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best and most scientific methods in the growth of cotton; in fact, in very few centres outside this district, old and out of date operations are followed.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. The formation of the Transcaspian Railway cannot but have an important influence upon the cotton-growing industry in Turkestan, running as it does through the very heart of the best land in the country. It should be noted that Bohkara annually produces over 50,000,000 pounds of cotton of the herbaceous type, and Khiva, another district lying still further east of those already mentioned, over 20,000,000 pounds. Lying between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea, lies another district named Transcaucasia, which yields large supplies of cotton. It has 100,000 acres devoted to cotton, giving over 20,000,000 pounds per annum. North of Kokan, on the river Syr Daria, is a rising cotton district named Khojend, where annually 3,000,000 pounds of cotton of the American type are raised.