46 SCIENTIFIC REPORTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



REPORT OF THE IMPERIAL ECONOMIC 



BOTANISTS. 



(A. Howard, C.I.E., MA., and G. L. C. Howard, M.A.) 



I. Introduction. 



The Imperial Economic Botanist held charge of the 

 Section during the year ending June 30th, 1919, with the 

 exception of six weeks from October 22nd, 1918, which 

 were spent on privilege leave in India. During this 

 period, the Second Assistant, Maulvi Abdur Rahman Khan, 

 was in charge of current duties at Pusa. 



The work of the staff continues to be satisfactory. The 

 Second Assistant has made himself very useful in connec- 

 tion with the improvement of the Botanical Area and in 

 the experimental work in Central India and at Pusa. 

 Chowdhry Ram Dhan Singh, B.Sc, Third Assistant, has 

 worked well at the experiments in progress on indigo. This 

 Assistant, on the recommendation of the Section, has been 

 granted by the Government of India a stipend of £150 a 

 year for three years with a free passage both ways to enable 

 him to read for an Honours degree in Natural Science at 

 Cambridge University. Babu Kashi Ram, Fourth Assist- 

 ant, continues to do useful work in connection with the 

 vegetable-drying experiments at Quetta and with the 

 tobacco-breeding experiments at Pusa. 



The difficulties in connection with the transport of seed 

 by rail, referred to in the last report, increased considerably 

 during the year. In consequence of the control of wheat 

 which was rendered necessary by the shortage of supplies 

 in India, the facilities granted last year by the Central 

 Transport and Foodstuffs Board lapsed when that body 

 ceased to exist. The system of priority certificates in 

 force worked fairly well till the end of April when all 

 movement of goods had to be restricted due to the exigen- 

 cies of the military situation on the North- West Frontier.. 



