10 VARIETAL CHARACTERS OF INDIAN WHEATS. 
in the length and density of the hairs on the glumes while the Behar 
macaroni wheats have only sparse short hairs. 
Felted wheats are much commoner in the drier climate of the 
Punjab than in the damper wheat-growing tracts of the United 
Provinces, while in Bengal they are very rare. Possibly this rarity 
may be due to the disadvantage of hairy glumes in these moister 
tracts. Felted chaff holds water much more than smooth chaff, 
and therefore affords greater opportunities for infection by rusts. 
Even in the Punjab the felted wheats are often stained through 
the growth of mould fungi of the genus Cladosporiwm and Alternaria. 
(b) Colour of the chaff—The usual colour of the chaff of Indian 
wheats is red or white. In some cases the chaff is greyish white and 
varieties are met with both in the Punjab and Behar where the 
chaff is blackish or nearly black. 
In the case of red-chaff wheats not only does the depth and 
tone of redness vary greatly between different types, but there is 
also a well-marked relation between the ripening season and the 
amount of redness developed in any one variety. If the weather 
during ripening is wet and cloudy, the red colour is not produced 
andreal red-chaffed wheats might be then described as having white 
chaff. Thus, at Pusain 1906, when the ripening period was especially 
unfavourable, the two Bengal macaroni wheats, which are really 
red-chaffed kinds, were considered by us to be white-chaffed maca- 
ronis. Even in good years, red-chaffed wheats often develop side 
shoots with white chaff due to premature ripening. It is only in good 
seasons, such as the 1906 and 1908 harvest at Lyallpur and in the 
present yearat Pusa, that the full red colour of Indian wheats is 
developed. In such cases the differences in redness in the various 
red-chafled types is most pronounced. While red chaff is a constant 
character of the variety, great care must be taken, especially in the 
damper wheat-growing tracts, in India in deciding this character, 
and it is not safe to say a wheat has white chaff unless the ears are 
fully and normally developed. In the Punjab one red-chaffed 
wheat, type 12, often shows a blackish border on the glumes. In 
