INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1916-17 121 



fine variety still exists in moderate purity and it is said that 

 the bulk of the crop is bought on the spot by millowners. 



A sample of white-flowered cotton was valued in Bom- 

 bay as being equal to Superfine Bengal and lower than Fine 

 Khandesh by Rs. 38 per candy* 



The Southern Mahratta Country. In the lower portion 

 of Satara and throughout Belgaum, Bijapur and Dharwar, 

 the prevailing cotton is of the species G. herbaceum, known 

 as Kumptas in the trade and, in addition, there is, in the 

 Dharwar District, an acclimatized Upland Georgian, ori- 

 ginally from the United States of America, known commer- 

 cially as Dharwar-American. For some years past intro- 

 duced Broach cotton has done well in parts of Dharwar and 

 fetched good prices, but fresh importations of seed are 

 required as a steady deterioration has been proved to occur 

 in this region. In the Dharwar District again, another 

 cotton of Upland type from Cochin-China, known as 

 Cambodia, has been introduced. The success of this crop 

 however varies with the characters of the seasons and 

 for this reason it will probably never become popular. 



The Kumpta cotton is very uniform in type throughout 

 the whole tract. It is hardy and well suited to withstand 

 the vicissitudes of the climate. Its chief defects are a 

 rather low ginning percentage (25) and the rosy colour of 

 its cotton in bulk, which detracts from its value in the eyes 

 of the Bombay trade which prefers a quite white cotton. 

 By selection the ginning percentage has been raised by 

 4 per cent., its yield has also been increased and it will 

 possibly be still further increased by the fact that a tall, 

 shortly branched form of the plant has been found to 

 transmit a strain of higher production and, strange to say, 

 this style of plant appears to be the more productive in all 

 species of Indian cottons. 



How Kumpta has increased in value by selection will be 

 immediately seen from the following figures : — 



With ordinary cultivator's Kumpta giving a return of 

 Rs. 53 per acre, one Kumpta selected type on the Dharwar 



* 1 candy = 784 lb. 



