both in India and in Europe. In spite of the work of the Indian Central Cotton Committee, and of the joint action by cotton trade associations which the Indian Central Cotton Committee is now endeavouring to secure, adulteration, mixing and damping still prevail to an undesirable degree. It has yet to be seen how far these malpractices will be checked by the operation of the Cotton Ginning and Pressing Factories Act of 1925, under the provisions of which mixed, adulterated or damped cotton can be traced back not only to the factory which ginned it but also to the original owner. It will be obvious that the prevalence of the practice of mixing short with long staple cotton very seriously hampers the work of the agricultural departments in spreading improved varieties. In paragraph 115, Chapter IV, we have pointed out that the position in respect of Punjab-American cotton is specially serious. We were informed that bad retting, bad grading and selection and excessive moisture were characteristic of much of (ii) JUTE. the jute exported. It was stated that the spinning qualities of the jute produced in Bengal had steadily deteriorated in recent years. The most serious complaints we received had reference to Indian hemp. We were told that it was very irregular (iii) HEMP. in quality, that fibre from different districts was mixed in the same bale, that it contained an excessive proportion of dust and dirt as the result mainly of retting in unclean water and that it was packed and baled in an unsatisfactory way. There has, however, been some improvement in quality of late owing to the increasing proportion of the export which is treated in Bombay and Calcutta before shipment.

Complaints of excessive moisture were not confined to fibres. We were informed that the decortication of groundnuts (iv) GROUNDNUTS. in a wet state is common and that this results in the breaking of the nuts and in deterioration owing to the increased percentage of fatty acids which is thus set free during storage and transport.

On the other hand, the reports on Indian oil-seeds other than groundnuts were satisfactory. Some suggestions for (v) OIL-SEEDS. improvement were made especially in regard to cotton seed which frequently contains an admixture of dirt, pieces of iron and steel and other foreign matter, and to rape seed, the various descriptions of which are not always kept distinct. Indian linseed is preferred to that from any other country.

There was some difference of opinion as to the quality of Indian wheat. We were informed by one authority that Indian (vi) WHEAT. wheat was most excellently packed and graded, that it was almost the only grain which is always sold on the basis of analysis for impurity, that its quality is usually very even and that the allowances which have to be paid by the seller to the buyer for inferiority of quality are usually of minor importance. The witness added that the bags in which

Indian grain is packed are usually better than any other bags used in the grain trade and that the stowage in ships is an example of excellence. We were, however, told by another expert witness that the quality of the wheat exported from Bombay had steadily deteriorated, that it was sometimes damaged by weevil and damp and that one of the objectionable features of the Bombay wheat was the admixture of earth. These complaints had reference to the comparatively small proportion of the Indian exports of wheat which is shipped from Bombay, and the balance of opinion appears to establish that the quality of Indian wheat is, on the whole, well suited to the particular market that it satisfies. The marked improvement in recent years was attributed mainly to the form of contract introduced by the London Corn Trade Association in 1912, under which nothing is paid for any foreign substance other than barley. A mixture up to two per cent of barley is permitted at the full contract rate but only half the rate is paid for any quantity found in excess of that percentage.

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The evidence before us suggests that most of the Indian wheat imported into Great Britain attracts millers in that country partly by reason of its extreme dryness, and partly owing to the fact that its presence in flour promotes the rapid growth of yeast. We have been told that, for the most part, Indian wheats placed upon the English market are deficient in gluten and lack the complex quality known to bakers as strength," and that they are invariably blended by millers with wheats possessing these qualities. The bulk of Indian wheat exported to Great Britain reaches that country in the months of June, July and August, at which season of the year it fills a gap in the supplies of "soft" wheats imported from other countries. In existing conditions, the market for Indian wheat is thus, in the main, a special and limited one, and it is necessary to bear this in mind in interpreting much of the evidence bearing on the question of quality given to us by witnesses representative of the export trade, both in India and England. It would appear that the nature of the existing trade has its origin partly in the fact that the wheats first exported from India were the soft red wheats of the Indus basin and the soft white wheats of the Gangetic tract. The bases of the various grades now exported are the soft white wheats distributed for cultivation at the end of the nineteenth century. Since the war, the only two varieties which have been shipped in any appreciable quantities from India are Choice White Karachi and Red Karachi, the former greatly predominating, both of which are soft wheats.

