22 VARIETAL CHARACTERS OF INDIAN WHEATS. 
wheats the keel is only pronounced in the upper portion and fades 
away or entirely disappears in the lower half. In Punjab type 9, 
however, the keel, although not so pronounced as in the macaroni 
wheats, is nevertheless distinctly represented in the lower part of 
the outer glume. 
(d) Erectness of the ear—The erectness of the ear is a 
character which we have found most useful in distinguishing in the 
field agricultural kinds which are very similar morphologically. In 
the arrangement of our Lyallpur plots all the wheats which, in the 
first selection in 1906, appeared to be either identical or else closely 
related were sown next to next. In some cases where a difference 
existed between two similar but not identical sorts, it was often easy 
to see by the position of the ears that the two kinds were different. 
In the one case the ears had a tendency to bend over while in the 
neighbouring plots the ears stood erect. Such differences in erect- 
ness were naturally accompanied by other differences in straw 
character and tone of colour of the chaff. It is a character which 
can only be used in the field and in plots which cover a certain 
amount of ground like that occupied by the produce of a single 
ear in the second season. It is not always possible to observe it 
in the first selection from a mixed plot. 
9, SUMMARY OF BOTANICAL & FIELD CHARACTERS. 
It will be convenient to deal with the above characters under 
two heads: (1) botanical or morphological: and (2) field or agricul- 
tural characters. 
Botanical or morphological characters are those characters 
which remain constant with change of environment or season and 
which are inherited. They can be determined in the laboratory 
from properly developed specimens. These botanical characters 
are :-— 
4 
1. Presence or absence of awns. 
2. Felted or smooth chaff. 
». Colour of the chaff. 
4. Colour of the grain. 
