1917.] The Fourth Indian Science Congress. clxi 



and five lakhs of rupees to the wealth of the Provinces this year which 

 will cover the cost of the Department of Agriculture in the Provinces 20 

 times over, and the cost of all the Agricultural Departments in India in- 

 cluding Burma about twice over. 



Much time has been given to the improvement of Roseum and other 

 promising varieties by selection ; and it has been definitely proved that 

 Buri (0. hirsutum) is immune to cotton wilt — a fungoid disease which 

 does much damage to cotton in parts of the cotton tract. 



Of the many crosses produced the Sindewahi cross obtained by cross- 

 ing Bani with a neglectum cotton is of considerable promise It gives 

 36 % of lint to seed while Bani gives 26 % only. Its lint is nearly as 



good as that of Bani. 



It has been proved that the ginning percentage of different strains 

 vary and that the percentage can therefore be increased by careful selec- 

 tion from pure line sowings. The offspring of a mother plant giving a 

 high percentage of lint has been found when taken collectively to inherit 

 this same character, though the percentage given by different plants of the 

 same strain varies. The variation in the percentage of lint to seed in the 

 case of a cotton depends on the quality of the soil, on the rainfall and on 

 the time of picking. The first and last pickings give the lowest percent 

 age. Light soil and an insufficient rainfall both affect the ginning per- 

 centage adversely. 



Cotton in the Central Provinces is grown in an area of about 4J mil- 

 lion acres. The soil of this area is almost all ■ black cotton,' a stiff clayey 

 loam which suffers from water- logging during periods of heavy rain. 

 Irrigation of cotton is never practised, and the crop is only grown in Dis- 

 tricts where the rainfall does not exceed 45". Experiments carried out on 

 the thin laterite soils of the rice tract have shown that on such soils 

 cotton can with irrigation be grown very successfully with a rainfall of 

 even 60". It would appear, therefore, that on well-drained soils the rain- 

 fall is not necessarily the limiting factor in cotton cultivation. 



The Phosphate Depletion of the Soils of Bihar : its effect on 

 the Quality and Yield of Crops of the contingent risks of 



Malnutrition and Endemic Disease in Cattle and Man. 



i 



W 



Mathematics 



President— The Rev. D. Mackichan, D.D.. LL.D.. Principal 



arid Profess&r of Physics, Wilson College, Bombay. 



I 'residential Address. 



In opening the sessions of the Physical and Mathematical Section of 

 this Congress I have elected to address you on the history of the develop- 

 ment of the scientific spirit in India rather than to follow the usual course 

 of passing in review before you some of the more recent developments in 

 the department of phvsical research. With these you are, most ot you, 

 already familiar or have the means of making yourselves acquainted, i 

 possess no special title to instruct you concerning them ; I am more con- 

 cerned to keep before you the possibilities that exist in India for the 

 growth of an Indian School of Research as judged by the past history of 

 Indian thought in the department of the studies represented in this bee 

 tion of the Congress and the present attitude of the mind of India to- 

 wards them. 



' This paper will be published in externa in the Congress number of 

 the Agricultural Journal of India. 



