E. J. BUTLER. 
or 
DP 
There remains only, in our present knowledge of plant thera- 
peutics, the method of breeding resistant strains. This method 
has already proved extremely fruitful in the United States. In 
India the introduction of burz cotton into wilt affected parts of the 
Central Provinces promises equally well. In any case it is the only 
method at present available and must therefore be fully tried. 
Preliminary work was commenced im 1906, under the care of 
Mr. J. B. Knight, Professor of Agriculture, Bombay Department 
of Agriculture. The number of varieties of pigeon-pea grown in 
India does not appear to be large. All those that could be found 
were collected and sown on the Poona Farm in 1905. In 1906, nine 
of the varieties that promised best were resown on the same _ plot. 
The following year four varieties were retained. The purpose of 
continuing the growth of certain varieties on the same plot, prior 
to single plant selection, was twofold. It was desired to learn some- 
thing of their value, and it was necessary before definite selection 
work was commenced, to make sure that all the plants had been 
exposed to the disease. 
In 1908, the control of the selection work was taken over by 
Mr. W. Burns, Economic Botanist to the Government of Bombay, 
who is continuing it on the lines of pedigree breeding from single 
plants. 
The most recent work in plant improvement has shown that 
individual plants which possess a given character, frequently trans- 
mit this character unaltered to their progeny. Individual plants 
differ greatly in regard to this ability, and these differences may 
apply to a whole variety (e. g., the Egyptian varieties of cotton 
are generally more resistant to the American cotton wilt, than the 
indigenous Upland varieties, and the same seems to apply to bura 
cotton in regard to the cotton wilt in India). No variety of pigeon- 
pea obtained has shown itself to be specially resistant to the 
disease. More usually the inherent resistance is confined to indiv- 
idual plants and the behaviour of the other plants in the variety 
need not be considered. 
