196 JOUnXAL, BOMBAY NATUBAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



hard whites and frequentl}' say that the soft whites are deficient 

 in feeding vahie. From the chemical point of view their choice is 

 sound as the hard whites and hard reds are richer in proteids and 

 therefore better and more sustaining food than the soft whites and 

 soft reds. 



Recently at the Allahabad Exhibition a group of cultivators 

 interested in wheat-growing were asked to select from a set of 

 samples the wheats they would prefer for their own consumption. 

 Without hesitation they selected those which Mr. Humphries had 

 found to be the best for bread-making in England and rejected 

 those which only behaved in the tests like ordinary Indians. This 

 group of cultivators are growing next season 50 maunds of the six 

 best wheats we have so far produced. We mention this circums- 

 tance to show that there will be no prejudice on the part of the 

 ryots against the appearance of our improved wheats. 



VII. Improvement in the Yield of Wheat. 



Great improvements are possible in the 5deld of wheat in India 

 by the more skilful use of the means at present at the disposal 

 of the cultivators. The average yield per acre in the botanical 

 area at Pusa is more than twice that obtained by the people and 

 similar results have been obtained in the botanical area of 

 the Cawnpore Experiment Station under canal irrigation. The 

 average yields at Pusa obtained by crop weighings on quarter acre 

 plots in 1909 and 1910 is somewhere in the region of 30 maunds 

 or 2,500 lbs. per acre. These yields have been obtained without 

 manure, without rain or irrigation and on land which has been 

 under wheat continuously for four years. There is no visible 

 diminution in fertility but on the contrary the land is getting too 

 fertile and there is a tendencj- for the wheat to grow too rank and 

 tall,.and to be damaged by heavy winds at the time it comes into 

 ear. At Oawnpore the results are similar and some of the new 

 Pusa hybrids there are expected this year to give about 25 maunds 

 (over 2,000 lbs.) to the acre. We believe similar results are 

 possible all over the plains and that an increase of at least 50 per 

 cent, in the outturn is possible in the alluvium in both the raM 

 and /,7i «'/■?;/' crops. There are great trade possibilities inA'oh-ed in 



