INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1916-17 33 



Four series of crosses are now under investigation, the two 

 most promising of which have been derived from Pusa 6. In 

 these, an effort has been made to combine strong rooting 

 and standing power with rust-resistance, yield and high 

 grain quality. Some of these wheats were tried at Gurdas- 

 pur on a field scale and very high yields were obtained. 

 Unfortunately these trials were to some extent interfered 

 with by exceedingly heavy rain at harvest time but sufficient 

 work had been done before the deluge to indicate the 

 possibilities of the new types. During the coming year, 

 further trials of these new types have been arranged for 

 in Central India while the work at Gurdaspur will be 

 extended. 



The effect of soil temperature on development. For some 

 years, the cause of the dying-off of the young wheat crop 

 soon after sowing in Bihar has been under investigation at 

 Pusa and during the last three seasons a simple remedy has 

 been tried with success. Experience shows that the dying- 

 off of the young wheat crop is particularly widespread 

 in Bihar and Oudh in years when the total monsoon 

 rainfall is large, when the rains cease early and when 

 the sowing rains (hathia) fail. In such seasons, the 

 soil is charged with large quantities of warm water and 

 cooling is slow on account of the mass of water involved and 

 the practice of keeping the soil closed down to prevent too 

 much evaporation. Such soil conditions occurred in Bihar 

 in 1914 and again in 1915 and whenever they do, it is inter- 

 esting to note that the ryots always sow too early and often 

 lose their wheat entirely, particularly on the heavier lands 

 which hold the most moisture and presumably cool down 

 more slowly than the drier, higher-lying fields. The remedy 

 for this trouble in such seasons in North Bihar is to postpone 

 sowing till the end of October and to cool the soil by evapora- 

 tion by allowing the furrows to remain open to the sun and 

 air for three or four days according to the amount of 

 moisture present. When this is done, there is much less 

 trouble on account of a hot seed-bed and white ants do little 

 or no damage. For two seasons, this remedy has been 



