"
Madras 1,655,000 "
Mysore }
Assam } 230,000 "
Burmah (Lower)}
Burmah (Upper)}
Ajmere and Meywara 40,000 "
----------
15,983,000 "

Bombay, Kurrachee, Calcutta, Madras, Tuticorin and Cocanada are the
chief Indian cotton ports.

=Cotton-growing in Russia in Asia.=--Lying immediately north of Persia and
Afghanistan and south of Khirghiz Steppes lies an immense area much of
which is now being cultivated and most of it very fit for the production
of cotton. The Sea of Ural has running into it two very large rivers,
Amu Daria and the Syr Daria, and it is in the neighbourhood of these two
rivers where we find by far the greatest weight of cotton of Turkestan
produced.

There are four important areas, viz., Syr Daria, the centre of which is
Tashkend; Fergana, which lies between Samarcand and Bokhara; the
district of Samarcand itself; and Merv, which stands on the Overland
Railway. It appears that many attempts were made to introduce cottons of
various types into this locality, but most of the delicate species
failed. The Upland of America, however, survived, and has continued to
succeed, thanks to the valuable help which the Government gave in the
way of instruction and distribution of free seed.

The first Government cotton plantation was commenced at Tashkend, one of
the termini of the Transcaspian Railway. Eight years ago there were
upwards of a quarter of a million acres devoted to cotton cultivation.

During the American War (that period which quickened all the
cotton-growing centres of the Eastern Hemisphere) the production of
fibre may be said to have commenced in earnest in Turkestan, and so late
ago as 1890 no less than forty-five and a half million pounds of good
fibre were grown. Tashkend, it would appear, promises to hold its own,
as it is determined to practise the best and most scientific methods in
the growth of cotton; in fact, in very few centres outside this
district, old and out of date operations are followed. Even in the
districts of Fergana and Samarcand, the old wooden plough called a
"sokha" is still in use.

Seed, as in the case of India, is mostly sown broadcast, and very little
preparing of the land is done. Yet, in spite of these deficiencies, good
crops are raised in many districts, capital soil and a most equable
climate making up for the shortcomings of the planter.