218 ENVIRONMENT AND MILLING QUALITIES. 



milling quality in tlie wheats exported to England. It is to the 

 interests both of the cultivator and of all concerned in the wheat 

 trade of India that they should deal with a more valuable product 

 than the present wheats of export. Great care should be taken 

 to place Indian wheat on the market in a clean, dry and uniform 

 condition and as far as possible grain uniform in consistency 

 should be aimed at. 



Our experience in Piisa, Cawnpore and Lyallpur shows that the 

 Indian cultivator has much to learn in the growing of wheat and 

 especially in the conservation of soil moisture, in the preliminary 

 preparation of the land, the use of good seed and in the regula- 

 tion of the irrigation water. In the canal colonies of the Punjab 

 especially great room for improvement exists in these respects. 

 In this important wheat tract the wheat lands should be weathered 

 during the hot season and ploughed occasionally during the 

 summer months. The resulting partial sterilisation of the soil 

 would do much to improve the nitrogen supply of the next crop, 

 any rainfall would be absorbed and a far better seed bed and tilth 

 obtained for the wheat crop. Smaller irrigation compartments 

 should be made, as little water as possible should be used, and 

 the last irrigation should not be delayed too long. In the rest of 

 the Indo -Gangetic plain the substitution of light iron soil invert- 

 ing ploughs in the place of the country plough for opening out 

 the soil during the hot weather and during the early portiou of 

 the monsoon would lead to a vast improvement in wheat -growing. 

 Fewer ploughings with the country plough are desirable towards 

 the end of the preparation so as to conserve soil moisture and 

 produce a better seed bed. 



The experiments dealt with in the present paper are only a 

 portion of those in progress on the influence of environment on 

 the quahty of Indian wheat. The full scheme of work now in 

 hand is described in the next section. 



