II. THE INDIAN PROBLEM. 



The conditions, both as regards soil and climate under which 

 wheat is grown in India, vary very widely. There are several well- 

 marked wheat tracts differing from each other in the nature of 

 the soil, in the sources of moisture and in the growth period. 

 Wheat-growing on the Chenab colony, for example, is very different 

 from that on the black cotton soils of the Narbada valley in the 

 Central Provinces. 



The wheat tracts of India fall into two main groups differing 

 both as regards soil and also as regards the source of moisture. 

 The more important of these regions is the alluvium of the Indo- 

 Gangetic plain stretching from Bihar on the East through the 

 United Provinces and the Punjab to Sind on the Western Coast. 

 In parts of Bihar, wheat is grown on low-lying high moisture retain- 

 ing heavy loams without irrigation. In Oudh, wells supplement 

 the rainfall, while in the Doab between the Jumna and the Ganges 

 and in the western Districts of the United Provinces canal water is 

 largely employed. Well irrigation is again met with in the East- 

 ern Punjab while in other portions of the Province the wheat 

 crop obtains most of its moisture either from perennial or inun- 

 dation canals. In Sind, inundation from the Indus takes the place 

 of the monsoon. The predominant feature of the wheat tracts of 

 the plains is some form of irrigation and the crop may be either 

 entirely or only partially watered. 



The second group of wheat-growing tracts in India is found 

 in Peninsular India principally on the black cotton soils of Central 

 India and Bombay. Here irrigation is largely confined to the 

 second class wheat soils of Bombay, most of the wheat of the 

 Peninsula being raised on the moisture left in the soil after the 

 previous monsoon. 



In both of these regions the first consideration is moisture. 

 If the tract is commanded by a perennial canal the choice of soil 



