THIS most valuable plant has now become of more importance to Pernambuco even than the sugar-cane, owing to the great demand for the cotton of that province, and of those adjoining to it, in the British markets. New establishments are forming yearly for the cultivation of the cotton plant, notwithstanding the great inconveniences which must often be experienced in accomplishing this object. The districts which are chosen for the purpose, and universally allowed to be the best adapted to its growth, are far removed from the sea coast, arid and oftentimes very scantily supplied with fresh water. Absolute distress is felt from a want of water in some of these situations, at the time that other parts of the country are enjoying perfect ease in this respect. The opinion is very general that the cotton plant will not thrive in the neighbourhood of the coast[167], and that frequent changes of weather are injurrious to it. The dry and wet seasons are doubtless more regularly marked at a distance from the sea, and if any variation is felt in such situations, it is from a want of rain, and not from a superabundance of it. The cotton plant requires that a great portion of the year should be dry; for if much rain falls when the pod is open, the wool is lost; it becomes yellow, decays, and is rendered completely unfit for use. The soil which is preferred for its culture is a deep red earth, with veins of yellow occasionally running through it; this becomes extremely hard, after a long interval without rain. The cotton plantations are yearly receding farther into the interior, where-ever the Sertam plains do not prevent this recession. The plantations of this description which were formerly established nearer to the coast, are now employed in the rearing of other plants. The constant supply of new lands which the cotton plant requires, for it is judged necessary to allow the land to rest for several years before it undergoes cultivation a second time, may in some degree account for this. Perhaps too, the rapid increase of the population upon the coast may have had some effect in forcing back those who plant an article of trade, to give place to others who cultivate the necessary food for the inhabitants of the country. The cotton is often sold by the planter in _caroço_, that is, before it has been separated from the seed, to other persons whose livelihood is obtained in preparing it for the export market; but as the labour of conveyance is, of course, considerably increased whilst it is in this state, the dealers establish themselves near to the plantations; they recede as the planters recede. Some years ago a number of the machines for separating the cotton from the seed were to be seen within two leagues of Recife; a few years after they were removed to Goiana, and now the principal resorts of the dealers are Limoeiro and Bom Jardim; places, as will have been seen, which are several leagues distant from the coast.