INSTITUTE AND COLLEGE, PFSA, FOR 1911-12. 45 



not fire curing in some simple form in earth-built barns can 

 be undertaken in Bihar with any prospect of success. 



Breeding. — Considerable progress was made during the 

 year by the Personal Assistant in the investigations on the 

 inheritance of characters in Nicotiana tabacum and in N. 

 rustica. The object of this work is to discover the mode of 

 inheritance of the various leaf characters in particular so 

 that new and improved varieties can be produced by hybri- 

 dization. The results so far obtained are now being sub- 

 mitted for publication. 



It is interesting to note that the earlier selection work 

 done on the tobacco crop at Pusa and published in Nos. I 

 and II of the third volume of the Botanical Memoirs has 

 been repeated by the Bureau of Plant Industry of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture and confirmed 

 in all respects. The American results are published in a 

 recent issue of the Botanical Gazette (Vol. LIII, No. 2, 

 1912). 



Gram. 



Some time ago a sample of gram was grown in the 

 botanical area from which a number of pure lines were 

 isolated in connection with the investigations on natural 

 cross-fertilization published in No. IV, Vol. ITT of the 

 Botanical Memoirs. Some of the more promising of these 

 pure lines were grown in large plots in 1911-12 and the 

 yields were carefully determined. Seven lines were grown 

 and one plot contained local seed for comparison. The yields 

 obtained were very high and the largest crop was nearly 

 thirty- four maunds to the acre while two other lines gave 

 over thirty maunds. Samples of the seed were submitted 

 to Messrs Ralli Brothers, Bombay, for valuation and report. 

 Four of the lines were valued over Rs. 4-8 per cwt. f . o. r. 

 Bombay compared with Es. 4-2, the price of the ordinary 

 exportable varieties. The line which gave thirty-two and- 

 a-half maunds of seed was valued at Rs. 5-8 per cwt. f . o. r. 

 Bombay — an increase of Re. 1-6 per cwt. above the ordi- 

 nary seed. These lines will be grown on a larger scale next 



