AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1915-16 31 



yellow after the late October flood and a good deal of leaf 

 was lost while the sub-soil was drying during November 

 and December. During the cold weather, the aeration 

 improved and the foliage then became normal both as 

 regards colour and extent. 



In the case of Java indigo sown for leaf in early October 

 on the higher lands, quite different results were obtained. 

 After sowing time, little*or no rain fell till March and so 

 there was nothing to interfere with the natural aeration of 

 the soil. In many cases, this leaf crop gave small crops of 

 excellent seed, a phenomenon which does not often occur in 

 years when the normal amount of cold weather rainfall is 

 received. 



This experience agrees in all respects with the results 

 •of the various experiments in growing Java indigo for seed 

 at Pusa. Seed formation, other things being equal, is a 

 matter of soil-aeration. If ample air for the roots of Java 

 indigo is provided, a full crop of seed is obtained. Just as 

 surely heavy and long-continued rain after sowing destroys 

 all hope of a normal yield of seed even when the crop 

 recovers slowly during November and December. In all 

 such cases, the season is missed and flowering begins too late 

 after the cold season has set in and the bees have finished 

 their labours. 



As seasons like that of 1915 are to be expected every now 

 and then in Bihar, experiments have been started to deter- 

 mine whether it will pay to treat some of the higher lands 

 on the indigo estates with thikra so as to increase the aera- 

 tion in wet years. These are in progress both at Pusa and 

 -at Dholi and the results will be published in due course. 

 At the same time, experiments are in progress to see how 

 far suitable methods of cultivation of the young seed crop 

 will remedy the effects of heavy rain after sowing. 



Gram. 



An account of the preliminary work on gram was pub- 

 lished during the year in the Memoirs of the Department 



