16 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



ma.iority have died. The remainder will be got rid of, 

 and in their place is being substituted a flock of Gorakh- 

 pur ewes which are good specimens of the local breed. 

 These are at present doing well. It is intended to cross 

 them with Dumbha rams with a view to improvement for 

 mutton purposes. 



(b) Poultry Breeding. — This work is now being con- 

 ducted on a fairly large scale. The stock consists of 18 

 pens of fowls nearly all of pure breeds, one pen of Mammoth 

 Bronze Turkeys, and one flock each of Embden Geese and 

 Aylesbury ducks. The object is to supply at reasonable 

 prices fresh blood of imported strains to Provincial Agri- 

 cultural Farms and private individuals who are unable to 

 afford the expense and risk of direct importation. This 

 is effected either by egg distribution or by sale of birds. 

 The price of eggs is Rs. 6 a dozen and birds are Rs. 30 

 for an adult trio and Rs- 16 for half grown birds. The 

 es^gs are sent by post or by rail in boxes specially made 

 for the purpose, but it has to be acknowledged that this 

 mode of distribution has not, by any means, been success- 

 ful. The percentage of successful incubation from eggs 

 transmitted by post or rail was extremely low, indeed so 

 low that this method had to be discontinued. The failure 

 is due doubtless to the fact that distances are so great in 

 India, and the Postal and Railway authorities so unaccus- 

 tomed to handling delicate articles like eggs, that the jolt- 

 iner and rough treatment in transit must have destroyed 

 their fertility. The distribution of birds may Be taken to 

 have been altogether a success even in the case of long 

 distances. The varieties of fowls which at present have 

 done best are the Partridge Wyandotte, White Wvandotte, 

 White Orpington, and Barred Plymouth Rocks. The 

 Mammoth Bronze Turkeys have also done very well. 



9. Programme of worh for 1910-11: — 1. Permanent 

 Encperiments. — The permanent mannrial and rotation ex- 

 periments and the pasture experiments will be continued. 



2. Extension of Botanical work. — The growth of select- 

 ed varieties of wheat will be taken up in extension of the 



