20 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 



During the course of this work it was found that khesari 

 samples are very often contaminated with foreign seeds 

 from which a cyanogenetic glucoside was isolated and some 

 feeding experiments were conducted with guinea pigs. 

 These seeds were identified as Vicia sativa (vern. akta) and 

 Vicia hirsuta (vern. misia). As the chemistry of these 

 grains had been worked out by Ritthausen, further investi- 

 gation was abandoned. 



IX. Relation of Transpiration Ratio and absorption of 



FOOD MATERIALS. 



Pot culture experiments were started during the year 

 to ascertain the relation between the transpiration of water 

 and the assimilation of plant food at different stages of the- 

 plant's growth. The following crops were sown : — Maize, 

 velvet bean, rahar and marua in the kharif and sarson T 

 wheat and gram in the rabi. 



The soil employed was Pusa soil and received an appli- 

 cation of superphosphate and potassium nitrate. The 

 moisture content of the soil was maintained at 20 per cent, 

 and the transpiration was daily measured. At regular 

 intervals the plants from the jars were harvested and 

 analysed for nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 



Some interesting results have been obtained but results- 

 of further experiments are awaited before definite conclu- 

 sions could be justified. 



X. Programme of work for 1916-17. 



Major subjects : — 



1. Records of the amount and nature of drainage water 

 from fallow land, and land bearing crops, will be main- 

 tained. 



2. The relation between the transpiration of water by 

 plant and the assimilation of plant material during the- 

 period of growth will be further studied. 



3. An examination of the proportion of starch in some 

 of the Indian starch-producing crops will be made with a 



