THE WHEAT PLANT 



Soft Bed. 



Hard Wheats. 



Bengal. 



TRITICUM 



VULGARE 



Practical Aspects 



qualities of soft wheats would appear to be for the most part comprised 

 within the upper basins of the three great rivers the Ganges, the Indus, 

 and the Nerbudda. South of the Nerbudda, the true soft wheats may 

 be spoken of as very nearly unknown. The prevalent wheats of the 

 United Provinces and of some parts of Bihar and Tirhut are soft white, 

 and of the Panjab soft red. Some years ago the late Col. Wace estimated 

 that out of the 7 million acres of wheat then in the Panjab, 5 million 

 were under soft red wheats. But the soft red extends farther to the south 

 than the soft white. Hard wheats predominate in the Deccan, Berar 

 and some parts of Bengal, and the less valuable form, hard red, extends 

 farthest to the south, and is the only wheat capable of cultivation in the 

 moist climate of the lower Gangetic delta, in Orissa and in Burma. In 

 many parts of the Bombay Presidency, south to Mysore and Madras 

 Presidency, an extremely hard red wheat becomes prevalent, namely 

 that already mentioned under the name spelt. 



Prain (Note on Races of Beng. Wheat, in Dept. Land Rec. and Agri., I.e.) 

 discusses the value of the characters based on the consistence of the grain 

 the hard and soft ; also the distinction according to colour white 

 and red ; and lastly, the condition of bearded and beardless grains. He 

 finally comes to the conclusion that little reliance can be placed on such 

 distinctions taken by themselves. He, however, points out that white or 

 grey wheats, whether soft or hard, have, as a rule, distinctly broader leaf- 

 blades than have the red wheats, and adds that in Bengal the wheats 

 grown are practically all bearded. Summing up his observation of these 

 aspects, Prain comes to the conclusion that Watson's classification, which 

 combines consistence and colour of grain, is of practical value. The soft 

 white wheats of Bengal are called dudhia ; the soft red wheats, jdmdli ; 

 the hard grey wheats, gangdjuli, and the hard red, Men. Mukerji (Hand- 

 book Ind. Agri.) mentions fifth and sixth forms, namely piusa and 

 nanbia. 



In the United Provinces the daudi wheat is spoken of as the finest. 

 Mundia denotes a white, soft wheat of good quality, which is beardless. 

 This wheat is met with here and there : thus Russell alludes to it in his 

 Gazetteer of Damoh as grown in embanked fields, since it requires more 

 moisture and is less liable to rust than the bearded wheats. The account 

 given by F. G. Sly of the wheats of Hoshangabad (Kept. Land Rev. Settl, 

 1891-1905, 26-7) is probably more or less applicable to the whole of the 

 Central Provinces. " The principal kinds, of wheat grown are pissi, soft 

 and starchy, white ; jalalia, hard and glutenous, white ; daodia, soft and 

 starchy, white ; saharia, soft and starchy, white ; kathia, hard and gluten- 

 ous, red ; and bansi, hard and red. All kinds are bearded, no beardless 

 wheat being grown, which cultivators say is because birds attack it more 

 freely. At present no less than 80 per cent, of the wheat sown is pissi, 

 whereas at last Settlement pissi is described as an inferior kind, little 

 sown, jalalia and kathia being grown in about equal proportions. This 

 remarkable change has been brought about by the export trade, pissi 

 being in the greatest demand. Jalalia is still preferred for home con- 

 sumption, because it makes better suji." The cultivation of white soft 

 wheats in most provinces of India has greatly expanded with the foreign 

 demand. 



G. A. Gammie (Provis. Class, of Ind. Wheats, I.e.) subordinates the 

 characters based on the consistence and colour of grains to the presence 



1086 



Broader Leaves. 



Soft White. 



U. Prov. 



Mundia. 



C. Prov 



Pissi. 



Glutenous. 



White Soft 

 Wheats. 



Gammie's 

 Classifica- 

 tion. 



