INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1916-17 127 



The quality of the Broach cotton is already so good that 

 it has been difficult to effect anything tangible in its im- 

 provement, but at the Surat Farm where experiments with 

 this end in view have been carried on uninterruptedly for 

 many years, certain strains have been established, and these 

 are distinctly more profitable than the local unselected 

 cotton. Thus while ordinary Surti Broach, on the farm, 

 gives a gross return of Rs. 89 per acre, Selection 1A gives 

 Rs. 106, and Selection 11, Rs. 98. 



Taking the average of five years, local cotton has a gin- 

 ning percentage of 33-2; Selection 1A, 366; Selection 11, 

 35-2. These improved cottons are now grown on an ex- 

 tended scale by villagers under departmental supervision 

 and a premium of 5 per cent, over local rates is paid by 

 traders for the produce, but there are indications to show 

 that this is considerably below their intrinsic value. 



In the Broach District the local cotton is being mixed 

 with an inferior type called ghogari as it brings in more 

 money at present to the cultivator. From the results of 

 the Broach plot for three years ghogari yields on an average 

 15 lb. more kapas per acre than the Broach Deshi. This 

 together with the high ginning will pay about Rs. 3 more 

 per acre to a cultivator. 



Realizing that the people are determined to have gho- 

 gari the Department has started a farm at Broach to see 

 what can be done either to improve it or to develop uniform 

 strains. Four more or less distinct types have been sepa- 

 rated, but the test has not been in operation long enough 

 to furnish any results of a decisive nature. The fibre is 

 reported on in Bombay as being short and weak and the 

 change of quality in the Broach cotton generally is not 

 approved of. In valuations of successive years before 1908, 

 the difference in price between Fine Broach and Fine Surat 

 was ordinarily Rs. 10 per candy, but of late years the market 

 has been paying Rs. 30 per candy more for Fine Surat, and 

 this fact supports our contention that Broach cotton has 

 deteriorated simply by reason of the steadily increasing 

 ghogari mixture. In Broach as in Khandesh and Berar 



