El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-06-18

Stunning the. business, and we have per-
haps farms to the extent of 100000
acres in Bengal alone"
Making New COttOns
Are you doing anything as TO your
cotton? Yes. We are Investigating the
crop and studying our soils and climatic
conditions in connection with it. We
raise, you know, a short staple cotton,
and our farmers find it more profitable
in the long run. We are trying 10 i'm
prove the staple by seed selection and
by cross fertilization. 1t is difficult
to persuade the farmers to make such
experiments, although they are ready
to take up anything that will pay The
cotton crop is one of our big money
crops. The planters can always get
a ready sale for it, and they raise it to
supply the money needs of the family
just as your people raise wheat, even
though other things may yield better
At present We have something like 90
coo square miles under cotton The
demand for the product Increases and
we have large export of our raw ma
terial TO Japan and Germany. Much OF
that sent. away belongs to our coarsest
and shortest fibers. They are especial
ly good for mixing with wool, and for
that reason they bring better prices
than cotton of a superior quality.
Our cotton industry received a great
in America. Your cotton was then shut
out of the market>and the prices went
sky high. This turned the attention TO
India's possibilities and experiment
farms were established for improving
the crop. The men put in charge of
them came from England, and as a rule
they were little better than gardeners
When the war was over and you again
monopolized the market, these farms
were taken over by the government and
made experiment stations. Some Of
them are in existence today"
India Versus the United States.
viii you ever compete largely with
us as 10 cotton?'
I'VE are always competing, but
doubt whether we shall ever be able
to seriously affect your cotton in the
European markets. We profit when
you haze a short crop and We come
next to you among the great cotton
producers of the world. Our acreage,
however, is limited, and we do not grow
as much per acre as you do. A fairly
good yield here is four hundred pounds
of seed cotton. We usually raise two
or three million bales of four hundred
pounds each, and in some years we
have raised almost five millions"
How do you grow cOtton?"
The planting is done by sowing the
seed broadcast or drilling 1t in. We
have machines which will drop two
rows at a time. We first coat the seeds
with plaster of COW dung, mud and
water This covers the fuzz- and they
pass through the tubes without clogg-
ing Our cotton is worked several
times The best of the farmers give
the plants two weddings The blossoms
come forth along in. October, and the
lint is ready for picking in January.
The picking season lasts until April.
I'VE are now raising some Egyptian
cotton in the Sind, and are experiment
ing there also with American seed Both
kinds do well, but it is a question
whether the American does not do bet
ter. The Sind has now about 100000
like 100000 acres in the native states,
and about 100000 are controlled by
the government of Bombay"
TIE Wheat Crop of India.
Tell me something about your
wheat CROP
I'VE are increasing the area and our
facilities for handling the crop. We
have now something like 25.O0O,000
acres in wheat, and the greater part
of that is in the northern part of the
and especially in the Pun!ao.
Most of the wheat goes to Karachi for
shipment to Europe. 1t is taken from
the farms TO the cars and shipped, with
out storage in elevators. Indeed, it is
a question as to whether the elevator
system is not what we need. That is a
live question in India"
How much does your wheat yield
per acre."
"On our irrigated lands we, can raise
from twenty TO thirty bushels, but the
crop must be carefully cultivated and
MANFRED, and it must be watered three
or four times. We SOW in October and
harvest in March. In most localities ii
is reaped with sickles; it is thrashed
with bullocks and winnowed in the
wind. Much of the blowing is done !
with wooden plows, and altogether the
cultivation Is primitive.
''Our agricultural stations are now
doing all they can to introduce modern
They advise the use of iron
plows and reapers ard thrashers. They
show the farmers how to use such ma