192 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL MIST. SOCIETY, J'ol. XXI. 



regards this character. It is possible, therefore, by crossing to in- 

 troduce the character of rust-resistance into a wheat wanting in 

 this cjuality. Similarly such characters as high grain qualitj', 

 high-yielding poAver and strength of straw can be introduced 

 into a wheat defective in these characters. 



Some examples of the use of hybridization in producing new 

 wheats will give an idea of the value of the process. Two of 

 the highest-yielding wheats in the alluvium, namely, Punjab Type 

 9, and Muzaffarnagar are deficient in quality. Some of our Pusa 

 selections, on the other hand, possess grain of exceedingly high 

 quality, but their yielding power is only moderate. Suitable 

 crosses were made between these two high-yielding wheats of 

 poor quality and two wheats with very high quality but lower 

 yield. In the third and fourth generations of the progeny of 

 these crosses, we have been able to select and fix wheats which 

 possess the high-yielding power of one parent with the high-grain 

 quality of the other. We thus possess as it were Muzaffarnagar 

 and Punjab No. 9 with high-quality grain instead of low; and 

 we have been able to increase the value of their grain by about 

 eight annas a maund. It is expected that the new fixed wheats 

 from these crosses will be found suitable for large tracts of the 

 Punjab and the United Provinces. Some of them are being 

 o-rown this year at Cawnpore under canal irrigation by Mr. H. 

 Martin Leake, the Economic Botanist to the Government of the 

 United Provinces, and give every promise to surpass in yield any 

 other wheats in cultivation there. 



Some of the most interesting hybridization work at Pusa 

 consists in breeding rust-resistant wheats and in increasing the 

 standing power of the straw. At present the yield of wheat at 

 Pusa is limited by both these factors. Till we get wheats with 

 stronger straws, we cannot increase the present yields. It is 

 also desirable to increase the resisting power to rust. 



Out of the large number of wheats grown at Pusa one known 

 as " American Olub " received from England proved most 

 resistant to rust under Indian conditions. Unfortunately, 

 however, it comes into ear much too late to be used as a parent 

 and at a period in the hot weather when crossing is the out of 



