40 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 



of the functions of the plant. Crops like wheat require a 

 well aerated soil as well as a sufficient supply of moisture. 

 The continual surface flooding which takes place in a 

 perennial system of irrigation destroys the natural texture 

 of the soil and interferes with its aeration. The addition 

 of more water to a crop in which the yield is already limited 

 by want of air cannot possibly produce any useful result. 

 Particularly is this the case on the fine alluvial soils of the 

 plains and on the black soils of the Peninsula. The 

 problem of obtaining the maximum duty of water is to 

 supply moisture without depriving the soil of air. In 

 many cases, this can be accomplished by a single irrigation 

 before sowing followed by moisture conservation methods 

 like those adopted at Quetta. In other cases, the amount 

 of water can be reduced by increasing the water-holding 

 capacity of the soil by green-manure and by other methods 

 now being worked out. Any saving of irrigation water in 

 India is an advantage both to the people and to Govern- 

 ment. The less water used the less is the damage done to 

 the country and the larger is the area irrigated. Govern- 

 ment benefits by a growing revenue and by increased oppor- 

 tunities for the settlement of discharged sepoys and of the 

 surplus population of congested districts. Under the 

 present system of perennial irrigation, India is rapidly 

 reaching the limit of profitable expansion with the water 

 now available. Any great extension must be achieved by 

 increasing the duty of water, a problem full of possibilities 

 for the country but one on which hardly any attention has 

 yet been bestowed. 



Fruit investigations. 



It is proposed to defer till the next annual report any 

 detailed account of the results which are now rapidly 

 accumulating with regard to the cultivation and propaga- 

 tion of fruit trees and to the transport of the fruit itself. 

 Many of the problems relating to these matters are on the 

 point of solution and in another year the subject can, in 

 all probability, be dealt with much more definitely and 

 satisfactorily than at this moment. 



