8 THE WHEATS OF BALUCHtSTAN 



glumes keeled above, rounded below. Straw hollow, medium 

 in length. Grains not rounded, more tliaii twice as long as 

 JM'oad. 



It must be admit led tliat the distinctions between ihe sub-species are 

 not always very clear and that intermediate forms can be found conduniiig 

 characters from two sub-species. Koernicke pointed out that brittleness of 

 the rachis, persistence of the glumes round the grain and the peculiar 

 "lume-shape is not always well delined in all ihe forms of T. spella. On the 

 other hand, the glume-shape of T. spella is -onietimes to be found in forms 

 belonging to T. culgaie and T. compadum. He also emphasized 

 the difhcultv of distinguishing between T. durum and T. lurgidum. This 

 dilHcuhA was encountered in the present survey. Orba-siu wheat from Fort 

 Sandeman (Baluchistan Class VIII) could with almost equal justice be assigned 

 to either of these two sub-species. .As Koernicke' ])oints out. the ultimate 

 decision must in such cases always be a subjective one depending on the em- 

 phisis lai<l bv the individual observer on any particular character. In the case 

 of T. compdctuDi and T. vulgare, the distinctions based on the ghime and 

 grain shape break ilown utterly. In the Himalayan tracts, a large number 

 of wheats aie found which combine the ear-shape and the general characters 

 (»t T. riiUfare with ghimes and grain as rounded as in atypical compadum. It 

 is (tften pii>sible t<> find in the same sam])le two wheats identical in every res- 

 pect except that one has rouiuled glumes aiul rounded grain and in the other 

 the glume-shape typical of T. cuh/arc with long grain. 



This has been pointed out in a previous publictaion- but was fouiul to be 

 even more striking in the case of many of the lialuchistan wheats. It is a 

 curious fact that wheats of this type are not to be found in the plains of India 

 although some of the Bengal wheats a])])roximate to this condition. Such 

 wheats have been found in the Himalayas near Simla, in Baluchistan and also 

 in Khorisixii. The yield of these wheats must necessarily be small as they aie 

 always very lax and the grain is of small size. The short glume of a T. cum- 

 jxidiim combined with the rachis nf an ear of T. ruU/air leads to the produc- 

 tion of a striu-ture inefhcient in the extreme from the j)oint of view of yield, 

 it is ])ossible therefore that those forms represent the survival of an old type 

 of wheat which has been rej)laced in the plains <»f India by higher yielding 

 forms of '/'. culyuir. On the (»ther haiul. they bear a cl(/se resemblance to the 

 progeny obtained by crossing T. rompadum and T. culgare and the regions 



' Koiriucko. I.e. 



' Howard and Howard, Whrat in India, l.c. 



