46 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 



in August, under a thin cover crop of maize or juar, Persian 

 clover, if properly managed, gives on good land three cuts 

 of green fodder, weighing about 60,000ib. per acre, before 

 the end of the following May. In addition, the last cut 

 can either be ploughed in as a green manure or else kept 

 for seed. The }deld, however, is greatly reduced both by 

 overwatering or by failure to cut the crop in time. The 

 beneficial effects on the soil following shaftal are very great 

 particularly on the tilth and general fertility. This is now 

 being recognized and a considerable amount of seed was 

 distributed in 1914. 



Before shaftal can be taken up on the large scale by 

 zamindars, some method of disposing of the crop to ad- 

 vantage must be found. The green crop is a safe fodder 

 for horses and cattle and particularly for dairy cows, 

 provided care is taken to mix it with sufficient bhusa. 

 Lucerne, however, is undoubtedly a more popular green 

 fodder and is now grown on a large scale round Quetta. 

 Green forage, however, can only be produced in the summer 

 and during the winter there is a large demand for dried 

 fodder. This is at present met by lucerne, dried in the 

 country fashion, without fermentation. The harsh and 

 brittle nature of this food is obvious and it has the further 

 disadvantage that it cannot be made into pressed bales. 

 During 1914, experiments were made in the drying and 

 baling of shaftal. By carefully adjusting the moisture it 

 was found possible to make shaftal into good hay, to 

 obtain the proper fermentation in the stack and to press 

 it into bales. This can only be done in the exceedingly 

 dry climate of Quetta by conducting the operation in all 

 its stages in such a manner that the shaftal never becomes 

 air dry. Once it is completely dried out, it is so 

 brittle that it cannot be handled and baling is out of the 

 question. The final product was indistinguishable from 

 good English clover hay. Over a hundred bales were 

 prepared in 1914 and tried as a fodder by one of the Heavy 

 Batteries at Quetta during the winter. The Commandant 

 reported that it was an excellent fodder, much superior to 



