AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1914-15. 45 



Quetta on one irrigation was 47 maunds 24 seers or 

 16 maunds and 28 seers to the acre — an outturn which 

 compares well with the average of 13^ maunds per acre 

 grown on similar land with six or seven waterings. 1 



In the above experiment, the conditions were not very- 

 favourable. The rain which fell during the life of the crop 

 was badly distributed. There was little rain in January 

 and February while the late falls in April formed surface 

 crusts which could not be broken up on account of the 

 height of the crop. A yield of over 16 \ maunds to the 

 acre with one irrigation, compared with the average of 

 13^ maunds with at least six waterings, clearly proves that 

 at the present time large quantities of valuable water are 

 being wasted in growing wheat in the Quetta valley. There 

 is little doubt that the same thing is taking place in the 

 Punjab where the duty of irrigation water could be in- 

 creased considerably. 



Fodder crops. One of the great needs in Baluchistan 

 agriculture at the present time is some crop by means of 

 which the porosity and moisture holding capacity of the 

 soil can be increased. Leguminous fodder crops, which can 

 also be used as green manure, offer a possible solution of 

 this problem and accordingly some attention has been paid 

 to this matter. 



Shaftal. The most promising fodder crop suitable for 

 green-manuring purposes so far found at Quetta is Persian 

 clover or shaftal (Trifolium reswpinatum). When sown 



1 The results of numerous crop-cutting experiments in the District are summed 

 up in the Quetta P'ishin Gazetteer (p. 102) as follows : — 



" In Quetta, 75 experiments were made in 1895-96 and the outturn of wheat 

 per acre in irrigated land was found to be 15g maunds, the highest being 17g 

 maunds in the Kasi Circle and the lowest 14 maunds in the Baleli and Durrani 

 Circles. Mr. J. A. Crawford, in commenting on the items, remarked that the 

 results of crop experiments were notoriously apt to be high. Further experiments, 

 made in 1903-04, however, showed still higher returns, the average in irrigated 

 and manured land being 24 maunds, 6 seers, and in irrigated land not manured 

 13g maunds. In other parts, the average has been found to be as under : — 



Pishin Shorarud Chaman 



Mds. Mds. Mds. 



Land irrigated and manured 25 15 15 



Irrigated land not manured 16 12 10 



Dry land ,..,,. 5 5 3 



