40 inheritance of some characters in wheat. 



Standing Power. 



Perhaps the most important character in the improvement 

 of Indian wheat at the present time is standing power. Now that 

 it has been shown to be possible in the plains of India to raise crops 

 exceeding forty bushels to the acre, it is clear that good standing 

 power is essential to carry this weight of grain and for the crop 

 to remain erect after the storms of wind and rain which often occur 

 after the plants are in ear. Most of the Indian wheats have very 

 weak straw, only suitable for carrying crops of about twenty bushels 

 to the acre. In improving wheat production, therefore, both as 

 regards methods of cultivation and quality, great attention has to 

 be paid to standing power. Standing power appears to be due 

 to at least two factors, first to strong straw, which is generally 

 associated with very erect ears, and, secondly, to what may be 

 called power to form a strong root system. In one of our crosses 

 a parent with strong straw but inferior rooting power (A 88) was 

 crossed with a wheat with weak straw but which rooted well 

 (Pusa 22) and the F._, plants were examined in detail. All com- 

 binations of these factors were evident in the F 2 — well-rooted 

 wheats with strong straw, well-rooted wheats with weak straw, 

 wheats with strong straw and inferior rooting power as well as some 

 which had neither good straw nor good rooting power. Careful 

 records were kept of individual plants, but in a character like this it is 

 not possible to secure accurate counts. This evidence of distinct 

 segregation renders it likely, however, that it will be an easy matter 

 to secure wheats with strong straw and good rooting power and to 

 increase the standing power of the Indian wheats very considerably. 



