54 SCIENTIFIC REPORTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



crops like lucerne, senji (Melilotus indica), berseem and 

 shaftal (Trifolium resupinatum). Most of these can be 

 made into excellent hay and can be baled, either separately 

 or mixed with an equal amount of bhusa, for transport 

 purposes. For some years past, trials of these fodders have 

 been carried out in the Fourth Division at Quetta, the 

 results of which prove that by their use the weight of 

 animal food carried by an Army on active service can be 

 reduced by at least one-third with some reduction in cost. 

 Similar advantages would be obtained in ordinary road 

 transport. The general improvement in the organization 

 of the local fodder supplies would go far to solve the cattle 

 and milk problems and would also increase the supply of 

 manure. A large nucleus of dried leguminous fodder in 

 North-West India would also be an advantage in time of 

 famine when one of the problems is to rail into the affected 

 areas sufficient forage to save the lives of the cattle. These 

 leguminous fodders give the best yield if the land is well 

 manured. If, therefore, the zamindar were to put up to a 

 fifth of his land into these fodders every year and were to 

 concentrate his supply of manure on this area, this valuable 

 rotation would rapidly improve the texture of the soil. 

 This in turn would increase the yield of wheat and would 

 also raise the duty of water. A great impetus will be 

 given to this work when the Army take up leguminous 

 fodders for transport work on similar lines to those recently 

 adopted in Egypt where about 150,000 tons of berseem hay 

 were baled for the use of the Armies of Palestine and 

 Salonika. 



The breeding of rust-resistant varieties. An important 

 stage in the breeding of rust-resistant wheats for India 

 has been reached. This work was started in 1910 at Cam- 

 bridge where a number of Indian pure lines were sown as 

 •spring wheats and crossed with some of Professor Biffen's 

 new rust-resistant hybrids. From the crosses so obtained 

 many new forms have been fixed at Pusa which are charac- 

 terized by strong straw, rust resistance, good standing 

 power and heavy yield. These are now being tested on a 



