40 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE" 



great increase in value of fibre, such as Deccan and sarin 

 hemp, which would immediately be obtained if more care 

 were taken in retting and in placing the product on the 

 market in the most suitable form. All this has been 

 pointed out many times before but the fact that a carefully 

 retted sample from India should have made such a favour- 

 able impression on the brokers proves how low is the present 

 standard of preparing fibre in this country for the 

 European manufacturers. 



Seed of Type 3 can now be obtained at Pusa and trials 

 of this fibre on some of the estates in Bihar are being 

 arranged. 



The work on the inheritance of characters in Hibiscus 

 Sabdariffa and on sanai (C rotatoria juncea), referred to 

 in the last report, was continued during the year and 

 considerable progress was made. 



Oilseeds. For some time, a botanical study of the oil- 

 seeds of India has been in progress at Pusa and the results 

 obtained in the case of two of these crops — safflower (Car- 

 thamus tinctorius, L.) and rai (Brassica juncea, H. f. & T.), 

 -have been prepared for publication. During the coming 

 year, it is hoped to continue the study of Indian linseed. 



Safflower. Both as a source of oil and to some extent 

 of colour, safflower is widely distributed over many parts 

 of India. The crop has been under investigation at Pusa 

 for six years during which period a fairly detailed 

 botanical study has been completed. Form separation has 

 been undertaken, the heterozygotes have been removed and 

 twenty-four different types, covering a considerable 

 norphological range, have been studied in pure culture. 

 The pollination mechanism of the flowers has been 

 investigated as well as the influence of moisture on setting. 

 Self-pollination is the rule in this crop but a fairly large 

 proportion of crossing also takes place. In 1914, when the 

 types were grown next to next in lines, this was proved to 

 be about sixteen per cent. 



The distribution of the red colouring matter (carthamin) 

 to the flowers of safflower was found to be complex, indi- 



