LNSTITUTE and college, PUSA, for 1910-11. 85 



At Akola, where a large area of the Experimental Sta- 

 tion is devoted to the raising of selected seed, the cottons 

 comprise Bhwi, nialvensis, vera, rosea, cutchica and Bani. 

 Bam has fallen into disrepute and one seed farm at Risod, 

 especially devoted to producing its seed, has great diffi- 

 culty in disposing of it. Bhuri seed is in rapidly increas- 

 ing demand as are also malvensis and rosea, but the last- 

 named, from its productiveness and hardiness, appeals 

 most strongly to the cultivator. The manurial experiments 

 appear so far to prove that farmyard manure has a dis- 

 tinct effect, but, that on account of their cost and trifling 

 action there is little or practically no advantage gained 

 from the use of artificial fertilizers. Farmyard manure 

 and urine earth mixed give a better result than either ap- 

 plied alone. 



All the varieties of cotton are pure now, and the chief 

 difficulty ahead lies in the maintenance of this purity in 

 the cultivator's fields. An accidental admixture of varie- 

 ties on this station arose from the fact that whole seed 

 was fed to the cattle and this often germinated in the 

 manure when spread on the fields. Crushing the seed, of 

 course, has removed this defect. 



Experiments with English and indigenous ploughs and 

 with the Bhakar go to prove that ploughing tends to assist 

 water-logging in a wet season when the Bhakar is most 

 effectual, but the latter method fails in a season of drought. 

 As the cultivator can only guess what the season is going 

 to be this conclusion is not obviously helpful. It appears 

 to be advantageous to follow the local practice of sowing 

 cotton in anticipation of the setting-in of the rains, and 

 the converse applies to Jowar, which suffers badly if dry 

 weather supervenes after germination. 



In 1910, there were 3,000 acres of Bhuri under cultiva- 

 tion in Berar. Unfortunately the epidemic of plague 

 greatly retarded its preparation for the market. The area 

 actually under seed farm of all varieties is 600 acres. 

 Three varieties of seed are supplied on purchase from this 

 farm, namely, malvensis, rosea and Bhuri- At Risod in the 



