2C)C KUMPTA COTTON AXD TTS TMrROVEMEXT 



October and November is heavy. The cotton, however, is an improvement on 

 the ordinary kumjdO; and there has grown up, in the transition tract of the 

 Dharwar Di-^trict, a considerable demand for its seed. 



VII. CeOSSES of " KUMPTA " COTTON WITH " GHOGARI " COTTON. 



Ghogari cott' n is a variety of Gossypium herhaceum well recognized by 

 the trade and by the cultivators, which originated so far as we know in the north 

 of the Broach District in Gujarat. It has a very high-ginning percentage, often 

 40 per cent, or o\er, and this is its sole advantage. Its staple is short and 

 rough, its yield is certainly not higher than that of other varieties of herhaceum 

 cotton, and it has no special virtue of vigour or healthiness. The very large 

 ginning percentage is its only advantage, but if this quality can be combined 

 by crossing with kumpta cotton, without causing deterioration of the latter in 

 other directions, a considerably better type will have been produced than any 

 at present exi..ting. 



This was the principle on which my predecessors in cotton -breeding work 

 based their crosses of kmnpta with ghogari originally made at Dharwar in 1905. 

 The care bestowed on keeping them pure later on was such that the value of 

 the crosses was almost lost. In the first generatic n all good plants were picked 

 collectively, but from the second generation unit selections weie made for yield, 

 for high-ginning, and for good staple. 



For long, these selections were unsatisfactory as they continued to split, 

 but finally two strains wi h fixed characters which, when self- fertilized, breed 

 true were obtained, one in the year 1913 and the other in 1914. These have 

 been called respectively "Dharwar No. 4" and "Dharwar No. 5." These 

 strains have the following characters : — 



1. " Dharwar No. 4 " is an inteimediate type between the erect plant 

 and a truly bushy one (PI. V, fig. 2). It, however, produces no axillary vegeta- 

 tive branches. It flowers early like the kumpta parent, yields well, and gins 

 much better than ordinary kumpta cotton. The staple is, however, short. 



2. " Dharwar No. 5 " is bushy in habit of growth, and late in flowering. 

 Its yield is consequently small, but its ginning percentage is high, and its 

 staple is good. It is, in fact, a very promising cotton, and in our hands has 

 proved more profitable than kumpta. 



The yield per acre of kapas, and of lint, their ginning percentage, and the 

 value per candy of the lint, as compared with that of ordinary kumpta cotton, 

 is shown in the following' tables :— 



