IOO CEREALS 



will be heterozygotes in the next generation will be 2 per 

 cent, of the whole. Incidentally, it was ascertained that 

 the red coloration of the grain is a simple Mendelian 

 dominant to white, the offspring of the F l generation, 

 giving reds to whites in the ratio 3 to i. Such a small 

 crossing percentage indicates that the pure line method 

 may be adopted without any hesitancy. Cultivators' 

 varieties are so mixed that a large basis for choice and 

 selection is provided by a single field, and hybridization 

 by artificial means need only be resorted to in very special 

 cases, and for the solution of very particular problems. 



As indicated above, the desire of the miller is for a 

 bold round grain possessing a high degree of resistance 

 to breakage tn the milling process. On the other hand, 

 the finest edible rices in India and Burma are those 

 possessing a long, thin, cylindrical grain. Hence culti- 

 vators frequently divide their crop into " Wun-Sa " and 

 sale paddy. The frequent mixing of these two types of 

 grain constitutes a serious grievance to the merchant. 



The number of types is, as in other countries, exces- 

 sively large. They are distinguished by different shapes 

 of grain, of the empty glumes, of the glume tip and awns, 

 and by differences depending on colour combinations in 

 sheathing leaf, stigma, glumes, and seed. Striking types 

 are the handsome purple-leaved, glutinous rices with their 

 long, thin, opaque grain; the so-called winged varieties, 

 in which the outer glumes, usually minute, are prolonged 

 beyond the inner; and the floating rices with bent stems, 

 which are suitable for growing in regions where flooding 

 is common. The variation is also as great in physio- 

 logical as in morphological characters. Such are earli- 

 ness of flowering, susceptibility to insect attack, tillering 

 power, standing power, and yield. 



It is clear that all efforts at improvement must be 

 strictly based on the demands of millers, and must accord- 

 ingly aim at the production of pure lines characterized 

 by a small breakage percentage and an absence of 

 coloured grain. At the same time, however, the demand 

 of the agriculturist must be kept clearly in mind, and the 

 above qualities must be combined with heavy yielding- 

 capacity, resistance to disease, and adaptation to the 



