206 



COTTON 



Upland have been tested, but as they ripen a month later 

 than indigenous varieties they produce a very small crop, 

 and suffer from the want of moisture due to the cessation 

 of the early rains in this tract. 



When grown as a pure crop rovea gives at least 10 per 

 cent, more lint than the ordinary field Jari, and its price 

 is the same. This variety is known as Varhadi or Katil- 

 vilayati. 



Rosea cutchica is slightly inferior to rosea in the 

 quality of its lint. It also yields heavily and is very 

 hardy, the percentage of lint being, however, only 37 as 

 compared with 40 of rosea. 



Malvensis is the variety which is capable of greatest 

 improvement in the quality of its staple. Different 

 strains have been found to vary greatly in the quality of 

 the lint, and it is therefore expected that in time it will 

 be possible to evolve a better type than that under experi- 

 ment at present. Its percentage of lint is about 30. 



The strain of Bani or Hinganghat, which has been 

 propagated at Akola, gives 29 per cent, against 26 per 

 cent, for ordinary Bani, but its low yield and poor ginning 

 percentage condemn it in the eyes of the cultivator. 



The relative values per acre of certain cottons stood as 

 follows after a trial over four years : 



(1) Rosea 



(2) Cutchica 



(3) Ordinary Jari 



(4) Buri 



(5) Malvensis 



(6) Bani... 



Rs. 



70 

 65 

 5 



58 

 57 

 44 



This experience proves that at present market prices 

 the two coarsest cottons, viz., rosea and cutchica, give 

 most profit to the cultivator of the Central Provinces. 



The table opposite gives the mixture found in the crops 

 grown in the different parts of the Provinces. 



Cotton grown continuously in the same field for a 

 period of years has become a common practice. This 

 method of cultivation is condemned by scientists, but 

 after trials of some years no ill-effects occurred, and 

 economically the practice has proved a sound one owing 

 to the high price of cotton. The old idea that topping 



