4ri THK WHEATS OF BALUCHISTAN 



at C'haniau and Pislu'ii. moderately hot at (^letta and cool at Toba. The 

 average temperatures of Chaman and Quetta are shown in the following table :■ — 



January May July November 



Diurnal Mean. Diurnal 



ranrjf:- range. 



L'G-6 o7-6 -24 o 



•27 9 4«-7 :^2-7 



I The temperatures of Pishin lie between those of Chaman and Quetta. 



The rainfall is irregular and occurs mostly in the winter. It is due to 

 storms from the Persian plateau and may consist of either rain or snow. Most 

 of the rain and sik.w falls in .Tanuary and Febiuary but the storms vary in 

 number and. period from year to year. It is more important that there should 

 be good snow than good rain as the rain runs off the slopes very quickly in the 

 form of floods and does not benefit the kdrezes. springs and streams as much 

 as the sn(»w. Moreover, the vapour tensi(>n of snow being lower than that 

 of water, the snow pr(»tects the land from drying. The average annual rain- 

 fall in (Quetta is 1(»'.")"J inches, in Pishiti 8'()9. and in Chaman just over 7 inches. 



The whole IJistrict is very liable to strong winds- Chaman was reported 

 to have calm weather at 8 a.m. on (»nly twelve days in the whole year. 



There are two rivers with many trib\itaries. the Kadanai which drains the 

 T<'ba ]>lateau and flows into Afghanistan and the Pishin Lora which, with its 

 tributaries, waters the rem-inder of the District and passes into C'liagai. The 

 water of the main stream of the Kadanai is salt and is said to be injurious t(,' 

 rrops. It is, however, raised by earthen, dams in some parts and used for 

 irrigation ])urp«)ses. The Tashrobat. a tributary of the Kadanai. with its 

 (.wn tri))utariesthe Jilja. Hesanua. Owal, and Zemal supplies most of the 

 water for the irrigated area (,n the Toba plateau. This consists of patches 

 along the l)anks (*f streams on the skirts of the hills. 



In tln> Chiman Siii)divisi(»n. the main cultivated tracts are Loe Toba, 

 Tabina an<l the Sahara, the jiJaiii round the town of Chaman. ^lost of this 

 is drv cr(»p cultivation, but there are patches of irrigated cultivation near 

 springs and streams and in ravines. In Pishin there are large dry crop areas 

 in the level plain itself and tracts of land irrigated by the Government canal 

 of Shebo and the Kiishdil Kluiu Reservoir and l)y karezes. spiings and streams. 

 In the Barsh(*r tract, where water is abundant, most of the cultivation is carried 

 out on terraced fields. In the Quetta UihsU. both dry crop cultivation and irri- 

 gation from karezea. springs and streams are found. In U)(»J-().'^ in the two 

 f((/<.',;/.s (-f Quetta ai'd Pishin. the irrigated area represented 31 per cent. (»f 