We have considered the possibilities of the export of high-grade Indian wheat in volume and regularity sufficient to create and sustain a definite demand. We think that, from the agricultural point of view, no insuperable difficulties prevent the production of a strong wheat capable of entering overseas markets on a plane of quality and of average price well above that at present enjoyed by Indian wheat. It has been established that many of the improved varieties of Indian wheats yield flour and loaves of the same class as strong American wheats, and that strong, free-milling wheats can be grown in India. Having regard to the wide fluctuations in the volume of the surplus available for export, and to the

progressive tendency of large sections of the population in India to exchange wheat for other food grains as a staple of their diet, coupled with the tendency for internal consumption to demand the stronger qualities of wheat, it would appear that a very considerable extension must take place in the acreage under high-class strong wheats before there can be available for export a sufficient volume of high quality grain to establish the reputation essential to the securing of the full premium for quality. In view, however, of the extension of the area under wheat in Sind and in the Punjab to be anticipated as a consequence of the Sukkur Barrage scheme and the Sutlej Valley project respectively, we think that the possibilities of developing an export trade in high-class strong wheats should be borne in mind. We do not regard this recommendation as in any way inconsistent with the view expressed later in the chapter as to the possibility of India ultimately becoming a wheat importing country. That time is not yet, and so long as there remains a surplus of wheat for export, it is the business of all concerned so to organise both production and marketing as to obtain for Indian wheats in overseas markets the best prices possible. A combined campaign by the agricultural departments and by exporters, supported by adequate advertisement emanating from the office of the Indian Trade Commissioner in London, might well succeed in establishing business of much value to cultivators in India.

341.

REMEDIES FOR UNSATISFACTORY

QUALITY.

Sufficient has been said to show that there is considerable room for improvement in the quality of much Indian produce as it is now marketed. It is impossible to apportion the responsibility for the conditions we have described in the preceding paragraph between the cultivator and the middleman or, again, to decide to what extent the malpractices complained of are merely the result of carelessness or are due to dishonesty. The Indian Cotton Committee found that the malpractices in regard to cotton for which the cultivator and the village trader are responsible are of minor importance compared with those carried on in ginning and pressing factories. Similar investigations have yet to be made in respect of other products. In so far as the cultivator must be held responsible for the condition in which his produce is marketed, it must, in justice to him, be pointed out that imperfect methods of preparation often arise out of circumstances over which he has no control. The bad retting of jute and hemp, for example, which is attributed to the use of dirty water, must frequently be due to the fact that clean water is not available.

But, whether the adulteration, mixing and damping of Indian agricultural produce are due to the middleman or the cultivator, it is unquestionable that they react most unfavourably upon the price the cultivator receives for his produce and that he will never secure the full premium for quality unless an end is put to them. It is difficult to suggest a remedy suitable in Indian conditions. It must be recognised that little help can be expected from the individual middleman, whether in India or abroad. His main concern is with the extent of his margin and the volume of his turnover. His interest in improving quality in

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India becomes even less active if he is dealing with produce from several countries. He can always protect himself by allowances for inferior quality which are often more than proportioned to the intrinsic inferiority of the produce.

Appropriate action in respect of cotton can be, and is being, taken by the Indian Central Cotton Committee and similar action in respect of jute would be one of the first tasks of the Jute Committee, the establishment of which we have recommended in Chapter III. As for other products, the Board of Agriculture in 1917 suggested that the most hopeful method of attacking the problem by action on the part of Government was by control at the port of export and the refusal to allow the export of produce below a certain standard of cleanliness and purity, such a standard to be fixed by, or in consultation with, representatives of the trade both in this country and in the countries to which the bulk of the produce is exported. In the United States of America, grading under government regulation and enforced by the Federal Department of Agriculture through inspecting officers, either at the port of shipment or elsewhere, is a prominent feature of the marketing for export of various agricultural products. Similarly, the grading of hemp in New Zealand and of fibres for export from the Philippines is controlled by the agricultural departments of those countries. We have considered the feasibility of introducing schemes of this nature in India. We think, however, that, in the present state of development of the export trade, the administrative difficulties involved would prove insuperable.

Organised trade associations in India can, however, give great assistance. We would, in this connection, mention the valuable help which the East India Cotton Asociation, by changes in its system of allowances, has given the Indian Central Cotton Committee in its efforts to furnish a general incentive to the delivering of cleaner and better produce. This association, though representative of all sections of the cotton trade, including exporters and millowners, is primarily an association of merchants, middlemen and brokers. That organisation amongst the ultimate buyers can, in some instances, be an effective weapon is shown by the improvement in the quality of wheat which has been effected by the action of the London Corn Trade Association, but it does not appear that the contract under which hemp is sold has led to similar improvement in the quality of that product. It must be pointed out that organisation amongst buyers is difficult except in such a case as that of wheat in which by far the greater part of the exports from India go to one country, in this instance the United Kingdom. The evidence we received in India showed that the producer usually obtains better prices for the quality of his money crops, which are also the principal export crops, than he does for crops destined solely for internal consumption. This is no doubt due both to the readiness of the ultimate consumer overseas to pay for quality, and to the greater efficiency of the large-scale distributor engaged in the export trade as compared with that of the petty trader. Effective pressure to secure improved quality from the producer must, in the main, be applied by the agricultural or co-operative