S6 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



unable to rear tree cottons. Taking into consideration the 

 licavy rainfall ol" the Hill tracts, it is obvious that any 

 experiment towards the introduction of ordinary commer- 

 cial cottons, which seldom tolerate a rainfall oT more than 

 40 inches, is doomed to failure. They have, however, pro- 

 mised to undertake trials with buri and Cambodia which 

 are known to withstand heavy rainfall but even in the 

 remote event of their success, it is diflicult to imagine that 

 they w^ould thrive under the peculiar system of J hum*' 

 cultivation which, from all accounts, gives the indigenous 

 plant exactly the conditions it requires. Mr. Hutchinson, 

 the Superintendent of the Chittagong Hill Tracts 

 informed me that he made a trial with hiiri cotton. The 

 plants made a good growth and looked so well during the 

 vegetative period that the cultivators were favourably 

 impressed with its possibilities, but finally it refused to 

 form bolls and thus was absolutely unproductive. 



There is, of course, no doubt that the Garo Hill cotton 

 is the best and the proprietor of the Ginning Tactory at 

 Chittagong classified the cottons according to value as 

 follows : — 



(1) Garo Hill or Chilmciri; (2) Jala from Lamding, 

 (3) Bong from Chittagong, (4) Cachari and Comilla. The 

 difference in price to the cultivators between the best and 

 the worst varieties may be only Re.l per maund, while 

 at the same time, it is understood that this may mean at 

 least Rs. 4 or Rs. 5 to the merchant. 



So far as I can gather, and I presume this to be correct, 

 tliere are scarcely any appreciable differences of climate 

 in these tracts and the rainfall is very heavy. The 

 superiority of the Garo Hill cotton may be due to the great 

 proportion of lime in the soil as calcareous rocks abound. 

 I would suggest that samples of soils be procured from 

 J hums* in the Garo Hills and Chittagong Hill Tracts for 

 the determination of this point by the Agricultural Chemist. 

 At the same time, it would be interesting if he could dis- 



* Temporary fields made in a forest by cutting down jungle and burning it over 

 the land. 



