AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1915-16 37 



account of which is now being prepared for publication. 

 These refer to the improvement of water channels, to the 

 most suitable form of kiari, to the proper slope for flood 

 irrigation and to the control of the water while being 

 applied to the land. 



The improvement of fodder production. 



In addition to the saving of irrigation water, there is 

 another direction in which the productive power of the 

 land in Baluchistan can be increased. This is in the provi- 

 sion of a fresh source of organic matter for supplementing 

 the present supplies of farm-yard manure. The addition 

 of organic matter to the soil's of the Quetta valley does much 

 to increase their porosity and water-holding capacity and 

 also to mitigate the evil effects of surface-flooding. The- 

 growth of Persian clover (Tri folium reswpinatum), locally 

 known as shaftal, has been found to improve the cropping, 

 power of the land very considerably and to be a valuable 

 source of organic matter, particularly if the last crop is 

 ploughed in as a green-manure. It also supplies a large 

 quantity of valuable fodder and is a simple means of utiliz- 

 ing the winter rains. 



Some attention has been paid to increasing the yield of 

 shaftal and other crops at Quetta, and to the best means of 

 improving the duty of water in fodder growing. Such crops 

 grow faster and need less water, if the land is manured 

 in the first instance with farm-yard manure at the rate of 

 15 to 20 tons per acre. The proper grading of the surface 

 and the use of long Maris (about 300' x 25') watered from 

 one end of the field leads to an even flow of the irrigation- 

 water over the land and to uniform percolation. In this 

 way, a great saving of water takes place. The expense and 

 trouble of the preliminary grading and levelling and of the 

 adoption of the most suitable form of kiari are well repaid 

 by the amount of water saved, by the ease with which irri- 

 gation can be carried out and by the evenness of the result- 

 ing crop. 



During the past season, one of the plots at Quetta r 

 which was not in very good condition, was put down in 



