26 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



will depend largely on the amount of water moving upward ; 

 if the soil is highly impervious to w^ater, such movements 

 will be very limited; and consequently the amount of salts 

 brought to the surface must likewise be limited. There 

 was hardly any upward movement of water, and according- 

 ly there could be no material concentration of salts at the 

 surface. 



The soil being so highly impervious to water, it became 

 of first importance to try to measure this characteristic. 

 By an improvement of a method originally suggested by 

 Mr. Milton Whitney of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, a mechanical test has been devised, by the 

 aid of which very interesting information has been obtained 

 regarding the rate at which water can move through 

 the Mainpuri as also through other soils. Thus for 

 example, the Usar land in the Mainpuri District which w^e 

 have been examining, is highly impervious as far down at 

 least as the samples were drawn; the Juhi Usar reserve 

 near Cawnpore is similar to a depth of 5 feet after which 

 it is quite pervious to water ; other sterile spots of land have 

 proved to be quite pervious to water, and their sterility 

 must be due to other causes. 



In addition to these lines of investigation an exhaus- 

 tive series of pot-cultures has been commenced at Pusa in 

 order to ascertain whether the defective physical state of 

 the Bhadan (Mainpuri) Usar soil can be remedied or 

 reduced; and if this change were effected, whether the 

 amount of alkali is itself sufficient to cause sterility; also 

 what plants will grow most readily under such adverse 

 conditions. 



Finally, in addition to work on the Bhadan soil, the 

 Usar land which has been wholly or partly reclaimed near 

 Aligarh, by the Department and by Mr. Keventer respec- 

 tively, is being examined in order to ascertain what changes 

 have taken place during the period of years that the work 

 has been in progress. 



General Analytical Work. — The number of samples 

 sent for analysis has remained, as in the preceding year. 



