior to that of Bengal, and is almost always adulterated with oil and other substances. In some of the provinces in the south of In dia, the poppy is cultivated almost entirely on account of its seed, which is mixed with the sweet cakes that are eaten by the higher ranks of the natives.
Till lately, it was rather supposed that the tobacco plant was indigenous in India; but Major Reline!l has shewn that this notion is erroneous, as there are in existence pro clamations issued by the Mogul emperors, especially one by the Emperor Jehangire, in the beginning of the 17th century, in which tobacco is mentioned as'a pernicious plant, introduced by Europeans." Besides the names by which it is known in Hindostan, even the Sanscrit names do not occur in old writings, and are evidently corruptions from the European term. Tobacco is now cultivated in almost every part of Hindostan, especially in the nortoern and western provinces of the presidency of Bengal.. in Malwah, the northern circars, Etc. In the southern pro vinces of India it is not so commonly grown. The dis trict round Bilsah, in the province of Mal wah, belonging to Scindiah, is highly celebrated all over India for the excel lent quality of its tobacco, which is in great demand, not only for home consumption, but for exportation. Such, however, is the indifference and indolence of the natives, that this high character and great demand does not appear to have stimulated them to extend the cultivation of this plant ; they prefer the risk of injuring their trade, by mix ing inferior tobacco with genuine British, or substituting the former entirely in the room of the latter. The tobacco grown in the Rungpoor district of Bengal, though by no means equal to that of Bilsah, is of good quality, and re markably cheap : the southern and eastern districts of this province are principally supplied from Rungpoor. In the vicinity of Baroach, in Guzerat, tobacco must be a productive crop, as a biggah of land planted with it yielded a nett revenue to the government of 20 rupees; whereas, according to Mr. Tennant, in the northern and eastern provinces of the presidency of Bengal," between 16 and 20 maunds of tobacco are reckoned a medium produce from three biggahs," and the value of each maund is only a rupee.
While the crops arc growing, such as require it are watered, and they are generally hoed, but by an implement which would be of little service, even if it were more in dustriously and skilfully used than it is by the Ilindoos. In order to protect such of them as are liable to the depreda tions of the birds, watchmen are placed at the different corners of the fields. During the dry season they stand upon a pillar of clay, about ten feet high, which they ex change for a scaffolding of wood, with a roof of straw, as soon as the rainy season commences. These watchmen are provided with a sling ; but in consequence of the ab horrence which the Hindoos feel to the shedding of blood, they seldom or never use it, contenting themselves with bellowing, that they may terrify without hurting the birds. Maize, and some sorts of millet, when nearly ripe, to be watched, not only during the day, but also at night, from the large kinds of bats, which would otherwise de stroy the crops.