January, 1910.] 



IS 



Fibres. 



cotton grown at Skerrett's Experiment 

 Station. It will be seen that the per- 

 centage germination of the seed was 

 low, and decreased fairly steadily on 

 storage. It was found that the decrease 

 in the germinative power was of the 

 same order of maguitude as in the 

 increase of the seeds which showed the 

 internal brown discoloration mentioned 

 above. This is illustrated by the fact 

 that in February, 1908, the percentage 

 of seed? thus affected was 34, while in 

 November it was 66, as already stated. 



To ascertain whether seed kept better 

 if stored in an absolutely dry atmo- 

 sphere, a portion of this same lot of 

 seed was simultaneously preserved in 

 a desiccator over strong sulphuric acid. 

 In November,1908, the seed was examined 

 at the same time as that stored under 

 ordinary laboratory conditions. The 

 percentage of germination was found to 

 be 26. On cutting open and examining 

 these seeds, it was observed that a large 

 proportion showed the brown discolour- 

 ation seen in seeds stored under normal 

 conditions, the percentage of internally- 

 brown seeds being 69. As one would 

 expect, all the seeds examined were 

 very hard and dry, doubtless on ac- 

 count of the exceedingly dry atmo. 

 sphere in which they had been kept % 



It appears, therefore, that storage 

 under conditions of extreme dryness 

 does not favourably affect the rate of 

 deterioration. 



Summary of Conclusions. 



a. Cotton seed undergoes certain 

 changes on being stored. 



b. The contents of the resin cavities 

 undergo a change, the nature of which 

 is not known, whereby the original 

 brown colour is changed to green. 



c. The resin masses tend to become 

 ruptured, causing brown discolouration 

 and disintegration of the internal 

 tissues of the seed. 



d. The germinating power tends to 

 decrease on storage. This appears close- 

 ly to follow the increase in the per- 

 centage of seeds showing brown dis- 

 colouration, but whether this latter is a 

 causative or consequent factor of the de- 

 crease of the percentage germination 

 is not clear. 



e. The storage of cotton seed under 

 very dry atmospheric conditions does 

 not appear to affect favourably the 

 decrease in germinating power, as com- 

 pared with storage under normally dry 

 conditions. 



THE EXTENSION OF CULTIVATION 

 OF FIBRE PLANTS IN INDIA. 



(From the AgriculturalJournal of India, 

 Vol. IV., Pt. IV., October, 1909.; 

 The following is a report drawn up 

 by a Committee consisting of Messrs. 

 Gammie, Burkill, Fiulow, Clouston and 

 Subba Rao, for the information of the 

 Board of Agriculture. It was prepared 

 in 1908, laid before the Board for criti- 

 cism, and subsequently sligh tly amplified 

 by the Committee, on information 

 obtained by the Inspector-General of 

 Agriculture from the Directors of Agri- 

 culture of the various provinces : — 



The Committee limited consideration 

 to particular crops : — 



(1) Ryots 'crops — Jute, Hibiscus can- 

 nabinus, Crotalaria juncea and Coco- 

 nut. 



(2) Capitalists' crops — Rhea, Agave, 

 Piae-apple, Sansevieria and Flax. 



(3) Fibres worth experimental atten- 

 tion, e.g., Plantain, Malachra and Sida- 



Jute. — At present the cultivation of 

 jute is practically confined to Bengal 

 and Eastern Bengal and Assam. In both 

 of these Provinces, it is one of the most 

 important crops, and its cultivation 

 increased rapidly, owing to high prices 

 until 1907. During the last two years, 

 however, there has been a diminution of 

 between 30 per cent, and 40 per cent, in 

 the area under jute, caused, partly by 

 low prices, due to bad trade and to over- 

 production, and partly, by the great 

 rise in the price of rice produced by 

 famine conditions in Bengal and in other 

 parts of India. While there is little 

 doubt that, in some districts, jute has 

 replaced rice to a certain extent, the 

 ryots who grow jute now generally 

 know that paddy or a rabi crop can 

 usually be grown in the same field in the 

 same year. This should be considered 

 by those who think that the extension 

 of cultivation of jute would seriously 

 interfere with the food-supply of the 

 country, for, on the other hand, the 

 little diminution in outturn of rice 

 caused by increase of jute is more thau 

 compensated by the enhanced buying 

 capacity of the country on the return 

 of the more profitable crop. The culti- 

 vation of jute is extending in Assam aud 

 is very profitable there, where large 

 areas of virgin land are available for the 

 crop. Its cultivation increased rapidly 

 in Behar during the years 1904-1907 when 

 prices were high ; but latterly the area 

 has decreased to about one-third. Its 

 place in the crop rotations of this tract 

 is still indefinite. During the last lour 

 years, trials with jute have been made in 



