88 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



cotton reduces the yield, that the best spacing distance for 

 Berar jari is 15 inches apart for the rows and 7 inches 

 apart for the plants in the rows, that cotton sown before 

 the monsoon breaks gets a good start and gives a larger 

 yield than that sown after the rains have set in, if the 

 blanks are dibbled in. 



Mr. Clouston adds that cotton grown continuously in 

 the same field for a period of years has become a fairly 

 common practice in Berar. This disregard of the principle 

 of rotation in cropping is decried by scientists, who attri- 

 bute to it the spread of insect pests and fungoid diseases. 

 The results, up to date, however, have not justified that 

 assumption. The experiment has now gone on for four 

 years ; no trace of disease and no serious damage by insects 

 have yet been noticed. Economically the practice has 

 proved a sound one owing to the high price of cotton and it 

 is, therefore, being followed in the non-experimental area 

 of the farm. 



Finally, the increasing demand for pure rosea seed has 

 been very marked. The Department admit that, in this 

 part of India, hhuri cannot be grown at as large a profit as 

 rosea, except in wilt-infested, wet or khari areas. Cambo- 

 dia cotton gives a poor return. It is more than a month 

 later than the indigenous varieties and suffers from the 

 early cessation of the rains in Berar. 



In my last year's report I explained the good work that 

 is being done at the Khandwa Agricultural Station by Mr. 

 G. Evans, the Deputy Director of Agriculture, Northern 

 Division, Central Provinces. This year he has furnished 

 samples of five sorts of cottons grown at the same station 

 and of two samples which he has picked out during his 

 researches throughout his District. One is from Chhapara, 

 a high plateau in the Seoni District of the Satpura, and 

 the other from Patau in a part of the Jubbulpore District 

 which is liable to early frost. He considers from the 

 geographical situation of both tracts that an early ripening 

 variety is absolutely essential. From the valuations it 



