34 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



published as soon as Mr. Humphries' report has been 

 received. 



The botanical survey of the wheats of India was 

 completed during the last year, and an account of this 

 work forms the first section of the book, Monograp/i on 

 Indian Wheats, now in the press. The report on the 

 detailed agricultural survey of the wheats of the Punjab 

 was completed during the year, and for this work the 

 thanks of the Local Government were received through the 

 Director of Agriculture, Punjab. A similar survey of the 

 wheats of Bengal was completed during the year, and the 

 results of this work will be published after the next rabi 

 harvest. Bengal apparently possesses some wheats new to 

 science. 



Perhaps the most important section of the wheat inves- 

 tigations is that concerned with selection and hybridiza- 

 tion at Pusa. Several promising wheats have been isolated 

 by selection and are now being tested for yield, agricul- 

 tural characters and grain qualities. The plant-breeding 

 work is now being conducted on a large scale, and the 

 separate cultures, many hundreds in number, extend over 

 several acres. The main object of this hybridization 

 work is to improve the grain, straw, and rust resistance 

 of the Indian wheats. The results already obtained are 

 of the very greatest promise. 



During the progress of the wheat investigations at 

 Lyallpur, a comparison was made between the wheats of the 

 Punjab and those of the United Provinces. The superior- 

 ity of the former in vigour and straw characters was most 

 marked. Accordingly during the past year a set of the 

 types of Punjab wheat was placed at the disposal of the 

 Economic Botanist, United Provinces, for growth at 

 Cawnpore. The result surpassed expectations. These 

 wheats showed a marked superiority over the other wheats 

 cultivated at this station, and Mr. Leake has arranged to 

 continue the testing of these wheats in the United Prov- 

 inces. Besides the report on the Punjab wheats and the 



