Proceedings of the Committee of Commerce and Agriculture / Royal Asiatic Society.

  • Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Committee of Agriculture and Commerce.
Date:
[1840]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Proceedings of the Committee of Commerce and Agriculture / Royal Asiatic Society. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    pared. It was precisely similar in properties and appearance to the first samples of Assam caoutchouc sent over as being obtained from the Ficus elastica, whilst the black and unelastic caoutchouc was totally different, and had much the appearance of having been injured by heat in drying. Extracts were then read from various recent Indian reports on sugar, silk, &c. Great interest is excited in India by the very successful results attending the introduction of the Otaheite or mountain cane. Great pains have been taken, throughout the Bombay Presidency, to ex- tend and improve the growth of this cane, and to encourage the manufacture of improved sugar. The cultivation of the sugar-cane was much benefited by the alteration effected in the assessment of irrigated lands in 1839; it was in consequence greatly extended, and a larger revenue was obtained from it. The judicious experiments of Dr. Gibson in the Poonah district, in 1837-8, convinced the natives of the superiority of the Mauritius cane, and likewise proved the suitableness of the soil and climate of the Deckan for its cultivation. The Bombay authorities have lately requested that proper machinery should be sent from England to enable Dr. Gibson to carry out hia experiments more completely. The home government, however, think- ing that the manufacture of sugar should be left to individual enter- prise, declined sending out machinery. In consequence of this resolu- tion, it becomes desirable that individuals possessed of the requisite skill and capital should be acquainted that so wide and promising a field of enterprise is open to them. Much attention has also been devoted for a long series of years to the cultivation of silk in the Deckan, and the present prospects are highly satisfactory. The local authorities about the year 1825 intro- duced the Bengal field-mulberry, which is cultivated as a shrub, and requires constant irrigation; but as this is very expensive, and as the monsoons are extremely uncertain, but little progress was made in its cultivation. In 1830, new varieties of mulberry were introduced by order of the Court of Directors, and amongst these was the St. Helena mulberry, which bid fair to answer every expectation. In the close of 1830, M. Mutti arrived at Bombay, and recommended the introduc* tion of the standard instead of the bush or shrub cultivation. The late Sir John Malcolm held out encouragement to M. Mutti, and granted him lands in the vicinity of Poonah, and assisted him with a loan of 6000 rupees, for which Sorabjie R. Patell, as well as M. Mutti and his partner, became securities. Differences, however, arose between