April, 1912.] 



305 



Fibres. 



were harvested with the indigo leaves, 

 and helped to provide a good result. 

 Replying to Sir Hugh's question regard- 

 ing how the Rs. 148 had been calculated, 

 the Baron referred to Mr. Rawson's 

 figures quoted in his paper, which gave 

 the result. As regarded the question 

 of transport, the idea was ^not to make 

 the manure for people 20 Imiles away, 

 but to plant so many acres adjoining 

 tea, &c, for the use of that estate. 

 If there were transport the cost would 

 have to be added, but the costs of 

 emptying the vats had been allowed for 

 in the cost of production, 



Sir Hugh pressed several of his points, 

 and his dialogue with the Baron was 

 a lengthy one. 



Mr. F. Crosbie Roles thought that 

 the Baron rather under estimated how 

 highly cultivated were tea estates in 

 Ceylon, and he thought the most that 

 the Baron could say regarding the 

 benefits of this seet was that it could 

 be used instead of artificial manures. 

 He did not think that it could possibly 

 be expected that a well cultivated 

 estate could have 



ITS YIELD INCREASED BY 50 PER CENT. 



He would like to ask Baron Schrottky 

 for more information about the special 

 process — his own patent. 



Sir Hugh Clifford : Professional se- 

 crets! (Laughter.) You are obliged to 

 answer that with some reserve, Baron. 



Baron SCHROTTKY held to his conten- 

 tion that indigo seet was far better 

 than the finest artificial manure. He 

 was a trained chemist and was careful 

 not to overstate results. He did not 

 think there need be any reserve about 

 his process. He had not been cariying 

 on his research work purely from a 

 monetary point of view. There was his 

 glucose and alkali process, and the steep- 

 ing could be carried on for a much 

 longer time than before, and thus the 

 better results were obtained. The Baron 

 went at some length into more or less 

 technical details. 



Mr. Roles : Could the Baron tell us 

 something |about growing indigo under 

 irrigation ? 



Baron Schrottky's reply was, in the 

 main, to the effect that success under 

 irrigation was unlikely, though it would 

 carry the young plants through a dry 

 season. 



The Hon. Sir S. C. Obeyesekere asked 

 how the sensitive plant compared with 

 the indigo plant in conveying nitrogen 

 to the soil through its nodules. 



Baron Schrottky said he had no ex- 

 perience of the sensitive plant. 



Mr. Petch and Mr. Bruce were ex- 

 pected to put questions or make re- 

 marks ; but 



Sir Hugh Clifford cordially thanked 

 the Baron for his paper. 



FIBRES. 



COTTON CULTIVATION IN THE 

 CENTRAL PROVINCES AND 

 BERAR. 



STUDIED FROM AN ECONOMIC ASPECT. 



By D. Clouston, m.a., b.sc, 

 Deputy Director of Agriculture, Central 

 Provinces and Berar. 



(Prom the A gricultural Journal of 

 India, Vol. VI., Part IV., 

 October, 1911.) 

 No crop in the Central Provinces and 

 Berar has received more attention with- 

 in the last half century than cotton. 

 Within that time the mill consumption 

 39 



of the raw material in Great Britain 

 America, India, and the Continent has 

 increased enormously. There has been 

 considerable variation in the prices from 

 year to year, but they haVe always re- 

 mained sufficiently high to make the 

 cultivation of this crop more profitable 

 than that of any other grown in the 

 cotton tract. Bumper crops in India 

 itself have little effect in lowering prices, 

 as the world's supply of raw material is 

 never quite equal to the demand. Prices 

 have, therefore, remained high, and the 

 wealth amassed in the cotton tract of 

 these Provinces has been very consider- 



