INSTITUTE AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1907-09. 73 



The Central Indian cottons consist onlj of bani, jari 

 and varadi, with the usual preponderance of inferior types, 

 and the remarks made on the Central Provinces cottons 

 below will also apply to these. 



In November, 1908, the Cotton Specialist visited 

 Bassein in the Konkan to study the results of Bourbon 

 cotton cultivation there, and then proceeded to Pusa to 

 discuss various subjects with the Inspector- General of 

 Agriculture in India and other ofi&cers of the Imperial 

 Department. Afterwards a visit was paid to Bhagalpur, 

 and cotton matters were discussed there with ]Mr. Waod- 

 house, Bengal Economic Botanist. Cotton is not, of course, 

 an important crop in this Presidency, but the attention of 

 the officers of the department might be drawn to the fact 

 that Gossyi)ium intermedium (according to the classifi- 

 cation of the Cotton Specialist) is perhaps common as a 

 garden crop in some parts. At least three separate plots 

 were seen between ^luzafierpur and Pusa, adjoining the 

 railway. Sir George Watt, in his recent great work, states 

 that the famous Dacca muslins were manufactured from one 

 of the coarsest cottons in India, and he reproduces Rox- 

 burgh's coloured figure to support his point. From internal 

 evidence it may be gathered that Sir George Watt was 

 ignorant of the existence of Gossypium intermedium, 

 because the picture he gives shows clearly a distinct form 

 of this race. Some varieties in favoured localities may 

 produce fine staple which is far more likeh^ to be used in 

 the manufacture of a superfine cloth than one which closely 

 approaches the coarse Bengal or Assam type. There is no 

 record of Gossypium intermedium being found anywhere 

 in Eastern Bengal, but local ofiicers may not have suspected 

 its existence as a garden crop grown in villages near houses 

 and not in the fields. The real source of the Dacca muslin 

 cotton is a matter sufficiently important for close investi- 

 gation. 



The cultivation of hurhi cotton in Chota Nagpur is 

 probably capable of extension. Hand gins have been 

 supplied by the Deputy Director of Agriculture, Bengal, 



