f 



GOSSYPIUM 



DIK! i:i;i:\T FORMS GROWN CULTIVATION 



in Bombay 



and Cont. According to Mollison, the average outturn of seed 

 and cotton to._'.-ther in the Presidency varies from about 800 Ib. per 

 on in 'li' Kanuitak to as high as 446 Ib. in some well-cultivated fields 

 in Broach. The proportion of dean to seed cotton is on an average about 

 one to three. The total cost of cultivation per acre in the Surat district 



im.'ltcs ;it Us. '21 1.'5 ;ilili,l-. 



Modifications on above System. In Surat the average rainfall is 

 slightly heavier than in Broach, but the soil is not so deep nor so dense, 

 an. I there is less risk of seedlings being destroyed by rain. The rotation 

 crops are mostly kharif, whereas in Broach they are rabi. Juar is the 

 pi im-ipal rotation crop, always with a subordinate mixture of white tuver. 

 Rice is never sown with cotton in Surat. 



The principal variation in cultivation in the Karnatak is due to the Karnatak. 

 monsoons the south-west between June and October, and the north- 

 east between October and December. If sowing were to take place in 

 June, as in other districts, the Dharwar crop would ripen in the middle 

 of the north-east monsoon and the cotton be damaged by rain. To 

 prevent this, sowing usually takes place in the latter part of August, and 

 may be even extended to September. The seedlings are not thinned 

 out to the same extent as in Broach and Surat, but are left comparatively 

 close together. 



In Khandesh two forms of cotton are grown, the one on black and the 

 other on light soil ; they generally occupy the same field once in three years. 

 The light-soil crop yields best with heavy rainfall, the black-soil crop 

 with moderate rainfall. The seed rate is 10 to 12 Ib. per acre and is 

 sown, if possible, by June. Picking begins in October and is complete 

 in December. In cotton-picking, care should be taken to avoid floss 

 which is discoloured and damaged by boll-worm, as such obtains a poorer 

 price and its presence lowers the average rate obtained. 



In selecting seed for next crop, care should be taken to secure bolls seed selection. 

 from the largest, healthiest and most copiously fruiting plants. Seed 

 should not be taken from plants on which any of the bolls are affected by 

 boll-worm. As a further precaution against boll-worm, cotton seed 

 should, before it is prepared for sowing, be steeped for five minutes washing the 

 in a per cent, solution of copper sulphate and then dried in the sun. & 

 Disastrous effects on the cotton crop may be produced by sudden at- 

 mospheric disturbances. The most trying consequences are due to heavy Atmospheric 

 rainfall, frequent changes of wind, cloudy weather and frost. Au r 

 abstract from Mr. Walton's History of Cotton in Bombay, detailing the 

 various diseases caused by these conditions, is given in the Dictionary 

 (iv., 70). 



Exotic Cottons. Except in the Karnatak, where an American cotton Egyptian. 

 has been acclimatised, foreign cottons have failed to take any very pro- 

 minent place. In this connection mention may be made of the attempts 

 of the late Mr. Tata of Bombay to grow Egyptian cotton beyond the 

 Ghats as a rabi crop in the eight months of dry weather that prevail 

 between the monsoons. The result may be said to have been a failure. 

 At Poona in 1900 two Egyptian cottons were tried. They had an un- 

 healthy appearance from the first, many of the bolls dropped before they 

 were ripe, and both together gave an average outturn of only 401 Ib., 

 lint and seed, per acre. Irrigation 



SIND. Area and Production. In the Final Memorandum for 1906-7 Cotton. 



599 



