HOWARD, LEAKE AND HOWARD. 59 



in the majority of the types there is a distinct increase in the pro- 

 portion of translucent grains at Cawnpore and Pusa while at the 

 same time the percentage of nitrogen has increased. 



There are three well marked exceptions to the hardening 

 tendency among these wheats. Type 6 has always remained en- 

 tirely soft at all three stations and no spotted grains have ever been 

 detected. Types 23 & 25 have behaved in a very similar manner 

 and have only rarely produced a few hard and intermediate grains. 

 These examples stand out from the many varieties grown at Pusa in 

 withstanding the hardening tendency which is the general rule at 

 this station. Even in 1911, when the water supply was very short, 

 these wheats, though shrivelled, contained no hard grains. On the 

 other hand, Types 2 & 12 and to a less extent Type 3 have produced 

 a great majority of hard grains at all three stations. Between 

 these two extremes the remaining nineteen types occur pro- 

 ducing a considerable proportion of soft grains at Lyallpur and 

 a lesser proportion at Cawnpore and Pusa. Thus there are 

 three classes of wheats among these types, (1) wheats which always 

 remain soft, (2) wheats with a tendency to remain hard and (3) 

 the majority in which the consistency varies greatly according to 

 the locality and the conditions under which they are grown. In the 

 wheats of the last group, as has frequently been observed before, 

 each ear often contains hard, soft, and spotted grains so that the 

 occurrence of all three kinds of grain in the sample is not likely 

 to be due to the result of segregation. 



The occurrence of constant soft wheats is of considerable in- 

 terest and has been noticed in other pure lines at Pusa. One of these, 

 characterised by strong straw, has been used as a parent for im- 

 proving the standing power of one of the high quality hard wheats. 

 In the second generation of the cross there was a distinct segregation 

 as regards consistency and plants with hard, soft and intermediate 

 grain could be distinguished with ease and certainty. Two other 

 cases of wheats with constant soft grains are of interest from the 

 milling point of view. One of these is that known as ' ' Australian 27 " 

 which is largely composed of Punjab Type 25, a type which has 



