AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1915-1G 23 



in progress in the United Provinces where the Agricultural 

 Department, during the past year, has made considerable 

 progress in the systematic replacement of the country 

 wheats by this improved type. The trial of Pusa 12 in 

 these Provinces has passed the experimental stage and the 

 time is rapidly approaching when it will be possible to see 

 large continuous blocks of this variety true to type. At 

 first, progress was greatly hampered by a shortage of seed 

 but with an increasing supply and with larger funds for 

 financing the operations, these preliminary difficulties are 

 being overcome. A feature of the work of seed distribu- 

 tion in the United Provinces is the manner in which all the 

 existing agencies have been utilized. In the Central 

 Circle, the Co-operative movement has largely been employ- 

 ed in addition to Court of Wards' estates and large zamin- 

 dars. In Oudh, an entirely new agency has been brought 

 into use by Mr. Sharma, namely, the local notables, who, in 

 a sense, are large and wealthy Co-operative Societies ready- 

 made commanding great influence with the cultivators. 

 Anyone who has seen the work in progress with Pusa 12 on 

 some of the large private estates in Oudh cannot fail to be 

 impressed by the immense possibilities of this new depar- 

 ture. Improved agriculture on these estates has been found 

 to be very profitable and the new private seed farms, such 

 as those personally conducted by the Raja of Amethi and 

 the Kunwar Sahib, are proving of great value to the Agri- 

 cultural Department in the replacement of the local wheats 

 by Pusa 12. 



Like the season of 1913-14, the year in the United Pro- 

 vinces was characterized by a shortage of moisture, parti- 

 cularly in the Western Districts. Pusa 12 again withstood 

 satisfactorily these adverse conditions and its behaviour, as 

 compared with the country wheats, was summed up as 

 follows by the Director of Agriculture in " United Pro- 

 vinces Agricultural Notes " for March and April 1916 :— 



" Pusa 12 wheat has again proved markedly superior to 

 the Provincial wheats, and is likely to go ahead rapidly 

 over the western and central portions of the provinces. 



