THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT ON THE 



MILLING AND BAKING QUALITIES OF 



WHEAT IN INDIA. 



No. 3. THE EXPERIMENTS OF 1911-12. 



BY 



ALBERT HOWARD. C.I.E., 

 M.A., 

 Imperial Economic Botanist, 



H. M. LEAKE, M.A., 

 Economic Botanist to the Government 

 of the United Provinces ^ 



AXD 



GABRIELLE L. C. HOWARD, M.A., 



Personal Assistant to the Imperial Economic Botanist, 



Associate and former Felloiv of Newnham College, Camhridge. 



1. Introduction. 



In the improvement of the wheat crop in India, the question 

 of the influence of the environment on the quality of the grain is a 

 matter of great importance. It affects not only the breeding of 

 improved wheats but also the question of seed distribution. It 

 has long been a vexed question as to what extent quality is deter- 

 mined by environment and how far it must be considered as charac- 

 teristic of the race. To the plant -breeder, who wishes to combine 

 in one strain the largest number of valuable qualities, a knowledge 

 of the respective parts played by breed and by environment in 

 producing and maintaining such qualities becomes essential. In 

 the general aspect of seed distribution in India, it is necessary to 

 know in what tracts wheats with high milhng and baking qualities 

 are possible. For instance, at the present time, the black cotton 

 soils of the Peninsula and the canal irrigated tracts of Northern 

 India produce for the most part soft, weak wheats often with poor 

 milling qualities. One of the objects of this investigation is to 

 determine whether or not wheats of better quality can be grown 

 in these important areas. 



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