AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1914-15. 47 



dried lucerne. A much larger number of bales has been 

 prepared during the present year which will be offered to 

 various units of the Quetta Division for trial next winter. 

 The military advantage of a pressed fodder, equal to 

 English clover hay, is obvious in India while the extended 

 cultivation of shaftal in the Quetta valley would be certain 

 to increase production and thus augment the present 

 supplies. 



Lucerne. The methods of growing lucerne in Baluchis- 

 tan are of some interest. The land is first of all manured 

 before sowing and every year the crop is top dressed with 

 more manure during the winter. There is no cultivation 

 at any stage and water is applied by flooding the surface. 

 The frequent manuring evidently promotes aeration of the 

 surface soil and so removes some of the disadvantages 

 attending the method of watering. Evidence has been 

 obtained that surface cultivation of the lucerne after 

 irrigation by means of the spring tine cultivator is 

 likely to take the place of the manurial dressings. An 

 experiment has been started to compare the yield of green 

 crop under the two methods of treatment. 



Some trials were made in 1914 to prepare and bale real 



lucerne hay in place of the dried unfermented local 

 product. While it is possible to make good lucerne hay in 



the dry atmosphere at Quetta, the process is not easy on 

 account of the fact that the moisture is so readily lost 

 before fermentation takes place. Shaftal is much more 

 easily made into hay at Quetta than lucerne. 



Other fodder crops. Besides shaftal, several other new 

 fodder crops have been tried. Ordinary English red clover 

 grows at Quetta and withstands the hot weather of July 

 but the rate of growth is not great and this fodder is not 

 likely to compete with shaftal and lucerne. Italian rye 

 grass behaves much like red clover but the difficulties con- 

 nected with the germination of the seed under local condi- 

 tions are likely to prevent this crop ever being taken up. 

 A mixture of rye grass and shaftal was found to be unsuit- 

 able for hay as the rye grass dries much too quickly. Ber- 



