REPORT OF THE IMPERIAL COTTON SPECIAL- 

 IST FOR THE YEARS 1907-09. 



(G. A. Gammie, F.L.S.) 



1. Charge. — Mr. Gammie joined the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture as Imperial Cotton Specialist on 

 the 14th December, 1907, and has continued in charge of 

 his office since. Until 10th October, 1908, when he was 

 relieved by Mr. W. Burns, he held charge of the office of 

 Economic Botanist, Bombay, in addition to his own duties, 

 and from 6th August to 30th September, 1908, he held 

 charge of the office of the Principal, College of Agricul- 

 ture, Poona, owing to the illness of the Principal and the 

 Professor of Agriculture. 



2. Tours. — During the cold weather of 1907-08, the 

 Imperial Cotton Specialist examined the cottons on all 

 the farms of the Bombay Presidency and gave advice. In 

 March 1908, he visited some farms in the Madras Presi- 

 dency and discussed the experiments in progress with 

 the Deputy Director of the northern division. During 

 April and May an extensive enquiry was made regarding 

 the varieties of cotton and the conditions under which the 

 cotton crop is grown in Gujarat and Kathiawar. In 

 Surat and Broach districts the quality of the cotton 

 is best in the south and gradually gets worse as one pro- 

 ceeds northwards. Navasari has the finest and longest 

 staple, then comes Surat and then Broach. This may be 

 due to the heavier rainfall and greater atmospheric 

 humidity at Navasari (owing to its proximity to the sea), 

 for there is little apparent difference in the soil. Culti- 

 vators of the neighbouring districts have used Navasari 

 seed, but, although the produce was ginned and despatched 

 to Bombay separately, it failed to realise the same price as 

 that obtained for cotton grown at Navasari. This may, 

 however, have been due in part to the marks on the bales 



