84 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTFRAL RESEARCH 



by the trade are practically equal for all, so, from a culti- 

 vator's point of view, the two last can safely be taken as the 

 best to grow. Mr. Clouston estimates that he has gained 

 from 2 to 3 per cent, in quantity by selection, and I seized 

 the opportunity to point out to him that this is really a 

 long step in advance, especially when it becomes establish- 

 ed over the enormous cotton tracts of the Central Provinces 

 and Berar. 



The popular belief is that, by scientific methods, an in- 

 crease in length of staple and proportion of cotton to seed 

 can be easily attained, but the public generally and mem- 

 bers of the Agricultural Department also should hold 

 steadily in their view the fact that to evolve an addition of 

 even one or two per cent, in length of staple and percentage 

 of cotton to seed in a few years is in itself a notable feat, 

 and that it is chimerical perhaps to hope to reach anything 

 better. Anyhow, it would at least serve as an excellent 

 foundation for a fresh start in advance. 



Forms of all varieties with narrow-lobed leaves are 

 more easily fixed than those with broad lobes. Undue im- 

 portance should not, however, be attached to the degree of 

 division in the leaves. At the Telinkheri farm there are 

 plots of Bhuri, Cambodia and the indigenous varieties. 

 All have suffered, although slightly so, from water-logging 

 during the recent heavy rains. Cotton is a crop with a de- 

 cided predilection for a well-drained soil. 



The Department of these provinces is quite alive to the 

 danger of the possibility of the reputation of their selected 

 seed being ruined by the addition of local bazar seed by un- 

 scrupulous dealers for the sake of a temporary profit. It 

 is difficult to conceive how such a contingency can be met 

 in the case of indigenous varieties in which the seeds do not 

 differ materially. 



Cambodia, in all cases, seems to be inferior in strensjth 

 and quality of produce to Hhu?i m the Central Provinces 

 and Berar, and it is also about three weeks longer in arriv- 

 ing at maturity, an objection of vital importance in these 

 short season tracts. 



