civ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [X.S., XII, 



Scientific Methods in Agricultural Experiments [ . — By A. C. 



DOBBS. 



Mr. Dobbs' paper on Scientific methods in Agricultural Experiments 

 was a plea for the more scientific adaptation of field experiments in India 

 to Indian conditions. Referring to the classical experiments at Rotham- 

 sted he pointed out fundamental differences between English and Indian 

 manurial problems and mentioned that sulphur which is brought down 

 by rain at Rothamsted in sufficient quantity for most crops, is apparently 

 a limiting factor in crop production in Chota Nagpur — even so small a 

 quantity as 10 lbs. per acre producing a phenomenal effect on groundnuts. 



He drew attention to Hall and Mercer's work, published in 1911, on 

 the probable error in field experiments, and suggested that it had received 

 insufficient attention on the part of those designing experiments in India — 

 with particular reference to the number of plots employed for comparison. 

 By taking a sufficiently large number of plots , conclusive results had been 

 obtained in the course of a single monsoon season, and in spite of un- 

 favourable conditions, on the Farm opened at Ranchi in May 1915. 



The Saving of Irrigation Water in Wheat Growing a . — By 



Albert Howard, C.I.E., and Gabrielle L. C. Howard. 



Although one of the main directions in which Indian agriculture can 

 be improved is concerned with the proper use of irrigation water, little 

 work has hitherto been attempted in this direction. Over watering is the 

 rule throughout the Continent, with the result that irrigated crops are 

 particularly liable to drought on account of their limited root range. 

 Even in arid tracts like Baluchistan, where water is scarce and land 

 abundant, nothing is done by the cultivators to increase the duty of 

 irrigation water. Advantage was therefore taken of the creation of the 

 new Fruit Experiment Station at Quetta to initiate a series of water- 

 saving experiments and to discover how far the well-known Utab results 

 are applicable to local conditions. 



It was found that irrigation water produces the heaviest yield of 

 wheat and straw (bhusa) when applied to the land prior to sowing. A 

 single preliminary irrigation, combined with the subsequent use of the 

 lever harrow in crust breaking, gave an average yield of 17f maunds of 

 wheat to the acre. This works out at 4£ maunds more than the local 

 average yielded by similar unmanured land with seven or eight irriga- 

 tions. The real difference between the Experiment Station results and 

 those obtained by the people can best be realized, however, by comparing 

 the produce from the same amount of water. The Zamindars water one 

 acre seven times and obtain an average of 13£ maunds of grain. The 

 same amount of water spread over seven acres, if used according to the 

 method employed at the Experiment Station, would give seven times 17? 



or 124 \ maunds of wheat. The difference in favour of the experiments is 

 therefore 110J maunds of wheat. If the average irrigated acreage of 

 wheat in the Quetta valley is multiplied by 100, the result would indicate, 

 in maunds of wheat per annum, the present annual waste of water on 

 this crop alone. On every 100 acres of irrigated wheat, the water now 

 lost would produce 10,000 maunds of grain and a large amount of straw 

 of a total value not far short of half a lakh of rupees. 



Dyes indigenous to India 1 . — By J. P. Srivastava. 



1 This paper will be published in extenso in the Congress number 

 the Agricultural Journal of India. 



* This paper appeared in full in the Agricultural Journal of Ina 

 vol, XI, 1916. p. 14. 



