INSTITUTE AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1911-12. 43 



caused no doubt by a change in the soil flora due to the 

 waterlogging and want of air. A rice land conditioxi 

 seemed to have been set up in which the w^heat crop did not 

 thrive. The subject of the importance of drainage w^as 

 brought to the notice of the Bihar Planters in February 

 last in a paper read before the Association at Mozafferpore. 



Breeding. 



During the year a considerable amount of attention has 

 been devoted to wheat breeding, particularly with regard 

 to the production of new rust-resistant wheats with high 

 yielding power and strong straw. In connection with these 

 investigations, which have been designed to secure results 

 of immediate practical value, some interesting facts dealing 

 with the inheritance of characters in wheat have been 

 elucidated. A paper on this part of the subject is in course 

 of publication. These results, which at first sight appear 

 to be only of theoretical interest, are in reality of practical 

 value as they show that the gametic constitution of wheats 

 must be known with certainty before they can be used as 

 parents for the production of new types. Further it is 

 desirable that all varieties of crops in India (whose be- 

 haviour in breeding is known) should be most carefully pre- 

 served at the experiment stations so that they may be 

 immediately available for other workers. 



The new experiment station at Quetta was of use in 

 connection with the breeding work at Pusa. The variety 

 trials in 1912 indicated that two crosses on the pure line 

 A 88 were desirable. This could only be seen at harvest 

 time when it was too late to make the crosses. Seed was, 

 however, sent to Quetta in March and the crosses were madf- 

 in the following June thus saving a whole year in the work 



Part III. 



Other Investigations. 

 Tobacco. 

 The progress reported in the previous annual report with 

 regard to this crop has been continued during the past year. 



