§ Sir W. BYLESasked the Secretary of State for India if he will give the relative production last season of the native growers and manufacturers of natural indigo, in comparison with that of the
618Wplanters as controlled by the Bihar Planters' Association, who have a representative on the Expert Committee he has appointed, and if this native source of supply is the more important will he state how their interests can be looked after by the Expert Committee as at present constituted; whether it is proved that not 50 per cent. of the users of natural indigo dye can use, and consequently do not purchase it in the form persisted in by the Indian manufacturers; and whether, therefore, the German dye-makers' method of bringing a direct connection between maker and user is not essential to the success of the effort to revive this industry?
§ Mr. CHAMBERLAINI have no information regarding the area controlled by the Bihar Planters' Association. If the investigations are successful, it is thought that they will serve the interests of native growers and manufacturers equally with those of Bihar planters, and the results will be disseminated by the Provincial Departments of Agriculture. The fact that natural indigo is at present put on the market in an unsuitable form is the main reason for the present scheme of research, which if successful will provide a practical remedy. There is no reason to suppose that the Indigo Committee as now constituted will not supply the necessary link between producers and users.