AND COLLEGE, PTJSA, FOR 1914-15. 49 



a reliable source of box boards at a reasonable price. 

 Originally, these box boards were imported from Glasgow 

 but the rise of wages and freights has increased the cost 

 considerably. At the present time, the conditions of trade 

 with Great Britain have still further increased prices. A 

 large amount of time has been spent in trying to discover 

 an indigenous source of suitable wood but without much 

 success. India apparently has not yet reached the stage 

 when cheap boxes are required in numbers. Most of the 

 trade is still in the gunny bag and wicker basket stage. It 

 is possible that after the war, the necessary boards for fruit 

 packing boxes can be best obtained direct from Norway. 



Stiffly of fruit trees. A beginning was made in 1913 

 in the supply of fruit trees to the public. Only good 

 varieties which suit local conditions are propagated and 

 care is taken to shape the trees in the nursery during the 

 summer before they are distributed. The demand for this 

 stock has rapidly increased and during the past year 

 between four and five thousand trees were sold. No trees 

 are given away and proper prices are charged. This tends 

 to check waste and also ensures that most of the trees 

 distributed are properly cared for afterwards. 



Experience shows that the further development of fruit 

 growing in Baluchistan is to a great extent a question of 

 suitable varieties propagated on suitable stocks. A large 

 collection of the best local and imported kinds is being 

 made and added to every year. The experiments on the 

 influence of the different stocks are already yielding most 

 interesting results. The mahaleb, mariana, mirabolan and 

 almond are likely to prove exceedingly useful as stocks in 

 the Quetta valley. For the present, the first three have 

 to be imported from France. With proper care, however, 

 the percentage of deaths is very small and it might easily 

 prove cheaper to import stocks in bulk than to raise a local 

 supply. As the new varieties come into bearing and as the 

 various experiments with stocks develop, it will be possible 

 to improve the nursery work still further. Before the 

 Experiment Station was started, no records of varieties had 



