PROCEEDINGS. 1183 



Denefits to be derived from the Survey, however great they may be to 

 Science, are not sufficiently connected with Government administration in 

 any of its branches to justify the expenditure on it of public funds. 



PAPER READ. 



The following paper was then read " On the improvement in the yield 

 and quality of Indian wheat with an exhibit of the new wheats obtained 

 at Pusa by selection and hybridisation, by Mr. Albert Howard, Economic 

 Botanist to the Government of India, and Mrs. Gabrielle L. C. Howard, 

 Personal Assistant to the Imperial Economic Botanist. 



Most of the merchants interested in the wheat trade attended and there 

 was an exhibit of the new Pusa wheats which have been obtained by selec- 

 tion and hybridisation. By adopting these modern methods of improve- 

 ment new Indian wheats have been produced of the same grain quality as 

 American and Canadian Spring wheats which now command the highest 

 prices on the English market. These new wheats are far superior in 

 milling and baking qualities to the average Indian wheat exported from 

 the country and it is expected that they will soon be grown on a sufficient 

 scale to influence the trade. 



In addition to quality, great improvements have also been made in the 

 production of wheat. New methods of cultivation and soil management 

 have been devised by which crops of over 2,500 lbs. of wheat to the acre 

 have been grown continuously on the same land without manure and 

 without irrigation water or rain after sowing time. Such yields were not 

 considered possible in India under dry farming conditions, but they have 

 been obtained at Pusa using only the means at the command of ordinary 

 cultivator. 



The paper in question will be printed in full in a forthcoming issue of the 

 Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 



OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11th APRIL 1911. 



A meeting of the members of the Bombay Natural History Society took 

 place on Tuesday, the 11th April 1911, at the Society's Rooms, Lieut. - 

 Colonel W. B. Bannerman presiding. 



The election of the following 15 new Members since the last meeting was 

 duly announced : — 



Mr. Gulabrai Bhawandas (Shewan, Sind) ; Mr. P. Vlasto (Bombay) ; Lt 

 J. Wolfe Murray, R.N. (Bombay); Mr. A. R. Villar (Tharrawaddy, L. 

 Burma) ; Mr. R. E. Macpherson (Sholapur) ; Lt.-Col. H. Fooks, I.M.S. 

 (Risalpur, N.-W. F.P.) ; Mr.Freeman Roper (England) ; Mr. C. P. G. Jones 

 (Sinbo, Burma); Mr. E. H. Burt (Bombay); Lt. C. B. Evans, R.N. 

 (Bombay) ; Mr. A. Barnes (Rutlam) ; Shrimant Chintamanrao Appasaheb 

 Patwardhan, Chief of Sangli (Sangli, S.M.C.); Mr. W. E. Beazley 

 (MaSfekand) ; and Mr. N. H. Deane (Rangoon, Burma). 



